Does anyone know if there is a magic number , or a percentage or exactly how S & W figures an auto pistol overrun ? Or is it just " how many parts do we have left over , enough to build ( X ) guns " .

I would guess like most companys they don't want any unsold inventory. Most of the overruns I bet come from canceled or reduced orders that had already been placed.

I may be wrong but I am betting it's just a matter of parts and materials at the ready. If they were to make a run of say 100 guns there's a chance that maybe 1 or 2 guns are defective in some way. So if they have enough stuff they go ahead and make 5 or so extra guns. No issues arise, you sell the overrun. Or they may intentionally make 10-100 extra guns and then add them to the vault. Short of finding a S&W insider this may be a hard question to get firm answers on.

It probably depends on a few factors, such as the model involved and who's making the decisions regarding that production run.

Is the customer agency known for making follow-up orders? If the agency placing the order suddenly decides they want to add a few more units after a recent order they received, it's easier to already have them in the vault and available.

Has the the area LE sales manager received some nibbles & inquiries from one agency about the order just received by another agency, and they're asking for a few T&E guns?

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Thanks to all so far , can anyone suggest how to gain more knowledge on the Venezuelan 469 ? The Jinks letter just stated that it was part of a production overrun. The SCSW # 3 doesn't mention numbers of units.

From what I've heard and read......which ain't much, is that there were few very of those made available to the general public.

Anybody else here have one? Or know any more details about them?