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Originally Posted by mrray13
Examples of revisions could be... no recessed cylinder vs recessed...
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I realize that you were probably just citing arbitrary examples, but FWIW all rimfire Smith revolvers made after sometime in 1935 have recessed (or counterbored) cylinders, up to and including today's production. This is done to contain case head failures with soft rimfire brass. The recessed cylinders were only phased out for K and N frame centerfire Magnums circa 1982-83. (L frames have never had recessed cylinders, and this change substantially predates .357 Magnum J frames.)
I'm just trying to eliminate potential confusion.
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Originally Posted by FlyFish
...eventually ending at 311K273 in 1983 when the current 3 alpha plus 4 numeric system was adopted.
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This is correct, and just FWIW, there is generally no readily discernible way to differentiate any particular revolver model under the current 3-letter 4-number system. Most standard-production revolvers have been lumped into the same big pot, so to speak, which started with AAA0001 and AFAIK has recently reached "E".
Some special runs have gotten special serial number prefixes (e.g. KSP prefixes for the KY State Police), and some models have been assigned to certain ranges (e.g. early M&P's started at MPA and ran through at least MRN), but I don't believe there's any particular way to identify a newer Model 18 under the system.