I'm really enjoying the book and it has been very helpful in looking up all sorts of things related to revolvers I own and to revolvers I think I might purchase, etc. A little more obvious to the wife when it's on the kitchen table than looking at a Kindle edition on my laptop, but I just tell her the more info I have the more "focused" I can be in purchases, i.e., suggesting fewer. She's nice about pretending to believe that, lol.
J-frame Serial/year Listing in a Single Thread?
- Thread starter MasterGuns
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Thank you....
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what's the date of a Smith serial number 149455?
I would suggest you start a new thread with your question, and first look at the "STICKY -- To Identify your gun" at the top of the forum page so you can provide the information folks will need to help answer your question.
Let's return to the original poster's question.
As Absalom suggested, it's a difficult question. I have a considerable database of Chiefs Specials shipping dates, but without getting a letter from Roy Jinks ($100) or joining the S&W Collectors Association to have access to Roy through the collectors side of this forum, it's all a guess.
My database shows Chiefs Specials (Models 36, 36-1, & 37) shipped in 1966 starting at serial number 391831 and running through 458810, but, and it's a big BUT, within that range there are also ones that shipped in 1965, 1967, 1968 and 1969.
S&W did not ship in serial number order. That's the reason for the wide range of ship dates. The only ones anyone can track -- of the nearly half million Chiefs that had been made by 1966 -- are ones that surface and the owner follows through to find the exact ship date from Roy and then is kind enough to share that information with the rest of us. In all, it's a pretty small number so "guesses" about ship dates are just that.
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Ok, kinda "newbie" questions here, but...
1) The serial # is on the bottom of the grip. Correct?
2) What is the significance of a J-frame serial # starting with letters? (such as "AAR...")
1) The serial # is on the bottom of the grip. Correct?
2) What is the significance of a J-frame serial # starting with letters? (such as "AAR...")
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1) Yes.
2) With the launch of the L-frame (Models 581, 586, 681 & 686)
S&W started a new alphanumeric serial number series with three
letters and four numbers. By 1983 the company had integrated all
S&W models into the new series. AARxxxx would have been early
in the series (1983) for the J-frames.
2) With the launch of the L-frame (Models 581, 586, 681 & 686)
S&W started a new alphanumeric serial number series with three
letters and four numbers. By 1983 the company had integrated all
S&W models into the new series. AARxxxx would have been early
in the series (1983) for the J-frames.
Excellent! Thank you very much for your help.
