Lucky enough to have inherited several firearms from both sides of my family. Was bored the other day and decided to clean some of them. One of them is a lemon squeezer my great grandfather apparently carried in his pocket for 30 or so years. Some other neat Colt semi's and revolvers in the pics as well. The squeezer looks much worse in this pic than it actually is, I think the oil caused some reflections. I will check on the serial number tonight as I am very interested in knowing what model it is and how old it might be.

Great site by the way, very informative!

Nice group of guns.

Thanks. Will post the info on the s&w this evening and would sincerely appreciate any knowledge on that revolver.

Welcome to the forum...nice group of guns

I would hazard a guess the Smith has been cut a bit, which was fairly common practice for pocket guns. Is the address still complete on the top of the rib??

I think you are correct. On the top of the barrel next to the site only has "*** U.S.A" and some mark. It is serial number on the butt and on the cylinder of 252***. Right side of barrel says Smith & Wesson, left side says 38 S&W ctg.

Interestingly though, if it was cut it isnt a straight line, the barrel (lower part) is about 1/10 of an inch in front of the barrel rib on top, cut nicely on a diagonal. My apologies if I am not using the correct terms. I will try and get a close up picture posted.

Thanks again for any thoughts!

Well spotted 29aholic , i was so busy admiring them i didnt notice how short the lemon squeezer is , once you pointed it out its like you think..i think

Here is a model 34-1 my same grandfather gave me, still have box and papers. He purchsed new in 1981 for $250, surprised it was so much then. It is in perfect shape right now.

Nice! I really dig that short barreled squeezer.

Thanks. I never knew my great grandfather, but apparently he used to refer to it as his "persuader"

Anyway, I am thinking this is a late 5th model, but I really dont know. Any thoughts anyone? Thanks!

nice guns bbrown,
Your S&W 38 Safety was probably shipped in the mid 1920s. If you look at production figures they produced them until 1940 and only made about 9000 more after yours but sales were quite slow towards the end. Serial number 247088 shipped in Oct. 1921 and 259608 shipped in Jan. 1931. Every factory cut on the rib that I have ever seen is rebated back from the end of the barrel, but is cut straight down.
Mark

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Mark Connot

Thanks Mark. Given the sentimental value, I think I am going to send off to S&W for a letter. Will keep y'all posted.

Thanks!

What a neat bunch of guns! Your Great Grandfather had good taste. Is that snub nosed Colt in the top row center of the first picture a Bankers Special?

Thanks, yes that is a Colt Bankers Special. That one I inherited from my other grandfather. It is in excellent condition, he kept it beside his bed until the day he died and knew how to take care of a pistol. I need to do some research on it, but the latest patent date written on the barrel is October 1926.

Do a search for Bankers Special at the Colt forum www.coltforum.com. They have had several good Bankers Special discussions there.

That's also a nice looking Colt New Service. What caliber is it in?

BTW what caliber is the Colt New Service...would that be a commercial 1917 45acp??

The Colt Service is chambered in .45 Colt (long). One of my favorites. Its a hand cannon!

Whats odd about that little lemon squeezer is that the lettering on the side of the barrel looks correct for a factory snub barrel. The lettering is centered. Is it in this same location on longer barreled versions? Nice little gun regardless.
Here's a picture of my little cut down .38

Welcome to the forum and very nice heirlooms......

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Bob

I think the one's with a family connection are the jewel's of any collection. That's a nice bunch-o-handguns you have there!

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Stay safe people!

Great collection from back when they knew how to make pistols. Clean design, functional, effective machined steel. Nice.