Hi. I just purchased my first handgun, S & W 686 with 4" barrel. The store clerk said that it was new, but I have my doubts about that. To my untrained eye, it looked to be in very good shape and the price was $599. I can pick it up in 3 days to comply with the mandatory waiting period. I sent Smith and Wesson an email through customer service a few days ago to request any info on this weapon, but have not heard back from them. The serial number is CHZ9xxx. Can anyone give me an idea when the date of manufacture is? The reason my suspicions are up is because, I told the clerk I would be willing to pay a bit more for a NIB revolver. She replied that the 686 was getting scarce and may be hard to find. The gunpowder residue on the cylinder was from test firing at the factory?? She put the handgun in a smith and wesson box with the manuals, but I have a feeling it was someone else's trade-in or such. Still $600 did not seem like a bad deal, so I agreed to the purchase. However, if it is more that 5 or 6 years old, I may just have them order a new one anyway.
Update:
The S & W folks did get back to me just a few minutes ago. They say it was manufactured in 2005 at Springfield, MA.