Box Spec Ord (Date code)

Was just digging through my boxes that I have checking dates of manufacturer...err ship and realized some are confusing. The later boxes have a 6 digit date code. The earlier ones have the Spec Ord that by my understanding, the 1st character is the year and the last 3 is the day of the year. Would have been less confusing if they just used Tire companies method of 1st 2 digits are the year and last are the week of the year..

If a gun was manufactured across 2 decades, how do you know if it was produced in 1989 or 1999?

I.E. I have a 5903 that has spec ord of 9255, I suspect it is 1989 since it has pre-novak sites on it. But is there any other way for us lay folks to determine it ourselves?

Serial is TDJ41XX. Product code of 104010.

Thanks,

Rosewood

rosewood said:

Was just digging through my boxes that I have checking dates of manufacturer...err ship and realized some are confusing. The later boxes have a 6 digit date code. The earlier ones have the Spec Ord that by my understanding, the 1st character is the year and the last 3 is the day of the year.

If a gun was manufactured across 2 decades, how do you know if it was produced in 1989 or 1999?

I.E. I have a 5903 that has spec ord of 9255, I suspect it is 1989 since it has pre-novak sites on it. But is there any other way for us lay folks to determine it ourselves?

Serial is TDJ41XX. Product code of 104010.

Thanks,

Rosewood

Click to expand...

The date coding appears to have changed from 4 digit Spec Ord to 6 digit in late 2013. So a 9xxx Spec Ord could be 1989, 1999, or 2009. The best way to determine dates is to ask S&W - [email protected] - they can generally give you a Manufacture Date (which may be a few days off of SpecOrd date code)

As to your TDJ, almost certainly its 1989 as the Novak sights came in around 1991 as I recall. I dont see a SKU for a 5903 in 1989 - first I have seen was 1990 SKU 104018 Fixed Sights / 104042 Adjustable Sights. This is not uncommon as I have seen multiple pistols that SW dates a year before they appear in literature. But by 1992, the SKUs changed to 108179 (Fixed Novak?) and 109194 (Adjustable) respectively. Another clue would be the width of the barrel hood - earlier pistols hava a narrower hood (roughly 1/4 in ?) while the later pistols (after about 1993?) tend to have the wider barrel hood (3/8 in ?)

Also from some of my observations, most of the TDL and below date from 1989-1991 while there appears to be a break and TDM and subsequent tend to be 1999-2002.

But best answer is always to check [email protected]

rosewood said:

If a gun was manufactured across 2 decades, how do you know if it was produced in 1989 or 1999?

Click to expand...

Most pistols didn't run ten years or more without a change, but some did.

The 5903 reportedly ran 1990-1998, then the 5903TSWs took over.

The 5904 reportedly ran from 1988 to 1998 though.

The 6906 from 1988 to 1999.

As mentioned, some features undoubtedly changed over time for many: sights, trigger guard, lettering but if you have the label you have the box.

The boxes changed too, in the later's case from cardboard to the first style plastic box.

You just have to take the available clues to deduce the correct year, or call S&W if in doubt.

.

Check the serial number of your gun against the “book” to find a narrow date range and then you can deduce from there with your date code.

Book is not that great on triple alpha 3rd gen pistols - lots of gaps and I have 2 pistols with VJP35xx s/n 16 apart that SW dates as 1998 and 2009 (oddly the lower s/n is the 2009 date per SW)
For ref TDL24xx dates 1989 and TDM56xx dates 1999 per SW.
As OP noted his TDJ pistol is pre-Novak so that would narrow a 9xxx Spec Ord code down to 1989

rosewood said:

Was just digging through my boxes that I have checking dates of manufacturer...err ship and realized some are confusing. The later boxes have a 6 digit date code. The earlier ones have the Spec Ord that by my understanding, the 1st character is the year and the last 3 is the day of the year. Would have been less confusing if they just used Tire companies method of 1st 2 digits are the year and last are the week of the year..

If a gun was manufactured across 2 decades, how do you know if it was produced in 1989 or 1999?

I.E. I have a 5903 that has spec ord of 9255, I suspect it is 1989 since it has pre-novak sites on it. But is there any other way for us lay folks to determine it ourselves?

Serial is TDJ41XX. Product code of 104010.

Thanks,

Rosewood

Click to expand...

Neither the SPEC ORD number or the 6 digit date code are shipping dates.

There is no way when they are printing the labels to know when it is going to leave the factory. It is the date of manufacture

The ONLY way to get the shipping date is to request a Factory letter.

The 6 digit date code printed on the newer boxes are not a code, it is actually the date of manufacture. Just put some dashes in it xx-xx-xx

colt_saa said:

Neither the SPEC ORD number or the 6 digit date code are shipping dates.

There is no way when they are printing the labels to know when it is going to leave the factory. It is the date of manufacture

The ONLY way to get the shipping date is to request a Factory letter.

The 6 digit date code printed on the newer boxes are not a code, it is actually the date of manufacture. Just put some dashes in it xx-xx-xx

Click to expand...

I had read that on another post. Thanks for the correction.

Rosewood

colt_saa said:

Neither the SPEC ORD number or the 6 digit date code are shipping dates.

There is no way when they are printing the labels to know when it is going to leave the factory. It is the date of manufacture

The ONLY way to get the shipping date is to request a Factory letter.

The 6 digit date code printed on the newer boxes are not a code, it is actually the date of manufacture. Just put some dashes in it xx-xx-xx

Click to expand...

Actually if you have access to the SW Members area, you can request Ship Date from Roy - no more than 1 request per week etc.

As to Spec Ord decode, I have gotten mixed info from SW - have been told it was Ship Date - also told Box Date (date pistol was boxed for shipment - which can be same as Mfg Date and may predate Shipment by days, weeks, months, or in the extreme, years in at least one case).

I think most consider Box date as Manufacture Date, but I have gotten earlier "Mfg Dates" than Box Dates on specific pistols I have checked with SW.