S&W 17-3 with low 8K serial number

[Boyle]

Good evening -
Does anyone know what year Model 17-3s with low 8K serial numbers were made?

 

[bobsguns]

Dash 3s ran from 1967 to 1977.

Can't help on the S/N, sorry.

Edited to fix my idiocy on the dates. It was before my coffee...............

 

[ODB]

Ok, far from an expert, but, I do have a copy of the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 4th Edition. Page 216 under “Engineering and production changes:”
• 17-3 1967 Relocation of rear sight leaf screw.
• 1968 Delete Diamond grips.
• 17-4 1977 Change to put gas ring from yoke to cylinder….
Based on the above info, I would conclude the 17-3 ran from ’67 – ’77. Might have been some overlap?
Does the serial number have a alphanumeric prefix? For example, my 17-4 shows 95K18XX, 17-6 shows BEH89XX.

 

[Boyle]

I read a thread saying model 17-3s with serial numbers starting with 8K and followed by high numbers were made in the 1970s. Mine has an 8K serial number with a low number (under 2000). "8KXXXX"

 

[Boyle]

ODB's answer is probably the best one possible.

I just read an article saying S & W moved the gas ring from the cylinder to the yoke in a failed 1974 experiment.

AND then moved it back to the cylinder in 1976. SO . . .

Pre-1974 17-3s and post-1976 17-4s have the gas ring on the cylinder.

My 17-3 has the gas ring on the cylinder and, therefore, I deduce that it must have been mfg'd between 1968 & 1974.

Here's the link to the story of the gas ring.

The Smith & Wesson L-Frame Story – RevolverGuy.Com

 

[press-1-for-english]

1975 according to my SCSW 4th edition. Page 489

 

[Boyle]

Thank you all.
The SCSW is available online.
Link is here . . .
Standard catalog of Smith & Wesson : Supica, Jim : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Not sure if that's the 4th ed.
Can you post an image of page 489 of the 4th ed ??

 

[Boyle]

press-1-for-english is most likely correct. I was watching 17-3 videos on Youtube and saw this guy flash the serial number on the bottom of the box and it was 8K29193. He has all the paperwork that tells him the date of mfg. Here's the link to the Youtube vid.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_raR8ieAU0[/ame]

 

[press-1-for-english]

Thank you all.
The SCSW is available online.
Link is here . . .
Standard catalog of Smith & Wesson : Supica, Jim : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Not sure if that's the 4th ed.
Can you post an image of page 489 of the 4th ed ??

Here is an image of the relevant information on page 489.

 

[Boyle]

I tried to reply earlier, but I don't see it.
Pardon if I repeat myself.
Thanks to press-1-for-english for solving the mystery.
My 17-3 with a low 8K serial number was made in 1975.

 

[L-2]

From my "book":
1975
7K26044-7K70577
6K58918-8K20763
8K20764-9K1
8K20000-9K100000

Supica, Jim; Nahas, Richard. Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson) (p. 489). Gun Digest Media. Kindle Edition.