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I have concluded that they must represent some period of model runs, or some changes to models. I recently saw a 64-2 on gunbroker that had a pinned barrel. Mine does not have a pinned barrel.
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The dash numbers represent model changes, but they're notoriously inconsistent.
S&W has sometimes changed the dash number for minor modifications, but other times, they have made substantial modifications without changing the number. Some dash numbers denoted production options that were made at the same time (the Model 10-3, 10-4, 10-5, and 10-6 were produced concurrently). Some guns got a new dash number when the barrel pin was eliminated, but others didn't. As a notable example, the Model 36 made it from 1957 until the late 1980s in "no-dash" form, but several changes were made during that time, including the deletion of the barrel pin.
There's no rhyme or reason to it.