Vanagon,
Thanks for the post and follow-up. THERE ARE NO MONKEYWRENCHS - simply/merely FACTS.
One of the reasons I'm concentrating my research on SPORTSMAN variations and asking the questions that I posted is due to inconsistencies and resulting confusion concerning years of manufacture. Not to sound snide - but "we" (meaning the late Bill Goforth who was compiling the "historical" data and applying years of manufacture to the series) are/were aware of the two patent date anomaly. Bill was attempting to provide dates based upon issuance of catalogues and I was helping by supplying pictures of actual examples. The confusion arises from the "assumed" production numbers/quantities noted based upon serial numbers and then applying serial number ranges to various variational changes noted. From the limited information that I'm beginning to accumulate, it appears that many of the "assumed" serial number ranges are incorrect. The earliest SPORTSMAN that I own (and also the lowest s/n that I've so far seen) with two patent dates is D23338. Again, "assuming" somewhat steady demand and production quantities seems to have skewed the logic. There are a couple verifiable dates to go along with variations: the first is October 1932 - which is the first month of production for the SPORTSMAN named revolvers; another is January 1, 1940 when the 'A' prefix was first used in the serial number; another is the March 17, 1936 PATENT DATE for #2034632.
It seems "we" miscalculated production quantities, therefore throwing the dating of serial number ranges out of kilter. It now seems that the SPORTSMAN took a couple years to "take off" in sales (not unreasonable considering it was a fairly expensive item initiated in the early and middle years of the GREAT DEPRESSION) - so only a few over 20K were made in the first 3 1/2 years of production and then over 70K more were produced after March of '36 up to Jan. '40 (a period of 3 3/4 years)- as the highest known serial numbers are close to 90,000 before the 'A' prefix starts to show up, . After the letter prefix system was initiated - the numerical portion of the s/n is merely the place holder of that particular handgun (independent of model) made during that year. Research is FUN!
I need more data, but what I'm seeing develop (not having access to Bill Goforth's research - his family has retained the bulk of it, I hope) is in line with what I posted above. I hate to re-research, but I have no recourse at this point and whatever I can find out, will make the picture much cleared for me and every other interested party.
Forgive me for seeming dense and a bit slow moving - but after 30+ years doing QA/QC and management type work in heavy industry, I'm not in the habit of jumping to conclusions with out concrete evidence - speculation is OK, but only if it can be substantiated with FACTS. It is only through people such as yourself and the other folks that have contributed info/data that my reseach can continue and perhaps reach some level of certainty.
Keep those "monkeywrenchs" coming.