Pehaps one of you S&W gurus can help me with this MH .38 S&W 5 shot, single action revolver with a spur hammer and no trigger guard. It has a nickel finish and the standard MH features for changing barrels. On the top strap is stamped Hopkins and Allen with the last patent date of Mar 6 77. The frame is stamped Merwin Hulbert 7 Co. New York USA. The loading gate slides up and down perpindicular to the barrel. The s/n is 52xx. Any help would be appreciated.

It sounds like you have either a Second or Third Pocket Model Single Action (there were second and third pocket models produced with and without the trigger guard). Merwin Hulbert (New York City) had originally been affiliated with Hopkins & Allen in Norwich, New York; thus the 2 manufacturers' names on the gun. Your revolver probably dates to sometime between the last patent date of 1877 and the early 1880's when manufacturing ceased according to one source. Barrel lengths are typical for that period (3" or so being most common, with shorter and longer ones more rare).

There are several threads on the forum that are about the Merwin Hulbert revolvers. We'd love to see a couple photos if you could post them.