I posted an inquiry in the S&W Wheel Gun thread, but since it is on the 4th page it might get overlooked. I hope I have not crossed a line in submitting this post as a stand alone.
I am trying to get background/info on my S&W. I did not find my revolver in any of the posts. It is a Mdl. 19-3, 2 1/2 bbl, bright nickel finish. As this forum has a very knowledgeable membership I am hoping someone can fill me in on this revolver. Thanks.

19-3 engineering change was in place from 1967 to 1977. If you are really jonesing to know when it was made get a factory letter https://swhistoricalfoundation.com/letter-process/

My experience is unless it’s a very rare piece or made in 1st half of last century you will find a boilerplate letter that says what it was when it left the factory and likely shipped to a major distributor but sometimes directly as a group of x guns to a retailer.

If you want to post a partial serial like 3K99xx. The approximate year made can be determined. Decent pics of the gun can likely show if it’s been aftermarket or factory nickled. A letter would let you know the original finish as well.

Hope this helps. Edit to ad. They made a lot of model 19’s in last 65+ years. I have several. They are not especially rare. But they are a very decent sized gun for the power they have. An argument could be made the 4 inch 19/66 is pretty much an ideal 1 gun battery if you were limited to only 1.

Give them some time and the revolver hoard will get back to you. Yours was the last post in that thread.

Second, If you have pics of your revolver, others will be more than happy to post them if you can't. Your email is in your profile. We all like pics.
My email is in my profile and I'd be happy to post them if you send them.

Thanks for the info. According to the website for GunCollectorsClub the gun was made in '70 or '71. It was mentioned that the search could be narrowed with the letter/serial number combo. I can read the serial easily but there is no letter designation present. ?????

Should have 1 or 2 numbers then K then 4-6 numbers. Possible just K then 6 digits. Best place to find serial is on the bottom of the butt. May need to remove the grips

Yes as others have stated with the partial serial number we can get you pretty close. The 66-2 I posted in that thread was a 1986 model (ANBXXXX). The edition of the book "Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson" didn't show my serial number but the newer edition may have.

Thanks for the help guys. With the suggestions offered by members I can confirm the serial number is 6K998XX which should place it post-1970. Any other info would be appreciated. Thanks.

While your revolver is not a rarity, it seems to me that the 2.5" M19 and M66 are, like the fixed sight 3" K frames, virtual cult objects. Popular to own, expensive to acquire.

Hard to think of my revolver as a "virtual cult object". I acquired it in 1986 and did not give it much thought beyond my satisfaction with the accuracy and convenience in carrying. It wasn't until I was following the S&W Revolver thread that I decided to try to find out more about the gun.

If I am reading the book correctly 6K998xx would be 1974. I used to own a 19-3 also. It was a good shooter but like I tend to do I sold for something new and shiney. K frames fit my hand size very well so now I have a quite a few of them.

coachB you might want to also check in at the S&W Forum with their members. The M-19 2.5 is a very desirable model.

coachB,

You mentioned that you could not see a letter in the serial number. Did you look on the butt for the serial? Depending on grip type, you may need to remove grips to see this location which is considered to be the definitive place for serial number. If you see a serial number with cylinder open on frame, that is sometimes hard to read. In my personal experience, I have never seen a serial number on butt questionable. The butt is considered the go to place for serial number on most all post war S&W revolvers.

A very common trait for factory nickle finish is observed with the cylinder open. The ejector star will have black finish and the cylinder will have a "N" near one of the six holes.

Hope this helps...

Thanks for the helpful info guys. I removed the grips and got the serial number. According to the number this is a '74 build.
Additionally, the ejector star is black and the cylinder does have the "N", so it is factory nickel. And the serial number on the butt is very readable.

In regards to a 2 1/2 inch model 19 being a "cult gun", IMO that is rather foolish because lots of them were made.

I happen to own a 19-3 that is supposed to date to 1972 and when purchased I am quite certain that it was never fired at either factory or home. Because the firing pin had been fitted too short to leave a visible mark in the primer in either Single or Double Action. Good news a new hammer nose from Powers Customs provide a solution. I will also note the accuracy produced by the stubby little barrels approaches amazing until you consider the effective stiffness of those short little barrels. We used to have a local gun range that featured a 50 yard indoor range where I preferred to shoot. Because the knuckleheads preferred the 25 yard range with it's lower hourly fee. Anyhow when finishing up I decided to see what I could do with my 19-3 at 50 yards. Standing on my hind legs and using a two handed grip and cheating by shooting in Single Action I was able to put 12 out of 12 into an 8 inch circle. The primary reason I was able to do this is that the front and rear sight "fill" was at about 85%. Which means a very tight nest so all I had to do was hold steady on the bulls eye. I'll also note that another cheat I've done on my 19-3 is to paint that red insert in the front sight with white model paint. Because in the poor lighting typical to indoor ranges in my area that red insert may as well be black.

Anyhow to sum it up the model 19 is a fantastic 38 special. As for use with 357 Magnum ammunition, not a great idea. These are light enough to be very snappy wwith 357 Magnums and the muzzle flash with a high power Magnum will blind you for a moment. In addition it's not good for the Forcing cone. Because I reload I build loads in that uncharted area between the 38 special and the 357 Magnum. The end result is comparable to a 9mm parabellum and quite comfortable to shoot.

After reading the various comments to this thread I realized that numerous responders refer to the front sight as red. My 19-3 has no color to the front or rear sights. Is that a common occurrence?

Red ramp front sight was on later production models but I don't know for sure when it started. Maybe someone more knowledable will chime in to help.

quote:

Originally posted by coachB:
After reading the various comments to this thread I realized that numerous responders refer to the front sight as red. My 19-3 has no color to the front or rear sights. Is that a common occurrence?

Red ramp front sights and white outline rear sights were an extra cost option in those days. Some later models came standard with red ramp ( abbreviated RR) and white outline ( abbreviated WO)
Other options of the era would be target trigger (TT) target hammer ( TH) and target stocks (TS) the hammer and trigger are significantly wider, and more suitable to single action operation of the gun, so you will seldom find a gun designed as a carry gun with them, but it did happen.