Because S&W did not ship guns in strict numerical order, exact year dating requires a factory letter (available from the S&W Historical Foundation). However, you can get within 1-2 years using the following cheat sheet:

“Everything,” he said, picking up a tattered copy of the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson .

Firearms used a purely numeric sequence. 1960: Range began around 70,000. 1965: Range reached approximately 108,087. 1969: Numerical ranges for J-frames ended near 786,544.

She wanted to know its story.