You ever think you kind of know something only to find out that maybe you don't and then when you attempt to dig deeper you kind of find out maybe a trusted source is possibly confused also?!

The ubiquitous Model 41 (and to a lesser extent, the 46), I knew these pistols had been built in Houlton, Maine, but I had been under the impression that 41 production was moved there some time in the early 2000's... or possibly the very late 1990's.

Well, the SCSW 4th literally says that Model 41 production was moved to Houlton, ME in 1957. And a fast web search tells me that S&W opened that facility in Houlton, Maine in 1966.

Whole lot of things are not adding up.

On top of this... every 41/46 that I've ever seen before the early 2000's says Springfield, Mass on it. It's only the more modern 41's I've seen that actually say Houlton, ME on them. This is no solid reference because I'm simply going from memory.

I only own one example of a 41 and mine was built in 1991 and it says Springfield, Mass on it.

I recall seeing Houlton, ME stamped on some 422/622/2206 guns but my memory tells me that only the latest examples of these were so marked, and these guns were out of production by 1996 I think. The tiny ones (2213, 2214) were made a few years after.

What about the original rimfire, the Model 61 Escort, where was that made?

What other guns were made in Houlton, ME? I have seen a rare few extremely late production 3rd Gens marked with this location, but those are very few in number also.

Smith & Wesson was never in the business of keeping fantastic notes and information and making it available to collectors and fans, but we still find this stuff interesting.

Who knows lots of information about the production history of the facility in Houlton?

Interesting questions, Sevens. Anecdotal, I know, but my 22S from 1998 reads Houlton, my 41 from 1964 says Springfield, my 61 from the early 1970's says Springfield, and my 622 from likely 1989 says Springfield.

Sorry, I forgot - my Victory .22 also says Springfield.

I have a Model 22A-1 Talo edition that is marked as being manufactured in Houlton, Maine but my 2022-production Model 41 bears a Springfield marking. The plot thickens...

Ed

I have a 5904TSW that's marked as Springfield but the fired casing says Houlton, ME, Feb 16, 2009.

I have a 41 marked Houlton, ME; the fired case is dated 11-24-04, and an E-series 1911sc also marked Houlton, which I purchased new in 2012.

I live 12 miles north of the factory in Houlton, ME. The former, now retired, factory manager of many years lives about 100 yards from my house. He's a good guy.

I have a model 622 Target I bought in San Diego in about 1997, the really rare model with the 6" barrel and the vents in the top of the aluminum barrel assembly. It is marked 'Houlton, ME.'

I know the Houlton facility to have contract rebuilt the Gen 3 semiautos there for West Virginia State Police and other departments, and more recently machined M&P slides and 1911s there, but no longer produce anything serialized, I heard, because of insurance needed to transport the items from here to Springfield, MA, like 400 or so miles. They still make handcuffs here, and maybe slides as well.

My 1911 is marked Houlton, ME.

Attached Images

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S&W Trivia time!
I didn't know where Houlton is, so I looked at Google Maps. The town is on the Canadian border, and the S&W building is about 500 feet from Canada and just off I-95.

I brought this up a couple of years ago but can't remember the answer. I do know the earlier pistols are marked Springfield, and seems the later ones are Houlton. For some reason I thought the answer was they were all actually made in Houlton, but some were marked Springfield..

Smith & Wesson’s Houlton plant manager retiring after 39 years

Smith Wesson history at Houlton

I helped update the model 41 info in the 4th edition and some how a few dates changed from what I sent in. The Houlton move was one date that was changed. The move occured around 1992. Prior all semi-autos were made in Springfield.

Edit..I made a comment a while back on the dates being swapped. standard-catalogue-s-w-4th-ed/scsw-4-corrections-comments-suggestions. Post #106

From the article about the Houlton plant:

The Model 422 .22-caliber pistol launched production in 1986

I don't have exact dates, but the best estimate I have is that:
Model 41's were made in Springfield until sometime in the early 90's when they moved to Houlton. Model 41's moved back to Springfield sometime in the mid-2010's.
2206 Plinker family of pistols were all built in Houlton.
22A/22S Sport series pistols were all built in Houlton.
SW1911's and 3rd Gen pistols were moved to Houlton in late 2000's and moved back to Springfield at the same time as the M41. 3rd Gen now being discontinued.
For the Walther fans, PPK/S pistols were made for Walther by S&W Houlton from around 2002-2012ish and are marked Houlton.