I can't believe this is the first time I've seen this, but so be it. Okay----well, no picture, and no gun either----gone along with almost all the rest of them. David called a couple of days ago, and we compared notes. I said there were nine left, he said seven. He figured Brewster had the missing two, and I haven't heard different; so the mystery must be solved---or close enough.

It's a long time ago. I'm either between my freshman and sophomore year of college----or sophomore and junior. I live in St.Louis. I have a lady friend who lives in Tennessee-----about 50 miles from Georgia----right where we live now. But what's most important then is you could buy a handgun in Georgia as soon as you're 18 years old. I qualify.

So it's off to Georgia---or rather Tennessee to visit my lady friend---and meet her parents----oh, and maybe take a side trip to Georgia. Speaking of side trips, we---she and I took another side trip later on-------on our honeymoon (June, 1959)--600 miles out of our way to visit with Herbie Harris in Chicago---and pick up one of those odd ball "pre-war-post-war" .32 Regulation Police Target guns. Herbie had called a few weeks earlier---said, "You call yourself a collector of S&W target guns, I got one you have to have." That's all it took!

So anyway, I found Tennessee, and we found Georgia, and we found this hardware store in Dalton, and they had S&W handguns, brand new in the boxes, stacked up higher than you could reach---no lie, higher than you could reach----in a hardware store---in Dalton, Georgia!! And they had K-22's---and pretty much anything else, but a K-22 is what I'd been dreaming about.

There was one problem---they had them with that funky "satin blue", and I wanted one with "bright blue". That wasn't really the problem, because I could have one of those "bright blue" ones----in about six months, is what they said---to this kid--------you'd think they'd know better.

So off we went with a "satin blue" K-22----back to Tennessee---where I got my clock cleaned by her daddy in a little shooting match. And then back to St. Louis.

Once there I packed up that gun, and shipped it off to Springfield. I asked them to put the "bright blue" finish on it----and to go through it and make it as perfect as can be. It was back in St. Louis in nothing flat----a few weeks. So much for having to wait six months.

It took a long time before I figured out what they'd done to "make it as perfect as can be", but one day I noticed it didn't have one of those dreaded "turn rings" on it. Actually, it did, but it was only about 3/32" long---at the lead into each cylinder stop notch---and this was after it'd had about a half a box car full of ammo run through it. I remember telling Jinks about that one time. He scowled, and said "They never should have done that----it'll skip chambers in rapid double action fire." I didn't have the heart to tell him about half of that half a box car full of ammo was used in rapid double action fire, and it never missed a beat. I didn't tell him that because then I'd have to tell him I never did get to be as fast as McGivern.

My Tennessee Lady friend didn't care for that K-22---too "klunky" she said. She has a 4" Kit gun----and she's keeping it.

Ralph Tremaine