These are two related thoughts and certainly could be a subject for the "General Handguns" forum, but I
really prefer the Revolver area of the site...and likely for the same reasons that many of
you prefer it.
We often talk about assembly numbers and a stamped number on the frame in the crane-area of a Smith & Wesson revolver that is
NOT the serial number. Yes, the number is there much of the time, and always on the butt of the revolver, but the other numbers there and sometimes on one or both grip panels or on the older ones -- actually on the breech-end of the cylinder. (my old M&P 1905 Fourth Change)
We mention to folks who drop serial numbers looking for info that these are simple internal S&W numbers and that we don't know what they mean... does
anyone posting here at TFL know what they mean? Are we to assume that somehow,
many gun parts are piled up together but yet, need to find a particular home and that number mates them with a certain model or frame size or style or some such thing later in the process? Might we think it's a piece original to THAT gun that needs to be removed for some process to be later reunited with that specific revolver?
And that leads me to my second question, much more general in nature.
Here on TFL, we've got some extremely intelligent minds that have seen fit to share time, energy, experience and information with us and the world. But one thing we rarely
EVER see is anyone that has a background that is truly on the inside. We do see someone that has worked with a small custom outfit from time to time, we will see a company rep on a rare occasion and sometimes we see folks with extensive experience in an armory and certainly many with long backgrounds behind a retail gun counter.
What we don't see, or what I have missed (and don't have the search-fu to find) are folks who have worked deep inside some of our favorite legendary gun makers -- making guns. I don't recall ever hearing from anyone who's run S&W machinery on the shop floor. Or maybe we have and they've simply never let "the cat out of the bag."
I think it would be interesting in the Handloading & Reloding area of the site if we had someone contribute that worked at, say, Sierra bullets and worked in a lab testing and producing published load data. Or someone who has QC'd at Speer when Gold Dot ammo comes rolling out of the machines. Or someone who has opened up customer-return handguns at Ruger and directed them for warranty repair.
Have we seen such threads and I've missed them?
Certainly, I understand how in this age of internet forums and social media, it's probably a
major league NO-NO for current employees to blab about internal company stuff on fan-crazed websites. I'm not naive. Even still, I'd like to hear from some posters that have seen these great industry giants from the inside.
One of my favorite posters here (not here a lot, active on another forum) is
Kurmudgeon, a long time inside gun builder and tester for Coonan Arms. He was right in the mix for the Model A&B and was retired and brought back in for the roll out of the Coonan Classic. This is a heckuva guy and all he does is offer hints, tips, helps, experience and inside stories and tales from what just seems like a really small operation. I think that's terrific, and I wonder if we have others.