Smith and Wesson serial number search

Flyfish,

Thanks for the response on my '40 - '45 M&P. I searched numrich last night but all the pages didn't come up. I now see the side screws I need.

I do a little basement gunsmithing and am going to see if I can restore it back close to its original configuration.

The front sight seems to be soldered on. I need to get some measurements of an original to see about milling one.

I do not have the original grips, on the Numrich site they list some grips which I think MAY be close, I am confused on what the "NOTCHED" refers to on them. They are listed as follows.

Grips, w/o Medallion, Square Butt, Old Style, Service, Checkered (Notched)

Grips, w/o Medallion, Square Butt, Old Style, Service Checkered, NI

I found the following picture and would imagine this is close to what mine originally looked like.

Smith_and_wesson_M_P_with_swivel.jpg
 
I have two Smiths that I am interested in getting the year of manufacturer:

A smith 28-2 Highway patrolman: 357 mag, 6"barrel, serial number N11XXX

Also, I just picked up a near perfect smith 686 no dash 357 6" barrel, serial number AJJ2XXX

Any info would be appreciated!
 
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Bodaver32:

The front sight on your gun would have been a plain half moon, not ramped like the one in your photo. In the book, it's described as "a round blade front sight." I don't have a photo for you, but you should be able to find one out there somewhere.

The book also says that the grips would have been "hard rubber or walnut stocks, with a [raised, uncheckered] diamond around the screw escutcheon and gold S&W monograms." I think the "monograms" referred to are the medallions with the company logo that are inset into the rounded top of the grips. So, those would also differ from the grips in your photo.

I don't know what the "notched" business is on the grips that Numrich is listing. I'd recommend that you visit the S&W Forum and check out their classifieds - you might find what you're looking for, or you could post a WTB with the vintage of the gun and indicate you're looking for original grips and see what turns up.

ETA: This thread has photos showing the correct front sight and grips for your gun.

mikejonestkd:

Your Model 28 dates from between 1969 (starting at N1) and 1972 (ending at N99999). The 686 is from 1985.
 
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Smith 686 SER # DBE42XX

Can someone tell me the date of manufacturer and the dash # for a Smith 686 Smith 686 SER # DBE42XX.

It is one that I am thinking about buying that I need this information for.

Thanks.
 
SCSW only covers serial numbers up to late 2004, at which point they were at prefix CTA, so 2005 is probably a good guess for DBE. The last "dash" number listed in the book is -6, which came out in 2001 when the internal lock was added - MIM parts were introduced previously with the -5.. There is also reference made to a -7, which is a special Performance Center run in .38 Super caliber.
 
Model 66-3

I just bought a S&W Model 66-3. Serial Number BFU7XXX.
I just bought it sight unseen. My first S&W revolver ever. I am surprised how nice the trigger is. I am guessing this gun is from the early 90's.
 
Early 90s would be correct - they were bouncing around with the prefixes around then, but BFU would appear to be either late 1990 or early '91.
 
Greetings

A friend asked me to work out some minor problems with his old revolver. In order to find parts I would like to know the year and model. I think it is a Model 10, but I just don't have a lot of experience with Smith revolvers.

Any help would be appreciated.

SN # V638xx
 
smokeman13b: Your friend's gun is a so-called "Victory" model of the .38 Special [possible, but less likely, it could be .38 S&W] Hand Ejector Military & Police, or .38 M&P, which is sometimes referred to as a pre-Model 10 (model numbering wasn't introduced until 1957). I don't have the book with me at the moment to check, but with a 5-digit number the gun was manufactured toward the beginning of the 1942 to 1945 period when these guns were being produced, most likely in 1942.
 
Thanks Flyfish

Here are a couple of photos of it. I'm just not very well versed on the Smith revolvers. Sounds like this one might have some history though.
 
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My friends father just gave her this .32 long for her birthday:
View attachment 64678
I think it's an old S&W Military and Police.

The serial number has only 3 digits. Can you tell me anything?
Thanks in advance for this remarkable thread.
 
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