Where can you find out when your gun was made?

Answer 1

Some manufacturers serialized every gun and kept detailed records and others just counted the number produced. Some of these records are still available for research and others have gone into the recycle bins. For many Winchester and Colt firearms the exact date of manufacture can be obtained (for a price). If your firearm has a serial number AND that manufacturer's records are available, you can probably get at least the year of manufacture from The Blue Book of Gun Values or one of the other reference books. If it is not serialized, many books will include the years during which some models were manufactured. For some, you may have to be satisfied to learn the time period the manufacturer was in business.