I pickup a 6906 from buds ss# PJF17xx
I know they were made 1989 to 1999 Does any have a guess when this one was made? The smith book does not help me

Do you have the box for this pistol? If so, what is the "Spec Ord" number? It can be decoded to tell the year (first digit) and day of year (2nd through 4th digit).

Mine is VDV serial # and it was made in 1995. Yours is pre '95.

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handlebar-proud to be American

I have the same question...
Same serial number sequence.
Here is a picture of my box.
I don't see any special order number?

Attached Images

6906 boxa.jpg (98.4 KB, 44 views)

sorry no box on this one
Thanks for pre 1995
1990- 1991??

I know PJF is an odd prefix but, someone must know something about it?

An email to S&W with the serial number and they'll tell you when it was made. It usually takes them a day to respond.

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Sappers Lead The Way

Tom,
The absence of a special order number is not the only unusual thing on your end label. It has the word “USED” apparently printed by S&W. Some S&Ws that are rejected by customers are replaced with new guns, repaired then sold to distributors as used guns. The best know example is the FBI’s rejection of thousands of 1076s. The one I’ve examined has a new end label glued over an original box’s label. It’s likely your 6906 was not returned in an original box so it was resold in a new box. Most of the FBI’s 1076s that were resold had a U added on their trigger guard. Does your 6906 have the U?

In case it wasn’t clear above, the special order number is the Julian date a pistol was boxed. It is decoded presuming you know the decade. A 1990s 6906 with special order number 3222 was boxed on the 222nd day of 1993.

OK Shorty, what is a 6909? See thread title. Bob

If you have to ask

Well, the plot thickens!
In my first picture you can just make out (on the right side) that there are 2 stickers on the box.
So, after reading K22fan's reply I thought... maybe the bottom sticker is the original.
I carefully removed the top sticker and this is what I get.
Now if 9068 is the date code I get March of '89 or '99... Big help
A small portion came off during the procedure.

At this point it looks like a call to Springfield is the only choice.

Thanks to all for the assistance.

forgot the picture!

Attached Images

CIMG0001.jpg (132.3 KB, 19 views)

Tom 45, I could be wrong but with a blue box I would think it would be a 99 model. Someone can correct me if they know when S&W switched from cardboard to blue plastic boxes.

It's also a different product # (SKU?). The first digit is different on the two boxes, a "1" on the original label and a "6" on the top label. I have a VERY vague recollection that this has a specific meaning, and may in fact be related to it being a returned and factory reman pistol. Relying on that recollection without it being confirmed by someone more qualified than I would not be wise.

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NHI, 10-8.

When S&W resold the 1076s that had been rejected by the FBI they got a used gun SKU. If you think about how the SKU’s are used ordering products it’s obvious that a separate SKU was necessary.

S&W’s one piece cardboard boxes were superseded by blue plastic hinged boxes approximately 1995. A member with their SCSW handy can check that date. Unless they’ve been swapped the other things that will confirm tom 45’s 6906 is newer are its hammer and trigger. Early 3rd generation automatics had flash chromed forged hammers and triggers. Those were changed to blued MIM parts round about 1996.

This. It took a rep a few seconds to tell me on the phone that my 5904 was made in 1989.

Interesting. I was about to say look at the bottom label. I bought a couple used 4566TSWs and was curious about the date. Looking at the box they came in, there was no "special order" number but there was a 4 digit number next to the bar code....3240. So a little Google fu and I see that Aug 28 is the 240th day of the year, so 3 must mean 2003. As I'm packing the box back up, I end up moving the top foam and lo and behold, I find the fired casing envelope.....with a collection date of Aug 28, 2003. Guess the number decode thing works.

K22 fan. good call on the MIM parts.
I've got a MIM trigger and hammer and ambidextrous safety.

Attached Images

CIM019net.JPG (114.4 KB, 16 views)

Aw dang. That means my 5946 probably has MIM hammer/trigger.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

Thanks to all for the detective work that went into this.
I'm going to call it DOB March, 1999.

Case closed.