S&W Model 41 Date of Mfg

A-37

My letter from Roy Jinks gives a shipping date of Aug '58 for my Model 41 #146xx. Mr. Jinks added that 679 were produced by the end of 1957 and by the end of 1958, a total of 9,875 were produced. The first production Model 41 was completed on 9-13-57. Some members of this forum asked me to pass on this info to help date their Model 41s.
BTW, a historical certificate (with an impressed S&W seal) is available from Mr. Jinks for $30.

TOMBECK

A37, THANKS FOR POSTING INFO. GUESS I'M STILL CONFUSED AS 1401 WAS FIRST SN. ADD THE 679 AND 9875, IT WOULD PUT FINAL PRODUCTION AT 11955 FOR '58. WOULD LOOK LIKE MORE AUG '59 RATHER THAN '58 FOR 146XX.
MY EARLIER REPLY WAS A GOOF 'CAUSE I ADDED IN AN EXTRA YEAR TO GUESS MID '60. BUT THIS IS WHAT MAKES IT FUN. ??? COULD OLD BILL J. HAVE MADE A MISTAKE???
TOM B

Barrocky

That would be logical if the M41's had their own seperate serial number range,they don't. All of the S&W autos except the Escort and that machine pistol thing have to be added in as well.It gets even harder to guess a few years later when the M39 production was cranked up and the M52 appeared.I would guess that the above gun was actually manufactured shortly before it was shipped because according to the book,even after producing 9,875 additional M41's in 1958,they were still heavily back-ordered so I doubt if it gathered dust in the factory for long. If I had a second year M41 and it was in excellent condition, I'd want a S&W letter to go with it. Don't remember if you have the original box for the gun,if you do ...so much the better.