oro, i have had the understanding that the crush fit barrels started in 1982
That is what I assumed in the past since that was when the "pinning" stopped. Here is what I was told a few years back. I got this information from a very long-time member of the SWCA who had discussed it with Roy Jinks and engineers at the factory on a tour during one of the annual meetings of the association. He is also a gun industry professional (armorer, gunsmith, and factory employee, too). I can't swear an oath it's accurate, but I trust my source. Heck, I have even let him work on my guns
:
In the post-war years, S&W was busy making up for many years of a chronic civilian under-supply of handguns (Depression + WWII) as well as lack of profits to fund development. The booming sales also meant money to spend on innovation and engineering. From '46 to '61 a host of engineering changes went on almost yearly. New style ejector rods, sights, side plates, cylinder lug mechanicals, new models, etc. Also - magnums. In the early '50s new metallurgy allowed them to bring out smaller framed magnums (K's) as well as more powerful large-frame ones (the .44). At the same time they started the assembly process of precision torque-fitting the barrels for added integrity and especially strength in the magnums (what we call "crush fitting") and other models. The barrel pin was not discarded, but it was no longer the only system of securing and aligning the barrel.
Eventually, it was realized the "pin" was really superfluous in addition to the crush-fitting and the machining steps removed from production. It's easy to assume that is the date (82) that crush-fitting started, but in fact it had been around about 30 years.
I can't point to any document explaining this; but I imagine it is covered in an older issue of the SWCA reports that aren't available online. I mention my source so you can evaluate it; I have found these sources to be definitively reliable in the past.
Tex62 - I'd make sure it is in fact a 70s gun (or at least it's in factory shape and not a conversion). Swing out the cylinder and look for a model # stamp in there (10-x). That would mean it's not an "Oswald Special" - a cut-down and converted UK Victory model. If the gun is solid otherwise and not rough under the Parkerizing, it is probably a fair deal at $300 OTD. A really nice blued one in original shape can usually be had around $400 routinely. Personally, I'd want a decent discount to that to settle for a modified and altered one.
