The lower tangs were polished with the frame in the polishing room. There are records commnly referred to as "polishing room records" that list by serial number; the dates that actions were polished. A little more accurate than the factory shipping records as to date of manuufacture.

Yes, larger parts: frames, hammers, levers, buttplates would have been racked, smaller (internal) my guess is that they were binned/

V/R

Mike

Mike Hunter
www.mikehunterrestorations.com