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I cannot say if the shell casing date would be when the gun was manufactured or not, but I feel confident it gives a minimum for the age. It would be hard to fire it for proof testing before manufacture. I would guess it is actually pretty close tot he final manufacture date since it gives proof of both the police requirement and the manufacturing test. That test would probably make a logical final step after manufacturing and before packaging for warehouse or shipment.

Three years from manufacture to first sale does sound long for a popular gun, but I never looked at the dates on mine to see how long it was. I usually just throw that envelope with the casing away as a waste of some state's time and a little bit of my money (cost of doing it added to each firearm).