Radagast
Member
mesinge2:
Your Model 49 Bodyguard was manufactured in 1981.
stantdm:
Your .38 Miitary & Police (Postwar) was manufactured between September 1945 (serial number S811120) & March 1948 (serial number S978924), the S stands for safety, see the notes about the hammer block safety in the above post. When civilian sales resumed the V prefix and US Property marks were dropped. Your gun is considered a transitional model, as it has the old pre-war 'long' action and wartime internal safety. It was replaced by the current 'short' action in 1950, which basically defined the Model 10 / .38 Military & Police for the next 60 years.
The numbers under the crane are assembly numbers, used to track parts in the factory. They have no meaning after the gun was completed. If you take off the grips you will probably find more assembly numbers stamped on the flats of the frame.
Haywood:
S&W stamps serial numbers on the frames as they manufacture them. They record the date that the gun shipped from the factory, not the day it was manufactured. This makes sense for warranty reasons, as with some slow moving lines they may not sell for several years. For example the original .44 Double Action top break was catalogued until 1913, but all frames were made prior to 1898. More recently, in the 1980s some long barreled Model 66s have been recorded as shipping two years after their serial number range was used. This make sense as the then new Model 686 was the latest and greatest and was probably stealing sales from the 66 line.
S&W also do not believe in wasting spare parts. After pinned barrels and recessed cylinders were officially removed from the catalog S&W shipped some guns with pinned barrels and non recessed cylinders. They used up the old parts first.
So it distinctly possible that a gun or incomplete frame was kept in the factory as a sample for a number of years, then shipped out in 2000 when there was no longer a need for it.
Your dating from the SCSW is correct, based on the serial number and the frame type it should have a 1994 or 1995 manufacture date.
Your Model 49 Bodyguard was manufactured in 1981.
stantdm:
Your .38 Miitary & Police (Postwar) was manufactured between September 1945 (serial number S811120) & March 1948 (serial number S978924), the S stands for safety, see the notes about the hammer block safety in the above post. When civilian sales resumed the V prefix and US Property marks were dropped. Your gun is considered a transitional model, as it has the old pre-war 'long' action and wartime internal safety. It was replaced by the current 'short' action in 1950, which basically defined the Model 10 / .38 Military & Police for the next 60 years.
The numbers under the crane are assembly numbers, used to track parts in the factory. They have no meaning after the gun was completed. If you take off the grips you will probably find more assembly numbers stamped on the flats of the frame.
Haywood:
S&W stamps serial numbers on the frames as they manufacture them. They record the date that the gun shipped from the factory, not the day it was manufactured. This makes sense for warranty reasons, as with some slow moving lines they may not sell for several years. For example the original .44 Double Action top break was catalogued until 1913, but all frames were made prior to 1898. More recently, in the 1980s some long barreled Model 66s have been recorded as shipping two years after their serial number range was used. This make sense as the then new Model 686 was the latest and greatest and was probably stealing sales from the 66 line.
S&W also do not believe in wasting spare parts. After pinned barrels and recessed cylinders were officially removed from the catalog S&W shipped some guns with pinned barrels and non recessed cylinders. They used up the old parts first.
So it distinctly possible that a gun or incomplete frame was kept in the factory as a sample for a number of years, then shipped out in 2000 when there was no longer a need for it.
Your dating from the SCSW is correct, based on the serial number and the frame type it should have a 1994 or 1995 manufacture date.
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