I’ve got a few minutes, so…

Unlike a vehicle license plate, there’s no easy search anyone, private or government, can do that would result in obtaining any information connected to this gun. This gun isn’t in any accessible database, just like the vast, vast majority of guns aren’t. ATF would have to contact Smith & Wesson with a trace request, at which point S&W would review their internal-only records and they’d be able to tell ATF which distributor or dealer they transferred the gun to. ATF would then have to contact the distributor/dealer and ask which dealer or customer they transferred the gun to. Eventually they’d get the information of the person who purchased it through the dealer. That person may or may not have it anymore. In most states they could have legally sold it or given it to another citizen with no record of that transaction. MOST ATF crime gun traces end up with them contacting the person the gun was stolen from in a home/vehicle robbery. Having a record of the person who bought it from the dealer is extremely rarely of any use in a criminal investigation.

Your mileage on that may vary slightly if you live in a state like California, which does actually have a firearm registry database. It isn’t accessible except to law enforcement and hackers.

From the other direction, sure, maybe some government agency can now “tag” this firearm to me. In my personal case I’ve been writing gun reviews since 2012 and have had hundreds of guns pass through my hands, the vast majority of which were, like this one, loaners that went back to the manufacturer or dealer or private owner. I’m also a licensed FFL/SOT and own lots of NFA items so I’m not exactly keeping a low profile haha. So, no, I’m not concerned in the slightest about showing the serial number of a review gun on the internet 🤷

Lemme see what we can do.

What’s the concern with the serial number?

This looks like an intriguing model, and I like the 12-rd mag option (yah, I’m in CA and would be stuck with the 10-rounder, no thanks Ninth Circus), but I see the 17-rounder as being the support side spare.

(Dan, any possibility of restoring the Gravatar recognition on this site?)

I assume there will be a Performance Center version in a few months. Then there will be a rebate next year. That’s how they handle their other models.

I’m sure a gunsmith could make the trigger nicer. It’s supposedly slightly better than the old one. A commenter on that other site said he worked on the old style trigger and it’s great now.