I was digging through my grandfathers stuff and found a gun. I did some research and it is apparently called a lemon squeezer it looks like a 32. and it has a 3 inch barrel the serial number is 51200 the serial numbers or production number is the same throughout the gun I would like to know what year it was made.

my lemon squeezer is ser.# 56707..it shipped from S&W march 1895

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

Welcome to the Forum. The S&W floor foreman's daily production logs for the .32 Safety Hammerless ( Lemon Squeezers) model are in the Conn. Valley Historical Museum in Springfield, MA. You can look up the date your gun was made in those logs, by the serial number. Also. you can get a factory Historical letter for your gun from Roy Jinks, Factory Historian, for $50. It will tell you when the gun was shipped from S&W, and to whom and where, and the configuration of the gun when it was shipped. There's a link n this Forum to the application form for the factory letter. Ed.

The important factor is that your .32 revolver was manufactured prior to 1899. It is therefore legally an antique, and is exempt from firearms regulation in most jurisdictions, i.e., it's not a "firearm."

While it is commonly referred to as a "Lemon Squeezer," it's properly called a .32 Safety Hammerless. The serial number identifies it further as being a First Model, of which 91,417 were produced between 1888 and 1902. It is reported that First models made prior to 1898, such as yours, will have only 3" or 3-1/2" inch barrel lengths. There are also Second and Third models, which incorporate minor changes from the First model. A total of 242,981 .32 Safety Hammerless revolvers (all three models) were made between 1888 and 1937.

You did not describe your revolver nor post any pictures. Therefore there is possibly a lot of additional information about it that no one can tell you about. They were made in both blued and nickel-plated finishes, and typically have black hard rubber grip panels. But it is possible that it may have been factory customized in some way, or modified sometime after it left the factory.

If it's in good condition, it can still be fired. The proper caliber is ".32 S&W," NOT .32 S&W Long. This ammunition is available but can be difficult to find.

While it is your decision as to whether a factory letter would be worth $50 to you, it will provide very little information beyond that given above, aside from a more precise shipping date. If yours has some special features, such as engraving, gold plating, unusual grips, etc., it may well be worth the price of a factory letter.

I have a very nice lemon squeezer 32 cal. nickel plated--my question if anyone knows, did they have any models that were total nickel plated including trigger and guard--I was told mine is the real deal, and then also was told it is not. Does anyone know if they were all nickel plated?

No, these were not ALL nickel plated. The trigger guard, hammer, and trigger were not nickeled. With yours described as such, you likely have one that was renickeled at some point.

Welcome Myguns4fun. I have never run across a documented Safety that was all nickel. You may have the only one ever made by the factory, but almost surely was refinished at some point in its life.

If you are a gambler, you could send in the $50 for a factory letter and document the original configuration of your revolver.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Not to hijack the thread, but I just got my hands on a nice reprint of the 1903 Smith and Wesson catalog, and there it's referred to as the ".32 Hammerless Safety", just like its big brother, the ".38 Hammerless Safety". Anyone know when the words got transposed?

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Looking through the 1923 Catalog, the company had changed the name to Safety Hammerless. The company also used the name New Departure, but that name disappeared by the 1925 catalog.

Smith & Wesson Forum - glowe's Album: 1923 S&W Catalog D-3

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Gary
SWCA 2515