60-15 Wisdom Needed

[Bhfromme]

Reading the M63 Unicorn thread reminded me of the confusion I have wondering when my 60-15 was made. Check this out:

M60-15: 2001 3" Target with ILS
M60-16: 2001 .38 Special 2" fixed sight with ILS
M60-17: 2001 .38 Special 3" Target with ILS
M60-18: 2005 .357 Magnum 5" Target with ILS w/ 2 piece barrel

Isn't it uncommon for three different dash numbers to be manufactured simultaneously?

And specific to my sweet little shooter, it's a dash 15 with serial number DAF58xx. Can't find the DAF prefix in the catalog. Can someone make an educated guess what year it left the factory? Doesn't really matter, it's a shooter and will never be collectible, just curious more than anything.

 

[M29since14]

My experience is that nowadays S&W’s model numbers and the way they assign the dash numbers don’t much comport with the old way us “more experienced” S&W afficianados are used to, so producing three difference dash numbers on the same basic model number at the same time makes no sense to me, but it’s their circus and their monkeys.

Has the published information you supplied actually been verified as accurate? I don’t know. I am just asking. There’s always the possibility of an error.

 

[Bhfromme]

My experience is that nowadays S&W’s model numbers and the way they assign the dash numbers don’t much comport with the old way us “more experienced” S&W afficianados are used to, so producing three difference dash numbers on the same basic model number at the same time makes no sense to me, but it’s their circus and their monkeys.

Has the published information you supplied actually been verified as accurate? I don’t know. I am just asking. There’s always the possibility of an error.

You make a good point. I'll have to check the catalog to confirm.

 

[joe44va]

To expand your list:

T60 - introduced in 1965
60-1 (1972) 3 in square butt limited production
60-1 (1982) Delete pinned barrel
60-1 (1986) Special run 2" bbl. w/adj. sights
60-2 (1987) DAO NYPD?
60-3 (1988) New yoke retention system
60-4 (1990) 3 in target sights full under lug barrel
60-5 (1990) DAO for NYPD with new yoke retention
60-6 (1989) Ladysmith version
60-7 (1990) front sight 1/8 inch wide, new heat treatment
60-8 (1990) same as 60-7 for NYPD
60-9 (1996) change to J magnum frame
60-10 (1996) Target variation on J magnum frame
60-11 (1996) New frame design for 38 Special version only
60-12 (1996) new frame nose cut
60-13 (1996) same as 60-12 but target version
60-14 (2001) Ladysmith with internal lock
60-15 (2001) internal lock on 357 mag target version
60-16 (2001) internal lock on 38 Special 2 in
60-17 (2001) internal lock on 38 Special 3 inch target
60-18 (2005) internal lock 357 Mag 5 inch target 2 pc barrel

 

[Bhfromme]

So it's confirmed. Starting in 2001 they made a .357 Mag Model 60 and then 2 that were only made for .38 Spl. I'll have to see if the catalog explains when they did away with the .38 Spl only variants. And the fact that they had different dash numbers simply for different barrel lengths seems very odd. Can anyone shed some light on this?