Quote:
Originally Posted by OldLawman
I recently picked up a nice 65-5, (almost unfired) ser. number CAPXXX. Serrated front and back straps, old-style frame and thumb latch, case hardened forged hammer and trigger, firing pin on hammer. Internally, the only MIM parts are the bolt and cylinder stop, which I am sure are original. I suspect S&W just kept building guns with the parts that were in the system until they ran out and switched to MIM parts.
My box is the hinged blue plastic, numbered to the gun.
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Think about it...... The SN is for the frame only. This applies to wheel guns and semi-autos. Everything else is "parts". The frames of both types of guns are what counts in the 1968 Gun Control Act. With semi-autos, every part can be obtained after-market from slides to barrels to firing pins and springs. With wheel guns all parts can be changed but just not as easily. So the SN is an approximation of birthdate with cobbled together leftover parts from the bin. The only "pure" lines might be the limited production runs of certain models.