I am expecting delivery of a blued 6 inch .38 M&P Model of 1905 - 4th change within the next day or two.

I wanted to find out the date of manufacture a bit more precisely than "from 1915 to 1942" as it shows in my SCoSW, 3rd Ed. so I called Smith & Wesson customer service and gave the man the S/N (5439xx). I told him it is an M&P Model of 1905 - 4th change, blued with a 6" barrel.

He immediately told me it was made in 1940.

I was surprised because I thought it was made long before that, so I have spent hours today looking at this board for "lettered" revolvers with the serial numbers near mine.

It appears to me to be somewhere around 1926 - 1932 (by interpolating from the nearest S/Ns that I could find here on this board).

Does anyone here have access to a database that could verify the year that 5439xx was made?

I would be very thankful for the information because at the present time I do not have the extra funds of $50 to send a letter to Roy Jinks just to get the date.

I am always thankful for the help this board gives me when I am stumped!

RonJon

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Is there some reason you think someone OUTSIDE the factory would have better info on when your revolver was made than the factory? As has been said before, charts, etc. are not very reliable as S&W did not make up guns in serial number order. The only positive way to get a correct date is to either get a letter or ask a customer service person to tell you. This has been discussed and pointed out by Roy and others and yet people still ask for date of manufacture and people with SCSW or some chart answer as if it were fact. It is NEVER fact unless you get a letter from Roy or customer service looks it up for you.

RonJon, I would suggest that you wait until Roy returns next week or the week after as he will probably be swamped. Call S&W and ask for Roy Jinks. He will be able to look up the exact shipping date for you at no charge.

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James Redfield
LM #497

Customer service does not know - they do not have the records for these
guns. They are the wrong people to call.

The gun would have been shipped in 1927, as that is when the 520,000 to 560,000 guns were shipped.

Only a factory letter, from the historian, who is the only one who has
the shipping records, will confirm the shipping date.

Later, Mike Priwer

The ship date is irrelevant to me - I'd like to get the manufactured date.

My best estimation, based upon Excel graphing of the known dates of closest serial numbers that I've found on the S&W forums and averaging of the line to obtain my 5439xx date is sometime in 1927.

So Mike Priwer, your info matches mine and so (unless anyone else has differing info) I'll go with 1927.

Thanks!

RonJon

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I may be mistaken but I believe that the only records S&W retains are the shipping information. Sometimes less popular guns remained in inventory for periods measured in years before being shipped. I can understand why you might be interested in the mfg. date but if that information no longer exists, it becomes a moot point.



Bruce

Smith & Wesson did not keep track of manufacture dates as they were of no significance to them. Until the gun was paid for it was just a piece of inventory on a shelf in the vault. Once paid for, the gun was shipped and the date recorded. That is why shipping dates and serial numbers are all out of whack. When a gun was needed for shipment, someone went into the vault and grabbed one of that particular model. No attention was paid to serial number order as it was merely a piece of inventory.

Shipping dates are available for free however, the information from the original invoices, that are stored at the museum, require a physical search of the records and hence the $50 research fee. Shipping dates are stored on mircofilm and can be looked up rather quickly.

The dates listed in the books like the SCSW are shipping dates and not mfg. dates. All of that information was obtained from The History of Smith and Wesson by Roy Jinks, Company Historian and former Service manager.

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James Redfield
LM #497

As others have pointed out, the only dates we have are shipping dates.
That is what you have been looking at and graphing. You, nor anyone
else, has manufacturing dates.

Later, Mike Priwer

Thanks fellas!

That is valuable information to know!

Do you think that the 1940 date for S/N 5439xx that I was quoted (albeit for shipping the gun) is likely to be true then, or do you think I just got a wrong answer from my phone call to S&W C.S.? - - It still seems like a long time after the other guns in the same serial range were shipped (13 years in the S&W vault!)

RonJon

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This post by M.P. answers your question

"Customer service does not know - they do not have the records for these
guns. They are the wrong people to call.

The gun would have been shipped in 1927, as that is when the 520,000 to 560,000 guns were shipped.

Only a factory letter, from the historian, who is the only one who has
the shipping records, will confirm the shipping date.

Later, Mike Priwer "

You'd think that S&W C.S. would say so then - rather than leading the inquirer with bogus info!

RonJon

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RonJon, as Mr. Priwer and others have stated the 1927 date is about right. I have one in the 561XXX range that shipped in 1927. M&P's were pretty good sellers and 1927 was prior to the Depression so I think it's safe to say that the manufacturing date and ship date most likely were not too far apart. Have you considered joining the S&W Collectors Assoc. ? One of the many benefits is that Mr. Jinks will look up the ship date at no charge. Detailed letters are still $50.00 but if all you want is a verified date by the most trusted source, it's a good way to go.

Walter,

I will look into joining SWCA.

Ron

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See the link:

My 1927 vintage M&P is here! (Pics)===>

Ron

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