I have inherited a weapon. Serial is 185x. It's a 44 caliber
Does the cylinder swing out to the side, or does the gun open by pivoting the barrel down and the cylinder up?
The first style is known as a "Hand Ejector" and is the configuration used on the vast majority of S&Ws made since the end of World War II. The second style is known as a "top-break" and made up the majority of S&W production during the latter half of the 19th century. They were regularly catalogued until 1941, but by then the Hand Ejectors had eclipsed them in popularity, and S&W didn't bring them back after the war.
If it has a swing-out cylinder chambered in .44 Special (not .44-40 Winchester), it's a .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model, otherwise known as a "New Century" or a "Triple Lock". The "New Century" moniker was applied by S&Ws marketing department to signify the fact that it was the first all-new model introduced in the 20th century; the "Triple Lock" moniker is a nickname applied by collectors because it's the only S&W model with a third locking lug under the cylinder support, known in revolver nomenclature as the "crane". (The other 2 locking lugs are at the front end of the ejector rod and at the rear of the cylinder; almost all S&Ws have these.) This gun was the first model to use S&W's "large" frame size, known as the N frame. Your gun was built in the first year of production, 1908. This is among the most valuable of all Hand Ejector models; its value is in the mid 4-figure range if it's all-original and in good condition. OTOH I'll give you $250 for it. Let me know where to mail the check.
(If it's chambered in .44-40 Winchester, it might be something else, and I'll have to get back with you.)
{EDIT} Make sure you're reading the serial number off the butt and including any alphabetical prefixes. If you're reading it somewhere else, it could be an assembly number, and my ID could be incorrect! 
If it's a top-break, you will
have to post pictures of it to get a positive ID because S&W produced a number of different .44 top-break models with overlapping serial-number ranges. Tens of thousands of these guns were sold to the militaries of the USA, Imperial Russia, and Japan, and IIRC S&W often restarted the serial numbers with each contract. (These were produced 80-100 years before the USA passed a law prohibiting gunmakers from repeating serial numbers in the same caliber.) .44 top-break models are differentiated by features, some of which are very subtle.
Pictures are a must!
Whoever willed that gun to you has given you something really special.
