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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 08-01-2010, 02:49 PM
lonegunman762x51 lonegunman762x51 is offline
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Default Just one more K-22 question?

I have been slowly going through the guns and stuff I recieved after my Dad passed away. I thought I had a model 17 with a box until the other day. I never really paid a lot of attention to it. But it turns out to be a K-22 with the box and all the accessories. According to the s/n it is a 1956 gun.

It is 95% or better and has been shot, it has slight wear at the muzzle and that really is about it.

The box is blue with the s/n on the bottom in white grease pencil. Is this the original box? It is a little worn and faded but in solid shape.

It has a 1955 copyrighted instruction sheet, grease paper and a small plastic bag with brushes, screwdriver and cleaning rod. Does this sound right?

I was wondering about value and weither it is a good idea to shoot it occasionally?

I have a complete set of late 1950's bullseye guns, 22 and 38 revolvers and a very old wadcutter 45. At some point I am going to shoot them in a match for old time's sake. I can run pretty solid master class with modern guns and would like to see how these run.
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Old 08-01-2010, 03:12 PM
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DCWilson DCWilson is offline
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That sounds like the complete kit in its original box to me. The gun could probably be sold for $600-650 by itself, and the package might be worth $800-850, if not a little more. But if it came from your Dad, it has heirloom value far in excess of its commercial potential.

Pictures?
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Old 08-01-2010, 07:36 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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We all rate guns differently. In fact, a fun exercise is to take the gun and hand it to different people an ask them how they rate it. It tells you the validity of your rating skill.

As for it being a good idea to shoot it, I think it is. If the gun really is at 95% or so, its been shot a bit already. In my experience, the act of shooting a gun rarely eats up much of its condition. I'm not even sure what excessive shooting amounts to, but 50,000 rounds will probably show on the lockwork more than the finish.

What I find hurts a guns finish is holstering it, and not cleaning the gun between sessions. Holsters just seem to attract and hold grit. It then removes significant finish from the high spots. Shooters who really care about the finish usually take along a rag and wipe the gun before even putting it away to take it home. Its really easy to do, but does tend to get your hands a bit dirty if you're not careful.

22 Ammo is dirty anyhow. Some much worse than others. Some that is relatively clean in a long barrel gun is dirty in hand guns. Your job is to test it to see. Its no long or painful work. You just shoot a gun with it and try to remember if the last brand you used is as filthy. So if you find and buy relatively clean ammo, wipe the gun down with some solvent before taking it home, then promptly clean it, the gun will last forever.

Be aware there are folks who are opposed to any cleaning of 22s. I think they're just lazy, but they manufacture all kinds of things like "more barrels were worn out from cleaning than from neglect, etc." I'm not buying it. Particularly wiping off all the powder residue (we call it grit). Do as you wish with the inside of the barrel. I still vote for detail cleaning on any gun you wish to remain pristine. Clean it like you owned it.
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Old 08-01-2010, 07:42 PM
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I agree with Dick Burg, clean the guns every time you use them. All of those guns are very much fun guns to shoot, and you will find out just how accurate they are. For the K22, I would recommend standard velocity 40 gr. I mention bullet weight as so much recently I notice .22's with 33, & 36 gr bullets. I've always found the 40 grain to shoot better.
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Old 08-01-2010, 08:05 PM
crofoot629 crofoot629 is offline
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D. C. Wilson and R Burg are two of whom I’ve learned what little I do know about K’22. They can’t be argued with and are truly experts.

My two cents?
My 95% K22 is my absolute best shooting, most fun revolver.
Shoot the snot out of yours. I do mine. For me it's almost exclusivley double action.



Different strokes for different folks and all, and I suppose I could come up with some reasons why the K22 3rd model is such a favorite of mine. Like the great double action trigger you can’t have on a J-frame, the outstanding sights, and the longer 6” sight plane over a model 18 (or pre18). However the whole just adds up to more than the sum of the parts for me. Shoot that dude!

Clearly, as R Burg said, you wont wear it out.

Best regards,
Emory

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Old 08-01-2010, 08:10 PM
stantheman86 stantheman86 is offline
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Value varies regionally and .22's are hot right now, with ammo prices many people are looking for good .22 handguns. Also, people are looking for the "old" S&W's and the K-22's are probably the best .22 revolver ever made. Here in rural PA people like .22 handguns for quieter backyard plinking, pest control and just cheap shooting. A S&W .22 LR revolver is worth pretty much it's weight in gold here, and most have been shot to heck by the time they make it to gun shop shelves.

Lots of .22 revolvers I have seen are neglected and weren't given the best care, as a lot of people have the attitude "it's just a .22" or they leave them out in the garage or barn as critter killers where they quietly rust away.

I have seen well, well used K-22's and M17's dissapear from gun shop shelves very quickly for $400-500. The older K-22's tend to get a bit more, but since there are far more shooters looking for a good .22 revolver that's cheap to shoot, than collectors, so K-22's and M17's usually don't get below $400 in any kind of workable condition. The average guy could care less if it's a "K22" or a "Model 17", it's a .22 revolver with S&W stamped on the side, so they all get lumped in as the same.

Nice ones don't even make it to the shelves as the "usual S&W guys" that know the gun shop owner usually get to them first. I had to look high and low for over a year to turn up a K-22 in the condition I was looking for, i.e. not a "beat around" gun or Juniors backyard pop gun.

I paid about $500 for a stone mint, hardly fired K-22 about two years ago. I never plan to sell it, and I bought it to shoot, so needless to say it is not stone mint anymore after several thousand rounds. This one is a keeper for me so I care not about it's "value" in dollars.
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629, 650, bullseye, commercial, k-22, k22, m17, model 17, screwdriver, sig arms, solvent, wadcutter

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