I know that many officers purchased the .22 Combat Masterpiece (Model 18) as a 22LR version of their Model 15 Combat Masterpiece revolvers to use as practice.

I was wondering if anyone knew any more of the history of this model. Was it simply a shortened, "handier" K-22 Masterpiece or was it designed specifically as a 22LR version of the Model 15 for police practice?

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Aaron Terry

I have heard or read that it was meant for low cost practice.

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No life story has happy end.

I'm not sure those options are mutually exclusive. The Combat Masterpiece definitely had a law enforcement application from the moment it was introduced, and some 22 CMs were marketed and sold as training aids for their .38 caliber brothers.

But at the same time, the 22 CM had its own appeal as a slightly more portable revolver for woodland walks, and I imagine (that's right, I don't know this for a fact) that a lot of them were sold to people who did not have a .38 but just wanted a .22 with a shorter barrel -- a heavier Kit Gun, if you will.

I was discussing Pre-17s and Pre-18s elsewhere a couple of weeks back, and there seemed to be a sense that during the five-screw postwar era the number of six-inch K-22 Masterpieces produced may have outnumbered the four-inch 22 Combat Masterpieces by as much as 20 to 1. Not that that has anything to do with your question, but it's an interesting topic of reflection.

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David Wilson

In 1970, the Dallas Police Department used these and Colt Trooper .22s for training before advancing to Model 15s, Model 10s, and Troopers, all in .38 Special. The .22s seemed far from new at that time, but how long they had been in use, I don't know. .22s were discontinued fo training purposes in the very early 1970s.

David, I think that ratio is interesting. I wonder why that was the case.

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Aaron Terry

Just a theory, but I think the 1950s were simply a time of longer barrel preferences. It's true that openly carried service revolvers worked better with slightly shorter barrels, so there was an incentive to create them. But the general market favored 6, 6.5 or even 8-3/8" barrels. One of the reason four-inch Pre-29s are so much in demand is that so few of them were made back then.

On the 20-1 ratio, I'm not sure that's the actual number. Just based on some serial numbers I know, there seemed to be about a 5 or 6 to 1 ratio, but that data was unreliable because the rarer shorter barrels tend to get counted more thoroughly than the standard guns. Maybe the real number is something like 10-1.

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David Wilson

If I could have only one .22, it would be an M18.

From Roy Jinks' "The History of Smith & Wesson" we have:

"Once production of the K Masterpiece was well underway, the factory began receiving inquiries from laws enforcement agencies requesting the K-38 Masterpiece with a 4" barrel. By 1949, inquiries for this barrel length were so strong that the firm produced a limited quantity of both the .22 and .38 caliber K Masterpieces with a 4 inch barrel. These salesmen samples were tested and by late 1949 the demand was sufficient to place both models into production. In the January 1950 catalog, this barrel length was listed as the Combat Masterpiece; a short action, target-grade holster gun for law enforcement officers. The following June the new catalog announced the introduction of the .22 caliber Combat Masterpiece, stating it was a companion gun designed for training purposes. Both revolvers were well accepted by the law enforcement community as well as the sportsmen who looked upon these new revolvers as excellent companion guns for field use."

As a college student/shooting hobbyist, I bought a 4 inch Model 18 over the 6 inch Model 17 as my first good .22 handgun just because I liked the portability of the shorter barrel. I didn't get a 6 inch K-22 for a number of years later. I think a lot of shooters preferred the shorter barrels. In the 1970's, though, most new S&W handguns were pretty hard to find at retail outlets, and we tended to buy what we could find if we couldn't immediately find exactly what we wanted. I would have bought the M-18 first, anyway, even if there had been a M-17 in the display case next to it.

When I was an investigator trainee at the Border Patrol Academy in Los Fresnos, TX (1972) they started us out with Model 18s. Subcaliber guns for training make perfect sense; interestingly enough the idea is making a comeback, mainly for economic reasons. I suspect those fine old Smiths were eventually cut up which was--and I think still is--DOJ policy. What a horrible thing to contemplate.

I got a M18 of my own in 1982 and it gets more use than any other gun on the place.

The Dallas Police Dept. was still using the S&W Mod 18's for the first few days of firearms training in 1976.

The issue revolver was the S&W Mod 64, ammo Winchester 158gr lead SWC HP +P.

My department, the Salt Lake County (UT) Sheriffs Office, had the .38 Combat Masterpiece as our issue sidearm for 30 or 40 years. They once bought at least six K-22's for cheap practice and corrective training. One of my old captains had some of his deputies using them. He couldn't remember if they were 4 or 6 inch. No one knows where they went. When I started in 1982, we no longer had them.

If someone can't master the basics of double action revolver shooting with a good .22 and it's lack of recoil, a .38 isn't going to be easier! It is a very logical idea. I am surprised that there aren't more .22 LR conversion units for the more popular centerfire duty guns.

In the seventies we used the Mod 18's for initial firearms training before moving on to Model 10's and later Mod 686's in the eighties. Mostly for financial reasons but it was agreed even then it was important to train and practice as much as possible with the caliber to be used operationally.

Arlington,Tx PD used them for training and shot in the basement of the PD building. We were allowed to carry whatever we wanted back then. I carried a model 28 then in 1985 upgraded to the 686. Carried that till they made me carry the Glock 17. I retired a year later. Sure wish I had kept my 686.

A local gun shop just put five 6" Model 17s (no-dash) in the used gun case. I was told they were training guns for the Oregon Dept. of Corrections.

Jerry