S&W 640-1

[colstontc1]

Just picked up a mint s&w 640-1, stainless, 5 shot, 2 1/8" magna ported barrel, 357 mag.
On the blue s&w box, it has the standard info, but then at the last it has a special order number #6170
Can anyone tell me what that means, I',m not having much luck with research on internet.
Thanks

 

[SAFireman]

The special order # is actually a Julian date. The first number is the last number of the year (1996) and the last three digits correspond to the day of the year (170th day).

Hope that helps.

 

[Bell2]

The special order # is actually a Julian date. The first number is the last number of the year (1996) and the last three digits correspond to the day of the year (170th day).

Hope that helps.

Is this the date of manufacture or of shipping?

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

It's the ship date, but S&W doesn't keep guns around for long. It's made, it goes in the box that same day, then it's riding in the back of a truck to the distributor in a day or two. For a manufacturer like S&W, there's no money in warehousing guns. Most of them are "sold" before they're even made, because they're making guns to fill orders.