Serial number info please

[ncase]

I picked up a model 18 serial # k333xxx today at my local gun shop to go with my k 38 serial # k222xxx.
I think the k38 is from the fifty's and k22 is from the 60s but not sure.
If someone could look up the dates of manufacture, I would be grateful
Ncase

 

[jjbrewst1]

K222XXX 1954 and K333XXX 1958.

Hope this Helps

 

[DWalt]

K210,096 – K231,255...1954
K317,823 – K350,547...1958

 

[JSR III]

Your K22 is probably one of the early ones to be model marked as that happened in 1957-8.

You can thank the guvment for that...

Although, you should have waited to find a K22 with a little higher number. Then you could have had a K38 with a serial that started with K22 and a K22 that had a number starting with K38. Just saying.....

 

[Skeetr57]

How did the government have anything to do with model marking S&W revolvers? The GCA of 1968 did require changes in serial numbering, but I thought that the model marking was a company decision.

 

[JP@AK]

How did the government have anything to do with model marking S&W revolvers? The GCA of 1968 did require changes in serial numbering, but I thought that the model marking was a company decision.

That would be correct. No government action required S&W to start using model numbers. It was primarily a marketing matter, I believe.
I remember 1957 quite well. The gov't was not in our face at all in those days. Heck, direct federal funding to local schools was still more than 6 years into the future. And no one dreamed of messing with the 2d Amendment!

 

[DWalt]

That would be correct. No government action required S&W to start using model numbers. It was primarily a marketing matter, I believe.
I remember 1957 quite well. The gov't was not in our face at all in those days. Heck, direct federal funding to local schools was still more than 6 years into the future. And no one dreamed of messing with the 2d Amendment!

The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA-68) required unique serial numbers for each gun produced, and most manufacturers had to change their old serial numbering procedures to comply, such as having combinations of letters and numbers. Model numbering was never mandated by law.

 

[JP@AK]

Thanks, DWalt. That is precisely what Tom and I were saying too.
The 1968 Act was a typical politician's knee-jerk reaction to some high profile assassinations. But it had nothing to do with model numbers.

 

[DWalt]

I don't know exactly how the post-1968 SN system works, but there must be some BATFE assignment method by manufacturer existing to prevent any possibility of, say, S&W and Remington using the same identification characters on their respective products.

Speaking of Remington, some very interesting news is out abut a very small company buying up Freedom Group (Remington, Marlin, and many other brands). Lots of speculation is circulating about a conspiracy backed by Bloomberg to shut it down. Who knows?

 

[JP@AK]

He certainly has the money to pull something like that off!

 

[JSR III]

You can thank the guvment for that...

Sorry about that. I had read somewhere that the government required all gun manufacturers to start model marking their guns as they had difficulty telling one gun from another. Don't know where I heard it and can't find any printed information to document the claim.

So, please disregard my statement.

 

[ncase]

Didn't think of that

Although, you should have waited to find a K22 with a little higher number. Then you could have had a K38 with a serial that started with K22 and a K22 that had a number starting with K38. Just saying.....

I been wanting a k-22 for along time,this one is in great condition, plus he wanted for $400 it so I jumped on it.Will post a picture when my permit shows up. NY is not a free state long wait on pistols in my area