Empowering Americans

Throughout our history, we’ve given gun owners the means to protect themselves and secure their families. This has empowered everyone across our great country to live the American lifestyle. We stand for you – we Empower Americans. Watch and share our story, above.

169 Years of American Stories

Introduced in 1978, the Smith & Wesson Model 629 is a stainless steel version of the Model 29. The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 4th Edition is the ultimate S&W gun guide! 1953 = 28916 Can't tell model number from just the serial number. 1852 - Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson produce a lever action Volcanic pistol. Fewer than 100 reported as being manufactured with 8 3 ⁄ 8 in barrel. Nov 02, 2012 'I just received my factory letter and it confirms that Victory revolver number V158896 was shipped on November 20, 1942 to the US Navy, Oakland, CA. This is a standard 4 inch barrel Victory revolver in 38 Special with 'U.S. Navy' marked on the top strap. This is the only military marking (no flaming bomb mark or a 'P' on the frame, etc). I have received an old Smith and Wesson 38 special pistol which was passed to me from my grandfather. I have no documentation on the gun and would like to know how old it is and any details the serial number might tell. Smith and Wesson Serial Number Date of Manufacture J Frame Revolver Lookup. As a service to our shoppers and the Guns America community, here are our notes on production dates for Smith & Wesson Revolvers with 3 Letter Serial Number Prefixes. Some of this is from Supica's and Nahas's Appendices, and some from our own records. We do not have time to answer questions about serialization.

Since 1852 Smith & Wesson has empowered Americans with the freedom, equality, and security promised by the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. It is this sense of safety and security that frees us to pursue our goals and dreams, define our future, and fulfillthe promise of America.

1852

Нorace Smith & D.B. Wesson form a partnership to manufacture a firearm that can fire a fully self-contained cartridge.

1854

Smith & Wesson® introduces the .41 Magazine Pistol, “The Volcanic.” It is the first repeating American firearm capable of successfully using a fully self-contained cartridge.

1857

Smith & Wesson creates the Model 1. The first practical cartridge revolver. Its introduction heralded the end of percussion firearms.

1870

Smith & Wesson releases the Model 3. The first large-caliber, centerfire, cartridge revolver manufactured in the United States.

1877

The world gets its first double-action, concealed-hammer revolver.

1899

The .38 Military & Police is introduced alongside the .38 S&W Special cartridge. Now known as the Model 10, over six million units have been produced since 1899.

1913

Smith & Wesson produces its first automatic pistol, the .35 Automatic.

1935

Smith & Wesson introduces the .357 Magnum. The .357 Magnum quickly caught the interest of law enforcement agencies that were looking for a way to deal with more treacherous and better armed criminals.

1942

Victory M&P model released for the United States Women's Naval Reserve, better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) stationed at Norfolk, VA Naval Base who carried important, confidential messages between various section units.

1950

The Model 36, Chief’s Special® makes its debut at the IACP conference in 1950.

1955

S&W unveils the Model 29 chambered in .44 Magnum - the handgun made famous by Clint Eastwood in the movie 'Dirty Harry.' In 2005, Field & Stream rated the Model 29 as the 5th best gun ever made, the only handgun to make their top ten.

1957

Targeted towards competitive shooters, the Model 41 was made available to the public.

Smith And Wesson 38 Special Serial Number Decoder Chart

1961

In response to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit, Smith & Wesson builds a pistol that could fire the newly developed .38 AMU cartridge. The Model 52 is introduced and becomes known as the most accurate target pistol of its day.

1965

Smith & Wesson introduces the first all stainless steel production firearm ever made. The Model 60, Stainless Steel Chief’s Special.

Smith And Wesson 38 Special Serial Number Decoder Free

1990

In addition to the Model 4006, Smith & Wesson introduces the revolutionary .40 S&W cartridge.

2003

An entirely new frame size is developed to fire a new .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. The Model S&W500™ is the biggest, heaviest, most-powerful factory production, double-action revolver in the world.

2005

Smith & Wesson debuts the M&P® Pistol Series. A new line of polymer pistols championed by law enforcement officials. In the first year after their debut, over 100 departments purchased M&P pistols.

2006

The M&P15 is introduced at the 2006 SHOT Show to overwhelming enthusiasm.

2012

Smith & Wesson debuts a new slim, concealable, lightweight, striker-fired polymer pistol. The M&P Shield™

2017

The M&P M2.0™ family is the culmination of a decade of research and design featuring upgrades to nearly every aspect including trigger, grip, frame, and finish.

2018

Built for personal protection and every-day carry, the M&P380 Shield™ EZ™ is designed to be easy to use for both first-time shooters and experienced handgunners. Developed to be easy-to-load, easy-to-rack, easy-to-shoot, easy-to-pack, and easy-to-clean.

Our Founders

It was 1852 when Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson made their dream of creating a repeating firearm, using a self-contained cartridge a reality and made history. Over the next 169 years Smith & Wesson perfected the American sidearm to become one of the world’s most respected brand of firearms.

We are not defined by the products we make. It is the people who make them and the life stories of the empowered Americans who own them.