Change in rifling method in late '90s

[kean57]

Hello,
I've got a question about the change in revolver rifling that appeared sometime in the late '90s; if I compare the rifling in my older (pre-'97-'98) Smiths with those that came later, the older Smiths have sharply cut lands and grooves; those that came later have more rounded, less sharply defined lands and grooves. Did Smith change from some form of cut-rifling to a "button" type of rifling process? I would love any and all information on this that any member can share; I wasn't able to find anything in the 3rd Edition of the Standard Catalog. Thanks in advance for your time and trouble,
Jim (kean57)

 

[EdK]

I believe what you are looking at is EDM rifling. A search on that should turn up some more information.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

I believe what you are looking at is EDM rifling. A search on that should turn up some more information.

Exactly right.

I had a 586-4 built in '95 that had the new style rifling. It started at the same time that the dash 4 586 came out- in '94.