I need to stop for a moment because to know where we are going we have to know where we came from ,
Stepping back in time to 1950 the wide rib 6" K38 was introduced with matching frame in an attempt to weight match the 3 different caliber Masterpiece series.

The 1950 AMC advertised the new wide rib 6" K38 as the "Heavy" Masterpiece to distinguish it from the narrow rib tapered barrel design still available for purchase.

1950 Heavy Masterpiece in matte blue with non relieved walnut target grips with 1950 K22 tapered barrel Masterpiece.




By comparing the two designs side by side you can easily see the differences in barrel and frame,



Interestingly the wide rib K22 does not appear until 1955 and is not called a "Heavy" Masterpiece like its K38 sibling.

in 1965 by combining the heavy barrel from a Model 10 with the adjustable site Model 14 frame
a limited run of 4" 14-2's are produced and advertised as the "Hanen Special" ,
AKA the 4" Model 14-2 Dayton gun or 14-2 Heavy Combat masterpiece .


In 1970 another small run of 4" Model 14-3's are created with barrel rib grooves By shortening a Model 14 barrel (left),
The 14-2 HB (right) in comparison had a smooth rib from the Model 10 HB

This is important to know as we jump back to the mid 80s and evolution of the old tapered barrel Combat Masterpiece .