Hello, and greetings from Norway :-)
I'm a newbie at the S&W-forum. Just recently I bought a 627-1 revolver. Can anyone help me with the production date of this gun?
- Serial CBP52xx
- laser engraved both sides of the 5" barrel. Left: "Smith & Wesson 357 Magnum" Right: "627 Target Champion"
- gold bead front sight
- unfluted 6 shot
- Nill grip or S&W grip?
- Is this a export model (Target Champion)?
- how many produced?

A lot of questions, thanks in advance!

SWfanNorway,
Welcome,

From the SCSW (Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson):
Sep. 1996 CBA; CBB; CBD
Feb. 1995 CLS
Aug. 1996 CBC
Aug. 1997 CBN

627-1 introduced 1993
627-2 introduced 1998

Product code 101030 - 5" FL S 49 ounce Laser Etched export"627 Target Champion" with Gold Bead Patridge Front sight/Export.

I cannot tell how many were produced or if the grips are original.

John

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

Welcome to the Forum

The products under the "Target Champion" banner are the exclusive offering from Wischo, a large S&W distributor located in Germany

Wischo is to Europe, what Lew Horton is to America when we are discussing Limited editions and Exclusive offerings

As to your serial number, the tables located in the SCSW probably do not apply to exclusive offerings that are intended for foreign countries.

However, if you still have the original S&W box, the date of manufacture has been printed on 95+% the end labels ever since they changed over to computer printing about 30 years ago. Look for the "Spec Ord" number on the S&W end label. This is the date. First digit is the year and the next three are the day in Julian format.

Thank you for your answers! Sorry to say, I do not have the original box, I bought the gun second hand. But I will look up Wischo online, and investigate more.

One tip. Your 627 is equipped with the DX Interchangeable Front Sight. The way this works is that by pressing the front site against the spring tension towards the rear of the pistol you can then tilt the front up and out of the slot for the sight blade. One result of this is that you will find the front sight has a bit of movement and this is normal. As for it's effect on accuracy, these are handguns and not precision rifles so a minor bit of movement doesn't produce any measurable loss in accuracy at handgun ranges. The benefit is when you want to use a different front sight they can be changed without any tools in under 5 seconds.

As for where you can find alternate front sights in Norway, can't help you there but you may want to try the local S&W distributor. Here in the US we can just log on to the S&W Web Store and order them. Might be worth checking to see if they will ship items like front sights to Norway.

Welcome to the forum! That is a very nice looking revolver you have there. Other than the front sight, it looks very much like my 627-0 Model of 1989.

Let us know how well it performs for you!

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No good deed goes unpunished.

The 627-1 is a very rare bird here in the states. An article by Rex Halfpenny indicates that the ones he has seen photos of or handled had serial numbers in the BRC99xx range and BRD 00xx range. Those were 5.5 inch barrel lengths. Have you measured yours from the front of the cylinder to the end of the barrel? I have also read that the top strap was checkered, is yours? It seems that most of the "Target Champion" marked guns went to Wesco, but I once saw a 5 inch 627-2 that was marked "Target Champion". I don't recall whether the top was checkered or not. I have never seen a 627-1 and the 627-2's are really hard to find as well. Not sure how many were produced. One thing I do know, is that the full lug, six shot, 627s are very fine shooters and you have one very nice, scarce Smith. Congratulations.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Nightowl,
my -1 engineering revision of product code 101024 has been pictured many, many times on this Forum.



The -1 is far more common than the rare -2 engineering revision of the 101024. You are correct about serial number ranges for -1 revisions of the 101024

If I had a choice, I would much rather own a -1 than the extremely common -0 engineering revision of this revolver. The -1 has the frame drilled and tapped for the scope mount. That feature makes the firearm easily distinguishable from the -0 and no dash versions due to the different rear sight. Scoped these are amazing revolvers for longer ranges

-2s are also easy to spot as they are CNC manufactured, so the cylinder stop is machined into the frame instead of pressed in.

Thank you all for interesting views and tips regarding my -1. I will post more pics of it, as soon as I can, probably this week. I will also measure the barrel again, to see if it's 5 or 5.5 inches.

Beauty. That is about the perfect 357 Magnum, IMHO.

Welcome to the forum from SW GA, USA.

Colt saa:
That looks like a 5.5 inch barrel to me. In fact it looks like a 627-0 with the added features of drilled and tapped for scope mount. I assume the top strap is checkered? I have stumbled upon several -2s, and have observed a couple of others, but have never seen a -1, so have assumed they are more "rare" than the -2. Were most of them shipped out of the US?

Thanks for posting.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Product code 101024 was intended for the US market, how many may have left the country is not known. All 101024s have checkered top straps. 5276 total pieces of 101024 were produced. 278 of them are the no dash. Once the design flaw was discovered the -0 revision went into production. There are quite a few -1 examples of the 101024 and some -2 examples of the 101024. The split among the remaining 3 engineering revision is not known. The -2 version of 101024 is the rarest followed by the -1 and then the no dash leaving the -0 as the most common

The 5" pictured by the OP was manufactured for foreign consumption. Probably product code 101030 but there is no real way to tell with out the box or a record search as not all product codes utilized for foreign revolvers are known to us American collectors.

This style of 6 shot, full lug, 627 has been produced in at least 5", 5 1/2", and 6". All of the 6" examples I have seen are the -2 engineering revision

Thank you for the info. I was not aware that -0 style guns were made in the -1 version also.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

November - December 1996.

It's totally unrelated, but interesting to note, that a large number of the M696-0's were made in this same time frame, many with this same three letter prefix. I have 12 in my s/n collection, one after another.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I just came across one of these today 627-1, Same as the OP Revolver above but this one had a Fluted Cylinder ( Which I Like Better ) plus an extra pair of rubber grips. It was for sale and he rang me later in the day and said it's mine. I will have it in a couple of days when he brings it around. I'll post some pics when I get it.

Related:
Found a 627-2 That I Can't Identify now with PHOTOS!!