Hi. I'm a new member, and I'm trying to find out the age of my 1st model 32 "lemonsqueezer", Serial # 43900. I called S&W customer service and told the nice man I had an S&W New Departure Safety Hammerless. He told me it was not a S&W, that it was made by New Departure and that he couldn't help me. I'm glad S&W doesn't ddiscriminate against the mentally challenged.Can anybody help me out with a manufacture date/year?

Hello,

I have 2 New Departures, one that is in the 50,000 range that was shipped in 1895 and one in the 35,000 range that was shipped in 1896. Dates of shipment vs serial numbers can vary greatly, so it is not necessarily a surprise that the gun with the later serail number shipped earlier. As yours is in the middle of my two, it probably was shipped 1895-1896 + or - a year or so.

mine is 56707 and it shipped march 1895....hope this helps

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

424xx shipped in May of 1892. I suspect yours was in the 1892 to 94 range but there is no way to tell exactly without sending a $50 check to The Smith & Wesson historian, Roy Jinks, and getting a letter of authentication.

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Mark Connot

If you join the S&W Collectors Association Roy will provide a shipping date through this forum. The dates can be all over the place: 42476 shipped 6/92, 50,011 shipped 1/95, while 53,252 shipped 6/92.

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Peter #2091

Thanks for the info. I know I can get a letter from S&W, but $50 for a letter on a gun that cost me $60, that's a tough call.

I think you got a bargain at $60. It would be worth it to get a letter as your total cost would only be just over $100. Most the time, these guns can't be found at less than $200.

I paid the $60 at a gun shop about 20 years ago. Very little original finish, but very little actual use. Had to replace the grips (got 'em from GPC) and had been shooting it regularly until ammo went through the roof.

Yep, ya just can't hire good help nowadays.
With only a few hundred models and 15 or 20 million guns manufactured over a 159 year period, you'd think they would have the employees commit the various manufacturing date for each gun to memory. Why would he not know about a gun that was only shipped about 116 years ago? Didn't he know you would ask?

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Yeah, I might have been a little hard on him, but, he was a lot less than helpful. He was absolutely sure that my weapon was made by New Departure, not Smith and Wesson. When I told him I had it narrowed down to between 1888 and 1902, he said his records wouldn't go that far back. Maybe his records don't, but I was led to believe they do.

Nope.
They don't.
The records for that period and many decades after are in the Connecticut Valley Museum and at the home of the Historian. There is probably no record at the factory of any gun made before the 50's or 60's.
A company is usually not in business to service collectors of their old products. Even a company that manufactures collectibles, like Franklin Mint, is far more interested in selling the current products in the catalog than helping a person research past products.
A company is interested in making and selling a product and paying the bills and the help.
An employee at a factory may not have any interest in the antiques formerly made by that company before his grandfather was born.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Thanks for the info, and the insight.

What he was probably trying to say was "the gun is a S&W model New Departure" referring to the ACTUAL name of the gun. Lemon squeezer is a slang term for the model. This model is also referred to as the "safety hammerless".

No. He was adamant that it was not a Smith and Wesson, it was a New Departure. I offered the name Lemonsqueezer on the chance he might be familiar with that. They ceased production of this model in 1937, I believe. And I am sure he didn't work for S&W in '37. I'm sure a lot of guns marked 32 S&W CTG are not S&W guns. Mine is only marked on the top of the barrel and the grips.handejector is right, how many hands has the company gone through since 1937.