help with born on date

[kimporter]

just got this 32 reg police off fellow forum member sn is 490111,can anybody give me an appx bod thanks

 

[murphydog]

Probably shipped in the mid-late 1930s.

 

[DWalt]

I'd think it was from the late pre-WWII period, maybe 1935-40. But I don't know much about dating these.

 

[tlay]

You need to realize, S&W did not have a manufacturing date. They have a shipping date. That means it could have been made in September of 1930 but for whatever reason it might not have shipped until June of 1931. The 6/31 date will be the date we go by.

 

[DWalt]

During the Great Depression, sales were very slow and finished products could stay in factory inventory for years. I've understood that manufacture of the .32-20 M&Ps actually ended in the late 1920s, yet were cataloged and sold until 1940. A similar scenario might also exist for the Regulation Police revolvers. I's suspect this one would have been shipped in the 1935-40 period, but could have been manufactured somewhat earlier. Without a letter, we can't know when it was shipped.

 

[Hondo44]

From this gun's features which are more important to me for determining a produced date: non-medallion grips ended and flat silver medallions were introduced c. 1929, the order to drop the extractor 'mushroom' knob and replace with the 'barrel' knob was c. 1927.

As several have said, during the 1930s, the produced date and the shipped date can have as much as a 10 years or more difference.

However, in my database, #495640 with Barrel knob and no medallions just like yours shipped 1/26/29 and #504864 shipped April 1929. Therefore yours likely shipped about the same time and just missed the crash of '29 and later depression that caused late shipping.

 

[Jxschi]

Does anyone know when they added Made in USA on the right side ?

 

[Hondo44]

Yes, the change order to add the MADE IN USA stamping was issued in mid 1922 and lasted until 1948. Then the four line address replaced it.

 

[kimporter]

wow,thanks for the info,now that you mention it it makes sense that the shipping date and date it was made could be so different.with the new just in time stuff in manufacturing i forget how it once was

 

[DWalt]

Manufacturing date has different meanings. Does it mean the date the complete product was placed in the box and was sent to the finished product warehouse, when the component parts were made, or some period in-between? Manufacturers at one time accumulated stockpiles of component parts, and they also could have remained in inventory for prolonged periods when sales get slow. That's not so common now, as most companies know that raw materials, parts, and final product inventories held beyond current sales needs represent idle capital, so modern business practices dictate that inventory levels must be controlled very tightly. That wasn't always the case.

 

[Hondo44]

Manufacturing date has different meanings. Does it mean the date the complete product was placed in the box and was sent to the finished product warehouse, when the component parts were made, or some period in-between?

To me the only official meaning is the date the serial # was entered into the production logs. Roy does not refer to the logs in his letters, but a few members here do and have supplied that date on occasion in some threads.

 

[kwill1911]

As far as ATF is concerned there is no ambiguity as to the meaning of "manufacturing date." When the serial number is stamped on the frame or receiver it becomes a "gun" and that is its date of manufacture.

 

[Hondo44]

I'd like to see the ATF figure that out. They were using the shipping date on the New #3 DAs which were sold and shipped 10 years plus into the new century. Roy Jinks had to prove to them that all of those frames were serial numbered prior to 1899 to prevent registering them unnecessarily.

 

[kwill1911]

I agree. But because S&W did not generally record the manufacturing date the ATF uses the ship date as the "born on" date. That's why Roy had to extraordinary lengths on the guns you are referring to.

 

[Hondo44]

Hi Kevin,

Yes, precisely my point. The law may indicate the production date but ATF uses the shipped date; whatever ambiguity they have to use to make it practical for them to enforce a law.