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I bought a Springfield "Mil. Spec." I got around to stripping it down and noticed the s/n on the slide was different than the frame. It had the last 3 digits of the slides s/n machine penciled in another spot on the slide. Do they forge them in Brazil with one #, and assemble them here with another? I also noticed my frame s/n starts "NM," while the slide # was "M." Any body familiar with these? TJ

How about a picture of these numbers.

R,
Bullseye

No need for pictures, I called their customer service and they said that the slide is made under an assembly number where it's forged (Brazil, "M") and when it get to Illinois they take a slide, match it up with a frame and THAT's the s/n of the gun ("NM"). It's electric penciled on the bottom of the slide to match the frame. Nothing to worry about. Just seems strange that they don't stamp it in, but that's how they do it. No worries. TJ

electric penciled, gosh darn.....

perazzi wrote:electric penciled, gosh darn.....

That's what it looks like, or maybe just scratched with a sharp awl TJ

Electric pencil = vibratory etcher/engraver.

I knew about the assembly numbers stamped on the slides, but before I commented, I wanted to see the actual numbers in question. Etched or stamped the result is the same. Basically the numbers are placed there for the factory to keep them paired. When a customer buys the pistol they don't typically have a bunch of pistols disassembled at a time to get parts interchanged.

The frame is stamped with "NM" because the rails are made thicker and wider on the NM frames for fitting the slide to frame fit. In regular 1911 frames the rails are peened down slightly to tighten the slide to frame fit. There's a lot of matching and measuring to finding two parts that will make a good match combination. Once you get them paired up, you want to identify the parts so as the process of fitting progresses they don't get mixed up with others in the shop.

R,
Bullseye

Thanks, Bullseye. My '42 military Colt was all the same, slide and frame. I'd just never seen where the slide had TWO s'/n's. It made me wonder if it had been done in a re-build or what, as I bought it new from the gun shop in the box with all the extras. I'd hate to think that I somehow bought a mismatched pistol for full price. The frame's s/n last 3 #s was all that would show that the slide and frame went together, and that was rather poorly done with an electric etcher. I guess I'll let it slide if you think that it's all SOP as I value your thoughts and input. Thanks. TJ

Nothing to worry about, its just a way for them to internally track the parts as they build the pistol. Fitting takes a lot of skill and these are not interchangeable parts once the process starts.

R,
Bullseye