• Smith & Wesson Serial Numbers By Year
• Smith And Wesson Serial Number Lookup
• Smith And Wesson Serial Number Lookup Date
• Smith Wesson Serial Numbers Manufacture Date
• S W Serial Numbers Chart

Jun 22, 2021 The N refers to the frame size. The stainless steel version of the Model 29 is the Model 629 which came out in 1980. I assume the hammer and trigger on yours are case-hardened and the ejector is blued. If so, you have a nickel revolver from the factory. There should be a “N” on the cyl. Smith and wesson model 686 serial number lookup Jan 28, 2011 418 18 Terre Haute I just bought two model 10 Smiths. One is a 10-5 serial D7461XX. The other is a model 10-6 serial D5801XX. I am curious about year made. Is there a good website I can look up information on these? Thanks guys Feb 15, 2013 10,674 83 IN Call S&W customer service.

Dating a Smith & Wesson Revolver: This list is merely a general guide and not meant to be exact. There is some dispute regarding the dates on some serial numbers. Your gun may actually be a year off from what is listed. The precise shipping date as 'lettered' can be several years off depending on model. Smith and wesson model 29 serial number database. Earlier models have them here s w. If you provide us with your serial number, those of us with a copy of the standard catalog of smith and wesson can look up the approximate date your. I am kind of surprised I can't find a list of Smith & Wesson serial numbers. Cool technology to make finding and buying parts a breeze, including Serial Number Lookup, PartSPIN® and Smart Manuals, found on partstown.com and our industry-leading mobile app; An exceptional customer experience from the team you know and trust with every email, live chat, text and phone call, provided by a friendly and knowledgeable team.

If you own a Smith and Wesson handgun, you might be interested in finding out some more information on your particular gun. Once you locate the serial number, then you are able to do some research and find out a little history on your gun. Below you will find some visual examples of where to look for the serial number on your S&W handgun. You can then use the serial number to find out the Smith & Wesson date manufactured for your particular gun. Keep in mind that many Smith and Wesson guns produced before 1957 did not have a serial number stamped on them. These older guns will take a little more effort to find out their history. For those Smith Wesson with serial numbers, see the pictures below to find where to look.

Smith Wesson Serial Numbers - Revolvers

Smith Wesson Serial Numbers - Pistols

There are some exceptions to the locations shown above for certain S&W pistols. On the Sigma series and the SW99 models, you will find the serial number in the locations shown in the pictures below.

Smith Wesson Serial Numbers - Sigma Series

Smith Wesson Serial Numbers - SW99

Once you've located the serial number, then you can try to contact Smith and Wesson and see if they can give you an information about your particular gun like date of manufacture or other specific details. You can try to contact their customer support by phone and see if they would be willing to help you that way. If they are unable (or unwilling) to help over the phone, then you can contact them via writing with information on your S&W pistol, and they will research your particular firearm and send you a written report. You can send them a picture and they can find out more of the background on your gun along with the date manufactured. They will charge you for this service ($50 at the time this was written) and it is probably only worthwhile for older collectible guns which have no serial numbers. If you can find the serial number, then you are better off just trying to call S&W customer service first. If that doesn't work, then you could try to contact a gun shop and see if they can help you. Furthermore, some internet forums are filled with helpful and knowledgeable people that would be happy to help try to interpret the serial number on your handgun. In addition, a book such as: Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson written by Jim Supica, Richard Nahas, published 2007, can be used to try to get more information about your gun. This book can be very helpful in finding Smith & Wesson date manufactured information and also general historical information about different S&W firearms. In fact, if you post a message on an internet group asking for help in identifying your particular Smith & Wesson gun, then it is very likely that a member of the group will use this book or something similar when they help. Thankfully, most people will probably have a newer gun with the serial numbers, and it should be relatively easy to get more background information using that number. The old guns without the serial numbers are the ones that can be a little trickier. Regarding old Smith & Wesson guns, below is an interesting video narrated by Jim Supica about an early S&W revolver given to the legendary Teddy Roosevelt.

Willow Smith

Smith Wesson Handgun Serial Number Search

Smith & Wesson 686 Serial Number Search

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Today, Smith & Wesson is mostly known for revolvers and their growing line of M&P pistols. Despite the rapidly growing popularity of these polymer-framed striker fired semi-auto pistols, there’s also a lot of buzz around the former metal-framed S&W pistols that were discontinued a few years ago.

Prices on the used market for the so-called 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation S&W pistols are still affordable, but have been rapidly rising over the past couple of years. These pistols are usually tough, reliable, and excellent shooters. If you happen to run across one for a good price, now would be a great time to snatch it up.

The trouble with that plan is the absurdly confusing system that S&W used to assign the model numbers for these pistols. Today, their M&P pistols follow a pretty logical formula. I carry a M&P9c — a compact 9mm. Makes sense, right? Well, the 3rd Gen equivalent of that pistol is the 6904. But if it was made before the late 80’s, it would be the 2nd Gen version — the 469. And the single stack version would be the 3914, which is virtually identical to the 908. Confused yet?

Unless you’ve committed these models to memory, looking at the numbers stamped on the slide of an old S&W pistol in the case at a gun shop or an online ad doesn’t really tell you much. Even if you ask Google for some help, you might have to wade through a multi-page forum thread to get a straight answer.

Well, believe it or not, there is some logic to the old S&W numbering system, it’s just not particularly intuitive. So we whipped together this S&W semi-auto model number quick reference chart to make it a little easier for you the next time you misplace your S&W decoder ring.

