UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C.  20549


                           FORM 8-K -- CURRENT REPORT



Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) April 24, 1996


                              LAWSON PRODUCTS, INC.
               (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)


     Delaware                0-10546                36-2229304   
(State or other          (Commission File         (I.R.S. Employer
jurisdiction of               Number)            Identification No.)
incorporation or
organization)


1666 East Touhy Avenue, Des Plaines, Illinois         60018
(Address of principal executive offices)            (Zip Code)


                         (847) 827-9666
        Registrant's telephone number, including area code


                                 Not Applicable
              (Former name, former address and former fiscal year,
                         if changed since last report.)

Item 5.  Other Events.

     On April 24, 1996, the registrant issued a press release, a copy of which
is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K and incorporated herein by
reference.



Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits.

     (c)  Exhibits

Exhibit Number                Description

       99.1              Press release dated April 24,
                         1996 issued by the registrant


                                   SIGNATURES


Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


                              LAWSON PRODUCTS, INC.
                              (Registrant)


                              /s/ Joseph Pawlick
                              _____________________________
                              Joseph Pawlick,
                              Vice President and Controller
Date:  April 26, 1996

                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

                                PRESS RELEASE 


                      LAWSON PRODUCTS ACQUISITION INCLUDES
                          MANUFACTURING FOR FIRST TIME


     DES PLAINES, IL. -- Lawson Products, Inc., said Wednesday that through its
newly created subsidiary, Assembly Component Systems, Inc. (ACS), it has agreed
to acquire substantially all of the assets of Automatic Screw Machine Products
Company, Decatur, Alabama, for $10.3 million cash plus the assumption of trade
payables.  Automatic is a privately held manufacturer and distributor of
production components.  The firm has been owned since 1914 by the Norman
families of Hinsdale, Illinois, and Decatur, Alabama.  Automatic registered
record revenues of $22.8 million in 1995.  Lawson revenues for 1995 were a
record $223.5 million.

     The transaction is scheduled to close on April 30.

     The acquisition will place Lawson in the manufacturing business for the
first time in the 44 year history of the industrial distributor.

     ACS will continue to conduct sales and distribution activities to original
equipment manufacturers through facilities in Memphis, Tennessee; Burr Ridge,
Illinois; and Tupelo, Mississippi.  Manufacturing activities will be conducted
in decatur, Alabama by a subsidiary of ACS organized under the original name,
Automatic Screw Machine Products Company.  

     Stanley Belsky, chairman and chief executive officer of Automatic since
1987, will be the president and chief operating officer of ACS and the newly
organized Automatic.  His executive management team will remain intact.

     Automatic is a specialty manufacturer of machined-from-bar products and
other screw machine parts.  Market penetration includes original equipment
manufacturing within the industrial, off-the-road, heavy-duty, HVAC, aerospace
and transportation fields.

     ACS, together with its Automatic subsidiary, will continue to focus on
manufacturing and distribution within selected O.E.M. market niches while Lawson
continues to concentrate on the industrial maintenance and repair business.  ACS
and Automatic will go to market through a limited number of contract
manufacturer representatives while Lawson sells through its independent agent
sales force.

     Lawson Products is a distributor of approximately 33,000 expendable
maintenance, repair and replacement fasteners, parts, chemical specialties,
welding rods and supplies, hydraulic and other flexible hose, fittings, and
electrical and shop supplies.  These products are used for the repair and
maintenance of capital equipment of all types in the industrial, heavy-duty
equipment, in-plant, buildings and grounds maintenance and transportation
fields.

     Customers are currently served from 10 strategically located Distribution
Centers by approximately 1,675 agents in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada,
England and Mexico.

     Lawson Products was founded in 1952 by Sidney L. Port, chairman of the
executive committee.