Wittman

[Wittman]

First time visitor, new member -
Of course, I have a situation. I have recently purchased a model 17-5, .22LR, 6" barrel, serial #AWN19**. I have a copy
of the "Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" and can't find any reference. I was under the belief that model 17 serial numbers should be prefixed with a "K".
Please help.

 

[CWH44300]

Welcome, from what I under stand the 17-5 was only made for 2 years so they are somewhat rare, I'm probably wrong but I want to say 1980-82. I posted about the one I picked up about 8 years ago for $350, its 6" non lugged version in a very crisp 99% that seems to be only factory fired. I was going to turn it into a shooter until learning about them.I'm sure other more knowledgable people will be along to tell us more

 

[murphydog]

The factory went to the 3-letter/4-digit SN system in 1980. If you look at page 400 of the SCSW 3rd edition you'll see prefix AWW listed as July 1987, but AVB also. One of these may be a typo, or the letter prefixes were not used in order...in any case, AWN was very likely a 1987 gun.

If you got the original box in the deal, look on the label under "Special Order", where it should read 7xxx. This means it was produced on the xxxth day of 1987. Enjoy that model 17!