Need to know year made.

[Steve St.]

Hello Forum.

I need some help identifying the age of 2 S&W revolvers.

No 1 is a Model 60 No dash 38 Spl. Serial no. R176077.

No 2 is a Model 66-1 357 Mag. Serial no. 70K0472.

Thank you so much for your help.

Steve St.

 

[murphydog]

The model 60 was made in 1976, and the 66-1 in 1980. S & W determines a gun's age by its ship (sales) date, but in that era those two guns probably sold soon after being produced.

 

[Targets Guy]

Probably 1981 for the Model 66-1. 69K56xx shipped Jan 1981 and 70K62xx shipped Sep 1981. But S&W did not ship in s/n order.

 

[JP@AK]

Probably 1981 for the Model 66-1. 69K56xx shipped Jan 1981 and 70K62xx shipped Sep 1981. But S&W did not ship in s/n order.

Agreed. The best info I have available (obtained from Roy several years ago) indicates that 70K numbers were used in 1981.

As to numbers being out of order, they were not even assigned in order, let along shipped that way. Here are a few examples:

75K, 76K, 77K were used in 1979.
78K, 79K, 80K were used in 1980
70K, 71K, 72K, 73K, 74K were used in 1981
Individual exceptions can occur within those ranges.

We really need to get out of the habit of thinking S&W used serial numbers in some strict numerical order. They didn't.

Back to the gold standard: if it isn't in a letter, it is guesswork. The only exceptions are if you get a ship date directly from Roy or Don.