Several years ago I bought a 460XVR. The one I own is the only one I ever saw or even heard about. Obviously, it's a.460, it has a six inch barrel, olive drab Hogue grips, hi-viz sights (as I recall), it's a performance center revolver and came in a zipper rug, the serial number begins with LLL... I have no information about this revolver, I am hoping someone can give me an idea about the when and why this came into being. Thanks in advance for the background.

There's a gentleman who posts here named ruggyh and he will see this and likely be your best source of help. I believe he knows more about the 460 than S&W does.

Do you have the original box this came in? What I'm asking for is the end label. That end label has a 6-digit product code that can really narrow down exactly what you have.

The fantastic SCSW 4th Edition by Supica & Nahas catalogs a slew of 460's, and a number of them are 6-1/2" barrels, but I can't say I see any 6-inch'ers.

Thank you Sevens! Based on your recommendation, I dug around and found the box. The barrel length is 6.5" and the product code 170263. Thanks again!

The Catalog simply says that 170263 is a Performance Center version from 2005, with compensator. Not much information in the book unfortunately.

If you look on your end label well below the product code, there should be another four digit number in a much smaller font. I suspect the first digit is a 6... the last three digits should be the julian date code, and that date might match closely with the fired case envelope if you have that inside the box.

You can find the details of your gun in this thread

Lew Horton 460 S&W Magnums (with photos)

The spec ord # in your case may or may not be the Julian date, as many of the Lew Horton distributed 460's have 4444.

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Ruggy

Thank you very much ruggyh, your input is spot on and yes my small print revealed the non-descript 4444 code. I do like the revolver, I am surprised that they made as many as they did, I didn't buy it as a collectable but rather for its shootability. It was previously owned but unfired when I bought it but I got it for what I deemed a reasonable price (about the same as a used standard model).

The balance of this model is very good in my opinion and are pleasant to shoot. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

You should have a fired case in an envelop if you have the original box. This will have the date of when the gun was test fired it is usually within a couple of days if the same date as the box end label.

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Ruggy

I would be very interested in the gun due to the unique ammo choices, but I know that I would seldom use it. I saw one at the gunshow Sunday that had to be 18 inches long. Always interested in hearing about them. Thank you!