"Julian" date, and stock designation

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rog8732

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I have exhausted my forum search skills on two aspects of a 1989 box containing a 629.

I know about the use of a Julian date for historical purposes, but it somehow escapes me as to how to convert.

So, under the spec.ord. header, what date is 9279 ?
Under the header, stock, what stocks are TS ?

Thanks
 
There are different systems of using the "Julian" date, which can include using the full Julian Calendar system which starts 4713 BCE. However, your sample just means the 279th day of 1989, and is not really a full Julian date on the Julian Calendar. It is a "corrupted" shorthand for what sequential day of a particular year an event happened.
 
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Thanks. And that 279th day equates to Friday, October 6th 1989 right ?

Since you answered in less than 7 minutes, it seems obvious to me you know this information already, and had no need to consult google or wiki. (Like I would have had to do !)

As for the TS stocks question, the answer finally drifted through the brain-fog, and before I could type it I see colt saa supplied the answer. Right sir, I do not yet have the Catalog you mention.

Thanks for the reply
 
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"TS" are Target Stocks

I am guessing that you do not already own a copy of The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson

The 4th Edition began shipping a few months ago, if you are a Smith and Wesson enthusiast, this is a great book to own.
 
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Kernel Crittenden said:
You're right, the correct ship date is likely......October 6th, 1989.
But since you show no picture, nor disclose the dash number, the year could be 1999 or 2009.
Click to expand...

From my scant understanding of how "Julian Dates" work, the four numbers: 9279, more or less indicate the exact date ??

For the gun however, it is a 629-2, 3 inch, unfluted cylinder, with well figured wooden finger groove combats, with S&W medallions; 100% original to the gun.
Wide smooth target trigger, white outline rear sight, black front sight.

The puzzler to me is about the "TS" stocks, "target" designation ?....But in follow-up searching here, the opinions are that ALL stocks/grips are considered TS, except the magnas;... and factory "finger-groove combats" do not have a box designation.?
A further note on the stocks. They both have a hand numbered 337, and the right side has a very small rubber stamped date June 14 1988.?

I have several sets of combats, and have not seen such a rubber stamp in any before ?

The box end label has an additional small sticker with the numerials : 989, which now makes sense, after the enlightenment about the number 9279 Julian date under the header, Spec.Ord.

As for pictures, while I know they are a big part of the forum, and I enjoy them as well, up to now I did not have anything in particular I wanted to post.
I do have a tutorial about "how-to" now, so I will give it a try once I have taken pictures of something of interest.

Please note most of my sentences end with a question mark; as opposed to any sort of declaration !!

Thanks
 
Lew Horton had 3,200 of these 103650's made in 1989. The early ones were -2's and the last of the run were -2E's. They had the Enhanced mods. BEE is a common s/n prefix seen. Call Lew Horton. They'll confirm it's one of theirs, and send you a nice free letter with fancy letterhead and some history and details.

The 103650 shipped with Pachmayr grips, from what I've seen, so it's likely a previous owner added the Combats. In any case, lucky you. They add a lot of value. TS is the feature code for Target Stocks. Often times you'll find the gun wearing something other than the classic wood Target Stocks -- a term that collectors have defined. S&W uses their own nomenclature, unencumbered by the terms collectors use.

During this era, to S&W a TS was almost any grip that filled in the area immediately behind the trigger guard. Like Combat Stocks (CS), or Pachmayrs (PM), or Hogues (HG), and Grips Rubber (GR). These feature codes come and go, their uses and meanings change over time. Don't get too hung up on it. Sometimes a label has inconsistencies. The labels are printed at the factory and sometimes the distributor changes out the stocks for their own reasons.

The Spec. Ord. number is the ship date. I said "likely" in my previous post because I wasn't sure of the year. But it's definitely 1989. The ink stamp date on the inner panel is normal for this era. Anything prior to the gun's ship date can be correct, so they could be original. Which is unusually, because I've never notice CS's with an ink date either or a 103650 with CS's. The LH letter may shine a light on this.

Get that letter and get back to us. I'll PM you a thing on the easiest way to post pics.
 
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