My father has an older Smith and Wesson 32 calibur pistol with a pearl handle. It belonged to his great-grandfather who was born ca. 1865. There is a serial number on the bottom of the handle: #143213. It's in pretty good shape. "Smith and Wesson" is stamped on the barrel (?) (where the bullet comes out). There are also some other marks, perhaps hallmarks of some sort. Is it possible to tell the age of this gun by the serial # and where would I find that out? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My father has an older Smith and Wesson 32 calibur pistol with a pearl handle. It belonged to his great-grandfather who was born ca. 1865. There is a serial number on the bottom of the handle: #143213. It's in pretty good shape. "Smith and Wesson" is stamped on the barrel (?) (where the bullet comes out). There are also some other marks, perhaps hallmarks of some sort. Is it possible to tell the age of this gun by the serial # and where would I find that out? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

More details are needed to identify your pistol.

Post a picture if possible.

Centerfire or rimfire?

Is it break-top or side swing-out cylinder?

Copy down the patent date markings on the top of the barrel.

Needless to say, I don't know alot about guns. I am unable to post a picture at this time as it's in my dad's possession and he's out of town for the month. I don't know what center or rim fire means. I believe it's a breaktop cylinder. One must pull down the barrel to load the bullets into the cylinder. Also it has an interesting safety on it. It's a little screw by the hammer that moves back and forth to put the safety on and off. I did not see any dates on the gun. But I didn't look at those possible hallmarks with a magnifying glass either. That's all I can add at this point. Thank you for your help. I'll try to take a photo in March and post it.

That revolver is not a Smith & Wesson, That little "screw" you mention that moves back and forth as a safety was used on a few makes in the 1880s - 1900s ers, mostly on Hopkins & Allen, or similar, revolvers. What your gun probably says on the barrel is "Made for .32 Smith & Wesson cartridges" a marketing gimmick to fool 19th century buyers into thinking they were buying a real S&W.

The handle of this gun has a rivet or screw or something on each side with the S&W logo as well as the S&W logo impressed into the metal part of the gun, I think on the barrel. Would these other manufacturers go so far as to fake the logos? I appreciate your help.

Now we really need to see pictures. Several, showing the side view of each side, the logo's, this safety you mention, the base of the grip showing the s/n.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

H. Richard is right, we really need pictures. If the gun has a S&W logo on it, and you are absolutely sure it's a S&W logo, and not a clever fake of a stamp made to resemble the S&W logo, as done by Spanish gun makers, then it may be a S&W that someone had altered with the "little screws" you mention. Smith & Wesson never put their logo on any barrel, so you probably mean that the barrel rib says "Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Mass." , correct? The logo is the intertwined letters S&W in a circle, and there's no room on the barrel for the logo. What type of grips does the gun have? Is there any logo or name on the grips?

If by grips, you mean the sides of the handle, they are pearl handles. The logo is an intertwined S&W in a circle. I'm going to check on my father's house this weekend and I'll try to find the gun and take photos. Now I'm getting even more curious reading all of your posts. I've also been reading other posts in the antiques section and it's really interesting and I like looking at the photos. At any rate, I'll get back to you either Sun. or next week. It's probably in his underwear drawer. That's where he used to put stuff when I was a kid and he didn't want me to find it.

I have a "Smith & Wesson" complete with logo, a safety, wrong dates on the barrrel and Belgian proof marks (they look like hallmarks). I have seen others. There was at least one manufacturer that built illicit copies. Still, I find mine to be a handsome fake.
-BothellBob

I just wanted you fellows to know that I was unable to find the pistol in the one place. I didn't want to rifle through his house. I will post photos in March after he gets back. Thanks for all your help.

Lisa