I recently acquired a hammerless I believe .38 S&W Lemon Squeezer. The serial number is 78250. Can anyone provide any additional details? I really dont know what I have, I'm not big into guns and I'm only reasonably sure its a .38.

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Welcome to the Forum. This is a .38 Safety Hammerless or New Departure, informally known as the "lemon squeezer". This one probably shipped in the mid-1890s and appears to be in much better condition than the average surviving gun of its era. The stocks on these were originally black, but over time many fade to brown.

Is there an interesting family story to it? Hope this is helpful.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Very nice example of an early 38 Safety Hammerless. It does not appear to have been shot much at all, and I wish all old S&W's would have been taken care like this one has been. Welcome to the S&W Forum!

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Welcome to the Forum. As said above, your gun is a .38 S&W Safety Hammerless, 2nd model, made in 1894. S&W made about 260,000 of these Safety Hammerless revolvers, through 5 different engineering changes, labeled Models 1 thru 5, up to the beginning of WW2. It appears to be in excellent original condition, unusual for a gun 118 yrs. old! .38S&W caliber ammunition for this gun is available at bigger gun stores and on the internet, and is safe to shoot in these guns, if they are in good mechanical condition, as the ammo. is loaded to low pressures that can be safely fired in older guns. Ed.

No real family story behind this. It was purchased on gunbroker about a year ago since I just thought it was a really nice classic looking gun, unfortunately I didnt know its history very well. I am more into modern guns but this just stood out to me. I am in the process of becoming a first time home buyer so the collection has to dwindle a bit so it will be for sale soon though i really wish i didnt have to. When I buy a gun its usually for keeps. If anyone is interested feel free to let me know, otherwise keep an eye out for it on gunbroker.

I believe Ed inadvertantly made a typo when describing your old 38 Safety Hammerless. With a serial number in the 78000 range and that latch it is a 3rd model. Otherwise his information is spot on.
Mark

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Mark Connot

I was wondering about that. I found a picture comparing the different models and it looked like a third. Well it's on gunbroker starting at 350 with no reserve so if anyone wants it.

Smith & Wesson Hammerless .38 Lemon Squeezer : Revolvers at GunBroker.com