FRAME STAMPINGS - REFINISH/REWORK
(Note: Almost any statements about S&W's protocol, stampings, meaning of stampings are presumed to be trends, and should not be taken as rules. The main reason is that things changed over time. Hand Ejectors have been around for ~120 years.
So one must always consider the meanings of stamps, the use of, or the lack of stampings in the context of the period that the rework/refinish was performed. And there are exceptions to every trend.
Some common examples:
The star stamp is usually not used before ~1920 or after the late 1950s-early 1960's.
Dates of rework are seldom more than month and year up to ~ the 1950s. More currently 5 and 6 digit dates are more common, until no dates were used after ~ the 1970s.
Sometimes letters in a rectangle indicate refinishes early on and just diamonds are used to indicate refinishing later on and can overlap.)
STAR BY THE SERIAL #:
On the bottom of the butt, forestrap, or left side of grip frame indicates a factory rework; began ~ 1912, declined in the early 1960s along with date stamps per Roy.
Deviations: Roy Jinks once said that the star wasn't always used. A nickel .32 RP that was built pre-war went back post war and got a new barrel, cylinder and re-finish; It is not marked by the SN, but does have stars on the barrel, cylinder and yoke.
A New Model Number 3 target that was completely redone by the factory in June of 1956 doesn't have a star. A .32-20 re-finished in the early 1970's did get a star stamp. Also, the star was not always put on the butt by the serial number. If you didn't want the star stamp on the butt, the factory would stamp it on the grip frame under the grips, which fits with a few guns we've seen with the star on the grip frame.
REFINISH/REWORK DATES AND STAMPINGS:
after 1910 for a return to the factory are 3 or 4 digits depending on the actual date (sometimes 5 or 6) placed on left side of grip frame on the 'toe' stamped vertically or horizontally, and will not match any other stamped #s on the gun. Ex: 3 48 for March 1948, 10 2 57 for Oct 2, 1957, etc.
Sometimes letters in a rectangle or diamond, B (blue), N (nickel), or S (standard/blue) with an R (for refinish), on 'heel' of left side of grip frame. There might also be marks in diamonds like <S> (silver), <G> (gold), or a P (plated) with a circle. In the 1960s period, an S<> on grip frame and under barrel with a rework date meant refinish, standard (blue). Which stamping was used depended on the time frame and service technician working on the gun.
Refinish and date stamp usage is generally accepted to have declined in the late 1970s when most 5 or 6 digit dates have been observed, sporadic use after that, and was eventually eliminated altogether not too long after. Reportedly no date stamps have been observed since 1983. An RE (refinish) in a circle has also been observed as one of the last stampings used.
Photo credit: SebagoSon
Photo credit: Masterpiece.
Unusual R-Bi stamping:
Photo credit: Rick Bowles
. Obviously the whole backstrap is not checkered, but the pattern is the same. MAYBE Leo Goodyear did your gun----
