M27 No Dash Shipped in April 1962?

[pd1964]

I received my factory letter on my M27 no dash S200xxx yesterday and was surprised to see that it shipped in April 1962. I’m perplexed as to how a gun that should have been made in 1959 shipped in 1962 when the 27-2 would have been shipping. Any thoughts?

 

[Shark Bait]

It could have sat in their inventory for a while, or they could have put it together to use up parts. I have a 629-3 that was made when the 629-5 was being made.

 

[pd1964]

Interesting. It was shipped to Canada so maybe that has something to do with it. I wish they’d give a date of manufacture and a ship date.

 

[H Richard]

My "opinion" is the persons in charge of placing and removing guns from the vault had no specific instructions on how or where to put things and in any order to remove them. They got an order for a XYZ gun and grabbed the closest one to them, possibly one just put there yesterday, while there were a hundred stacked further back made last week or last year.. I don't think they paid a lot of attention to inventory control as long as they were making money.

 

[Hondo44]

I received my factory letter on my M27 no dash S200xxx yesterday and was surprised to see that it shipped in April 1962. I’m perplexed as to how a gun that should have been made in 1959 shipped in 1962 when the 27-2 would have been shipping. Any thoughts?

My thought: The thing to do is determine if it's actually a pre dash, a dash 1, or a dash 2.

-1, is the extractor actually still right hand thread or is it left hand?

-2, does it have the trigger guard screw?

The lack of a dash # or the dash # a gun is stamped is not always an accurate indicator of which design changes the gun actually has.

 

[pd1964]

My thought: The thing to do is determine if it's actually a pre dash, a dash 1, or a dash 2.

-1, is the extractor actually still right hand thread or is it left hand?

-2, does it have the trigger guard screw?

The lack of a dash # or the dash # a gun is stamped is not always an accurate indicator of which design changes the gun actually has.

I haven’t checked the extractor thread but it does have the trigger guard screw. Plus the S200xxx serial number is pretty early.

 

[pd1964]

My "opinion" is the persons in charge of placing and removing guns from the vault had no specific instructions on how or where to put things and in any order to remove them. They got an order for a XYZ gun and grabbed the closest one to them, possibly one just put there yesterday, while there were a hundred stacked further back made last week or last year.. I don't think they paid a lot of attention to inventory control as long as they were making money.

That makes sense. I was thinking maybe it fell behind a shelf and wasn’t discovered for three years lol

 

[S&WIowegan]

S&W made "N" grip frames which were then inventoried for use in producing N-frame guns. Those grip frames were not used in numerical order. Then the frame got used to build a revolver which was inventoried. Those guns were not necessarily picked in order of serial numbers. Consequently, predicting build dates and ship date by serial number can be off by years in some cases.

You could say this is part of the "charm" of collecting Smith & Wessons or part of the frustration.

 

[pd1964]

S&W made "N" grip frames which were then inventoried for use in producing N-frame guns. Those grip frames were not used in numerical order. Then the frame got used to build a revolver which was inventoried. Those guns were not necessarily picked in order of serial numbers. Consequently, predicting build dates and ship date by serial number can be off by years in some cases.

You could say this is part of the "charm" of collecting Smith & Wessons or part of the frustration.

Interesting. But besides an early serial number the trigger guard screw and assuming the extractor being right hand would indicate assembly prior to 1960

 

[Doc44]

The Engineering Directive (#586) to change the threads on the extractor rod and stem from right-hand to left-hand was issued on December 22, 1959. However, it took over two years to implement this change with -1 revolvers not being shipped until 1962. Directives (#734 and #735) to implement the new cylinder stop with the elimination of the cylinder stop plunder screw were issued on November 28, 1961 and it took several months to implement them with -2 revolvers being shipped late in 1962 or early in 1963.

The shipping date of a revolver and its serial number have often been the subject of discussion by collectors. S&W never manufactured or shipped guns in serial number sequence, so it is not unusual to find a revolver with a serial number much lower than its actual shipping date. Your 27 is one of these guns. I have several 44 Magnums, that by their serial number would have "usually" shipped in early 1956, but did not ship until mid-1957. The converse is also true with some guns shipping earlier than their serial number suggests. For example, 44 Magnum, S166065, would normally date to mid-1956 or later, but was actually a product sample shipping on April 2, 1956 and is one of the first 100 44 Magnums made.

Bill

 

[pd1964]

Your 27-2 is one of these guns.
Bill

Great info but this gun has no dash after the 27. Are you saying this should be referred to as a 27-2 or did you mistype? Thanks

 

[Doc44]

A typo on my part (corrected).

Bill

 

[pd1964]

A typo on my part (corrected).

Bill

Ok thanks I was about to become more confused

 

[Hondo44]

You can tell the thread direction w/o unscrewing the extractor rod.

If it has a narrow band cut at the rear end of the knurling, it's left hand threads (may also have an L on the face of the cyl) and the gun is really a 27-1 with a stamping error.

If no band, it's right hand thread and just a late shipper as some have posted above.

Showing the band cut at rear of knurled rod tip:

 

[Art Doc]

Not sure why you assumed a 1959 date. I have S199xxx (see your other post for full number) that letters as 5/19/60.

 

[Hondo44]

Not sure why you assumed a 1959 date. I have S199xxx (see your other post for full number) that letters as 5/19/60.

Lettered dates are shipping dates. 1959 is its likely production date, but could also be very ear'y 1960. Usually quite different than a shipping date, but sometimes the two can be close.

 

[pd1964]

Not sure why you assumed a 1959 date. I have S199xxx (see your other post for full number) that letters as 5/19/60.

Just going by the date range in the catalog and the fact it has all of the things that were supposedly changed in 1960. Didn’t realize 1960 didn’t mean 1960. A 1960 ship date makes sense it’s the 1962 date that seemed odd.

I’ll confirm the extractor rod part when I get home.

 

[pd1964]

Lettered dates are shipping dates. 1959 is its likely production date, but could also be very ear'y 1960. Usually quite different than a shipping date, but sometimes the two can be close.

I’m more interested in when it was made than when it was shipped.

 

[Engine49guy]

As others have stated your gun might have been lost in the vault,
I have a 27 no dash serial S209xxx that shipped in 1960.

You can tell the thread direction w/o unscrewing the extractor rod.

If it has a narrow band cut at the rear end of the knurling, it's left hand threads (may also have an L on the face of the cyl) and the gun is really a 27-1 with a stamping error.

If no band, it's right hand thread and just a late shipper as some have posted above.

Showing the band cut at rear of knurled rod tip:

Just a heads up the channel cut behind the knurled end identifying L hand thread ejector rods appears to have been eliminated sometime around 1980 (ish).
Just wanted to mention this to avoid any parts bin confusion .

 

[pd1964]

It does thread right. I’ll post a few pics in a bit.