Model 49, date of manufacture?

[Checkman]

I have to get one of those Smith and Wesson books, but until then. I own a Model 49 serial number J1517XX. Can someone tell me when it was made please? I won't ask you again - promise.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Probably late 1973 or early 1974.

 

[Checkman]

Thanks Mike. Always nice to know.

 

[Old Fuff]

Checkman;

There is a problem with some Smith & Wessons'

They would serial a certain size of frame (such as a J-frame) and them use the frames to make different model guns. Using a reference book, such as Jim Supica and Richard Nahas's excellent "Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" one can determine that a certain serial number is within a range of numbers that were made between certain years.

For example your model 49, #J 1517xx fits within a range of numbers running from J 100000 to J 250000 made during 1973 to '74 - as Mike pointed out. But besides the model 49 all other J-frame revolvers, such as the models 36, 37, 38 and 50 were included within the same serial number series.

The only way to tell exactly when your gun (or any other S&W) was made is to pay a reasonable fee of $30.00 and obtain a detailed letter from Smith & Wesson's historian, Roy Jinks.

Do buy the book. You'll learn a lot more about Smith & Wesson's then just serial number information.

 

[Mike Irwin]

What Old Fluff says is very true, but in my limited experience of getting letters on several guns (or friends doing so) to find out exactly when a gun was made when it's inside a big range of numbers, you can still normally extrapolate fairly closely.