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By Christopher John
The Smith & Wesson company was formed in 1852, in Norwich, Connecticut. The company's first offering was a lever-action repeating pistol. Moving forward from those beginnings, Smith & Wesson shaped innovations in the manufacturing of modern handguns. As of March 2011, Smith & Wesson offers approximately 110 different pistols of varied designs and features.
![Smith & wesson serial number chart Smith & wesson serial number chart](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126443979/405647078.jpg)
- Smith and Wesson pistol
- Smith & Wesson catalog
- Get a basic idea of whether your Smith & Wesson pistol was manufactured at a very early date or a later date by identifying the letters from A to Z in the serial number. The letter 'A' denotes a pistol manufactured at a very early date. The letters continue on through the alphabet, for pistols manufactured at later dates.The numbers in the Smith & Wesson serial numbers are random numbers.
Examine the barrel of the Smith & Wesson pistol. Locate either 'Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Massachusetts' or 'Smith & Wesson; Houlton, ME' stamped on the barrel. This identification proves that the handgun is an authentic Smith & Wesson pistol.
Locate the serial number on the left side of the pistol's frame. The standard location for the serial number is above the trigger guard. Some serial numbers are located underneath the frame in front of the trigger guard. Others are on the rear of the frame, above the gun's grip.
Look up the pistol's full serial number -- including all letters and numbers -- in the back section of the 'Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson' book. These listings inform you of the pistol's date of manufacture, based on the serial number.
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First digit is the year of manufacture: 8 for 2008, 7 for 2007 etc. The last 3 digits indicate the number of the days in the year. So if it's 8244, then the gun was made on 31 August 2008. If you do not have the original gun case, call Smith and give them the serial, they'll be able to tell you. Smith & Wesson Gun Finder. Answer a few questions to find the right products for you.
Smith And Wesson Date Of Manufacture List
- How to Identify the Date of Manufacture on Smith & Wesson Pistols by Christopher John. This identification proves that the handgun is an authentic Smith & Wesson pistol. Locate the serial number on the left side of the pistol's frame. These listings inform you of the pistol's date of manufacture, based on the serial number.
- Dec 18, 2007 Where can I find a list telling the manufacture date for the serial number on a S&W model 36 Chief Special? S&W serial#/date of manf. Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web.
- 5906 Serial Date I recently purchased a S&W 5906 with a KMF serial# prefix, any ideas when this dates to?, I can't find any information on this one anywhere.