Our chart covers most of the regular production models for the discontinued Smiths chambered in major service calibers. There are a few less common ones out there, but these are the pistols you’re most likely to run across today. Even with the chart, there might be a few confusing details about the numbering system, so keep reading for a little background info on each “generation” of S&W autos.

1st Gen Pistols

The first S&W semi-automatic chambered in a service caliber was the Model 39, which first saw the light of day in 1954. The aluminum alloy-framed 9mm pistol had an 8-shot single-stack magazine, a 4-inch barrel and a traditional double action/single action trigger with a slide-mounted safety/decocker, similar to what many people are familiar with from the Beretta 92 series. The Model 39 was developed as a potential replacement for the U.S. Army’s M1911A1. The Army declined to adopt the Model 39, but the pistol was a commercial success, and was even used by a few police departments as one of the very first semi-autos carried by American law enforcement.

In the early 1970s, S&W released a version of the 39 that used a double-stack 14-round magazine dubbed the Model 59. Together, the 39 and 59 are considered the “first generation” of S&W semi-autos. All of the following S&W 2nd and 3rd generation 9mm pistols are essentially derivatives of these two and in many cases, their model number provides some clue to that origin.

2nd Gen Pistols

In the late 1970s the S&W models 439 and 459 were released, which are considered the first of the second generation pistols. These were basically the 39 and 59 with a few small changes and the number “4” added to the begining of the model number. Steel framed versions of these pistols followed, available with either a stainless, blued, or nickel finish. Blued and nickel model numbers start with “5” (539, 559) and the stainless steel models start with “6” (639, 659).

In the mid 1980s, S&W released two alloy-framed compact versions of the 59 series; the 469 (blued or nickel finish) and 669 (stainless finish). Establishing the form factor that the third gen compacts would follow, these pistols had a 3.5-inch barrel and 12-round magazine.

Around this same time, S&W also began producing their first .45 ACP pistol — the model 645. This was a large frame, single stack pistol with an 8-round magazine, 5-inch barrel, and DA/SA with slide-mounted safety/decocker just like the 9mm pistols. There is one variant of the second gen .45 pistol — the single action only model 745, which was a special limited run intended for IPSC competition shooters.

I hope you caught all that because here’s where it gets complicated…

3rd Gen Pistols

The third generation of S&W pistols started hitting the market in the late 80s. They can be easily spotted by their four-digit model numbers. S&W continued the numbering trend they had started on the 9mm pistols — the 3900 series are full size and compact single stack pistols, the 5900 series are double stacks, and the 6900 series are compact double stacks.

Third gen pistols in other calibers are much easier to remember. The 4500 series is for .45 ACP, 4000 series for .40 S&W, and 1000 series for 10mm.

So, looking at the first two digits of a four-digit model number from a 3rd gen pistol, we can know the caliber, and if it’s a 9mm, we might also know the frame size. The rest of the info we’d need is in the second half of the model number.

The third digit indicates one of nine possible combinations of action type and frame size. Most S&W autos are DA/SA, but not all. Some are double action only (DAO), and a few were even made with a slide-mounted decocking lever and no external safety (similar to what you’d find on a Sig P220 series pistol). Each model series has a frame size and barrel length that is “standard” for that series, which we’ve listed on the chart. The third digit will tell you if a given model is the standard size, mid-size, or compact.

The final digit in the model number indicates the frame material and finish. Frames are either steel or aluminum alloy and the finish is either blued/black (sometimes with a nickel plating), or stainless/silver.

Exceptions

What makes this complex system frustrating to follow is that there are multiple exceptions to the product “codes”. Some are pretty easy to figure out like the “value” series pistols. These were budget versions of the third gen pistols that lack some of the finishing touches of the standard models and have a three-digit model number. The first two digits reflect the caliber (9, 40, or 45).

Smith & Wesson Serial Numbers By Year

The Chief’s Special pistols are also easy to spot, like the one in the header image of this post. They are single stack, sub-compact variants with a “CS” pre-fix and they’re some of the most sought-after 3rd gen pistols on the used market. There’s one model each chambered in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP called the CS9, CS40, and CS45 respectively.

Smith And Wesson Serial Number Lookup

Besides these obvious exceptions, there are a few sneaky model numbers that look normal but don’t follow the numbering trends. For instance, the 6906 should really be the 6903 — a “6” for the final digit normally means stainless steel, but the 6906 is an alloy framed pistol with a silver stainless finish.

The compact .40 S&W pistols can also be confusing. Most are double stack, but a few single stack versions were made. The model 4040PD in particular breaks multiple model numbering “rules” and seems to have been given its name arbitrarily.

Letter suffixes are another detail to watch for. A couple of letters tacked to the end of the model name might mean something minor like a new finish, but they can also indicate major changes like the “TSW” (Tactical Smith & Wesson) series of pistols which indicate the addition of features like improved sights and accessory rails. Sometimes, the TSW pistols were built with a completely different frame size and barrel length than the standard model.

Smith And Wesson Serial Number Lookup Date

Smith Wesson Serial Numbers Manufacture Date

Some of the oddball model names come from pistols developed by S&W’s in-house custom shop, the Performance Center. To keep things simple (relatively speaking, anyway) we didn’t include these and other obscure models in our chart. If you want more detailed information on any of these models, I highly recommend picking up the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson which was a huge help in verifying the info for the chart.

S W Serial Numbers Chart

Hopefully, the next time you’re trying to track down a deal on an old Smith, this info will help your search go a little quicker. If we’ve missed anything important, or if you spot any errors in the chart, let me know and I’ll try to correct it ASAP. If you guys like this one, be sure to tell us in the comments and maybe we’ll tackle S&W revolvers in the next one!