I am here to request the generous assistance of those here armed with The Catalog…
I acquired two Model 10’s from Budsgunshop.com recently, when they started their police buy-back special. The first was a 10-5 square-butt with a 3” barrel, serial #D808xxx, the next a 10-8 square-butt with a 4” heavy barrel, serial #5D92xxx.
I did make some attempts to find this information before deciding to post… I dug through dozens of the pages here (not all 100+, however…!), and the pertinent entries seemed to indicate the 10-5 was from 1975-1977, and the 10-8 from 1979. I tried calling S&W at 1-800-331-0852, as recommended in another entry, only to hear (after 20 minutes on hold) the rep tell me both guns had been produced THIS YEAR, the latest as recent as July or August, I believe. He was not persuaded from this even when I offered that they were buy-backs, with holster-wear and worn wooden grips. Oh well.
If any of the resident savants will oblige me to look up their production dates, I will be most appreciative!