|
Forum Rules | Firearms Safety | Firearms Photos | Links | Library | Lost Password | Email Changes |
Register | FAQ | Calendar | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
May 17, 2009, 09:46 AM | #1 |
Junior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2009
Posts: 4
|
S$W Lemon Squeezer S/N question
I am looking for the manufacture date of a lemon squeezer (Safety Hammerless), .32 (1888-1931). S/N 230XXX.
Thanks in advance for any help. |
May 17, 2009, 09:54 AM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 25, 2001
Location: Alabama
Posts: 18,486
|
Flayderman says that is a third model as made from 1909 til 1937. Late in that period, the end of the run serial number was in the 247,000 range.
Maybe somebody with a SCSW will be along to pin it down closer. |
May 17, 2009, 02:32 PM | #3 |
Junior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2009
Posts: 4
|
Thanks, Jim, I appreciate the response.
It would be nice to know the actual year but right now, the question is in reference to pre or post 1899 for legal ownership. |
May 18, 2009, 08:50 PM | #4 | |||
Senior Member
Join Date: October 20, 2007
Location: Richardson, TX
Posts: 7,523
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
__________________
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules... MARK IT ZERO!!" - Walter Sobchak |
|||
May 18, 2009, 11:10 PM | #5 |
Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
|
The query about 1899 indicates the concern is not whether the gun is C&R eligible, but whether it is an antique, made before 1 Jan 1899. The question was answered on that basis.
Incidentally, I don't think a factory letter will give the build date, only the shipping date. IIRC that was the question regarding the antique (not C&R) status of some Schofields that were not shipped until well into the 20th century; S&W certified that all the frames were made prior to 1899. I don't think that was true of other top breaks; many thousands were made after 1898. Jim |
May 19, 2009, 09:19 AM | #6 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: October 20, 2007
Location: Richardson, TX
Posts: 7,523
|
Quote:
Quote:
OTOH production of the .32 and .38 Double Action & Safety Hammerless models continued well into the 20th century, although the 1/1/1899 serial number cutoffs are well documented in the SCSW and elsewhere. According to the serial numbers I posted earlier, S&W produced 151,581 .32 Safety Hammerlesses (say that 5 times fast...) after 1/1/1899, almost 2/3 of the total production. The .38 Safety Hammerless remained popular right up to the beginning of WWII.
__________________
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules... MARK IT ZERO!!" - Walter Sobchak |
||
May 19, 2009, 08:47 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 20, 2007
Location: Richardson, TX
Posts: 7,523
|
OK, just for the record, the following S&W top-breaks qualify as Antiques under US federal law:
The only S&W top-break that's not C&R-eligible is the Schofield Model of 2000, a modern reproduction produced by the S&W Performance Center. The last of the regular-production top-breaks, the .38 Safety Hammerless, was discontinued in 1940 and was not reintroduced after WWII.
__________________
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules... MARK IT ZERO!!" - Walter Sobchak |
May 19, 2009, 10:30 PM | #8 |
Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
|
The Perfected has an odd story connected with it. Supposedly, Joseph Wesson heard of cases where a police officer carrying the standard top break revolver got into an altercation and the bad guy grabbed the latch, opening the gun. That is supposedly the same rationale that led to the Schofield design; I have to wonder how often, and if, it ever really happened.
In any event the Perfected was the answer since both latches have to be unlocked to allow the gun to open. One would be tempted to think that the Perfected thumb latch was the ancestor of that for the hand ejectors, except that, as noted, the hand ejectors came first; the Perfected thumb piece is the same as that of the M&P of the 1909 era. Jim |
May 20, 2009, 07:54 PM | #9 |
Junior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2009
Posts: 4
|
Thanks for all the great info. You guys certainly answered my question in excellent detail.
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|