Date of Manufacture - Updated With Pics

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You should also be aware that S&W did not track manuf. dates, only shipping dates. They were often close, but sometimes not.
I think that I need some clarification, please. Do the s/n's listed in the Appendices of the various editions of the "SCSW" provide the S&W manufacture dates or shipping dates? I thought that they were approx. manufacture dates, and that's how I've been using them. I know that to get accurate shipping dates you have to contact S&W or get a letter (or hopefully some of our knowledgeable fellow Forum members will share their database information). I should know this by now, but how does this work?
 
Hi
That isn't a proper serial number for a Highway Patrolman Model 28. I suspect it came from the yoke and is an internal number used during assembly. You need to look on the butt for the serial number. It will begin with either an S or an N.
I should have known that. Looking at the sellers pictures, I can read the first four. S1054.. thanks
 
It should be a 5 screw made in 1954.
Guy is correct, which means you are not looking at a Model 28.
The first Highway Patrolman was numbered S103500. It shipped in April 1954. The fifth screw went away in 1956, and model numbers first appeared in 1958. If that one is in nice condition, you should latch onto it. 5 screw HPs are not all that easy to find for sale these days.
 
Do the s/n's listed in the Appendices of the various editions of the "SCSW" provide the S&W manufacture dates or shipping dates? I thought that they were approx. manufacture dates, and that's how I've been using them.
That is correct, but the operative word is "approximate." There are scads of exceptions, especially in the N prefix series.
 
Based on the serial number 98714, your Model 28 likely dates to around 1962-1963. The Highway Patrolman (Model 28) production started in the mid-1950s, and that range fits well with known production numbers from that era

For absolute confirmation, you could request a factory letter from the S&W Historical Foundation, but you’re definitely looking at early 60s
 
Serial number puts it at 1959. 4 screw. It’s been carried more than it’s been shot. The action unbelievably tight.

I think $600 was a good deal.
 

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Based on the serial number 98714, your Model 28 likely dates to around 1962-1963. The Highway Patrolman (Model 28) production started in the mid-1950s, and that range fits well with known production numbers from that era

For absolute confirmation, you could request a factory letter from the S&W Historical Foundation, but you’re definitely looking at early 60s

98714 is not the serial number. Per post #5, the serial number starts with S1054.
 
The serial number is S195421.
Quite a long way off from the S1054xx that you reported earlier. So yes, it should be a four screw and it should be marked MOD 28. It very likely shipped in 1960. I show a Model 29 at S184170 that shipped in May 1959 and a Model 27 at S199255 that shipped in November 1961.
 
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