that is strange as I understood the "p" to mean a wrap and an "m" to be a natural finish.

you might have re finished slingys but i could be wrong.

The "beige" paint was of varying thickness and sometimes appeared as little more than a stain.

Just to add a little more confusion to all things slingerland,One of the reason's for the P and the M stamped Designation's inside the shells is, the Pearl or wrapped shells are slightly smaller in outside circumference than the stained or painted shell, slingerland did this as the wrap would make up the difference in the overall circumference, you would have to have both shell side by side or placed the shell's on top of the other to see the difference but it's there! ok class over.

Yep, well, I would think the original wrap has been removed.

Probably the toms are from after '71, and a previous owner put on badges to more "correctly" match the rest of the outfit.

What does the bass drum look like?

I'm just assuming there is one?

Yes I did consider that option of the badges being changed and these badges are 9 numbers apart)183xxx. So is it a fact that the toms would not have badges in 65? The base drum had the rack mount changed to a newer style. The "class" about the smaller shells was very interesting! I never would have thought of that one. Today is a great day! learned something new. Thanks, guys. However,work was not all that great today.electricit

Can you post pics of these?

No tom badges in '65, as far as I'm aware. And those serial numbers would've been issued sometime around '68.

I think pics might help us pick up on a few more clues that could help narrow down your drums' age.

I try to get some posted. Thanks