Probably a dumb question

[panther]

I was at a friend's house last week to look at some guns he inherited. One was a S&W .357. It was obviously a model 19, but when I opened the cylinder to look at the mark on the inside, it looked like it said it was a model 18. I even got a flashlight and some glasses and it still looked more like an 18 then a 19. I chalked it up to a poor stamp, or wear on the gun.
Well, today I was looking at an internet auction and saw an auction for a S&W that was identified as a model 18 .357. Did some revolvers just have a stamp that was hard to read? I've never noticed this before, and I've certainly never heard of any model 18 other then the .22. Maybe the guy who is running the auction needs to get together with me and we both need to see an eye doctor.

 

[Flint Ridge]

That or a they just did it wrong. Those will pop up here from time to time.

 

[Combat]

I saw a mod 19 marked as a mod 18 in a pawnshop just last monday.It's just one of those "must of been made the day after a holiday when the stamper was hungover" thing.It's not very common but when your making things by the tens of thousands, it happens.