What do the digits -3,-4, etc mean after the 17 on the Smith & Wesson

[Chaparral]

I have recently been gifted a Smith and Wesson Mdl 17. This gun is beautiful. Reading about it I noticed some are called 17-2, 17-3, and so on. What does this mean? Thanks

[74A95]

The -N refers to the number of changes that have been made to the original model of the gun. 17-2 means that gun has the second series of modifications to the original Model 17. Sometimes the changes are minor, others, not so minor.

[JohnKSa]

Found this on another forum.

No dash # started in 1957
-1 1959 Change to LH extractor rod thread
-2 1961 Cylinder stop changed, hole in front of trigger
guard eliminated
-3 1967 Relocation of rear sight leaf screw
-4 1977 Changed gas ring from yoke to cylinder
-5 1982 Eliminate cylinder counterbore

I believe they went higher than this--possibly up to a -8, but I can't find that information.

[44caliberkid]

There would be one more change when they added the trigger lock (Hilary Hole). Some Smith’s are up to dash 10 now.

[L-2]

Here's more info from my "SCSW book".

17-6 1990 Full lug barrel with new yoke retention system. Some early 17-6’s reported without full lug. 1993 Discontinue 8-3⁄8" barrel.

17-7 1994 Drill and tap frame, change rear sight leaf, change extractor. 1996 Model 17-7 discontinued for Introduction of 10-shot Alloy Cylinder version Model

17-8 (see below). 17-8 1996 Introduce 10-shot with an Alloy cylinder 42 oz. 1996 Begin shipments in foam filled blue plastic case. 1997 Ship w/ Master trigger lock/ change to MIM trigger. 1998 A Change in frame design could have occurred here at this time. period, but no evidence exists to suggest that it did, other than the Heritage Series in 2001. 1999 Discontinued in late 1999. 17-8 2001 Model 17-8 Heritage Series- 6-shot-with CNC New Frame Design

17-9 2009 Model 17-9 available as Part of the Classic series introduction with internal lock, 6-shot cylinder with square butt frame, Patridge front sight with 6-inch barrel and wood grips.

Supica, Jim; Nahas, Richard. Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson) (p. 216). Gun Digest Media. Kindle Edition.

[JohnKSa]

Some Smith’s are up to dash 10 now.

Sorry, should have made it clear that the information in my post was only applicable to the Model 17s.

Actually, to be fair, it does apply to some other models, but it's certainly not a key to the dash numbers on every S&W revolver out there.

[reddog81]

Originally Posted by JohnKSa

Found this on another forum.

-5 1982 Eliminate cylinder counterbore

I believe they went higher than this--possibly up to a -8, but I can't find that information.

FWIW I don't think model 17's got rid of the cylinder counterbore. A quick look at guns for sale online shows 17-6 to 17-9 models with this feature and new 617's still have it. -5 probably just eliminated the pinned barrels for them.

[74A95]

Originally Posted by reddog81

FWIW I don't think model 17's got rid of the cylinder counterbore.

Right. John's post is different than what is in my SCSW 4th Ed. book for the Model 17. Page 216.


-4 1977 Changed to put gas ring from yoke to cylinder.
1982 eliminate pinned barrel.
1986 introduce 4" heavy barrel w/serrated ramp on ramp base in place of the model 18.

-5 1988 New yoke retention system/radius stud package.
1989 model discontinued for model 17-6, full lug version.

[JohnKSa]

I would trust the book over the information I posted. I found that information posted on another forum--no way to verify its accuracy.