Hello i just bought my first k22 with coke bottle grips and a very wide hammer. 291xxx for$ 800.00. my local gun shop was selling new for about same.I know its not an older one but came from original owners son who said one day they shot 100 rounds then put it away.The gun is pristine which is very important to me.would any of you bought new over this era? something about older guns just puts a grin on my face.New to older smiths havn't been able to compare at the range side by side with new. p.s no box

I thought the Cokes were only made for the N frames.

I think $800 is a lot for a K22 unless it's older, pristine, and in the original box. But that's just my worthless opinion.

PS: That number you posted can't be a K22 serial. All post war target sighted K frames have a K prefix.

SP - correct.. no such thing as K cokes and there are Members who value your opinion. I'll second your statements

i just took grips off gun and a k prefix is there. in pencil it says smith k frame the grips have on left side a football shaped cut out. is that coke bottle?writing on grips very faint but no serial number its defiantly older maybe not original?

Actually there are K cokes according to the SCSW.

I can talk myself into or out of any sale.

Clean 4 and 5 screw guns do pop up for $500 but the fact that a new "classic"copy costs more than $800 would be enough
to justify a real 4 or 5 screw classic.

PICS PLEASE

what would be correct magnas? new to computers but will soon

new to older smiths picked this ,seems to be overall favorite 22 in this forum haven't even shot one yet

K291xxx would have shipped in 1957. The stocks you describe are called relieved target stocks. Target stocks were introduced as an option for the K-frame models in 1950. They came either non-relieved (no football cut-out) or relieved (with the football). If your gun has the full target hammer rather than the standard 3/8" speed hammer, it may have shipped with the hammer and stocks as original equipment. Sounds like the gun was not much used, so I suppose that is likely to be the case.

$800 sounds a little high to me, but not too much; it's probably at the high end of the proper price range for this gun. Several times I have paid next year's price for a gun I wanted today, and I have never lost sleep over doing so. I figure it is like acquisition insurance; I pay a premium to make sure that a gun I want goes to me, and not someone else.

As an aside, Coke grips are the target stocks for S&W's largest frame revolvers that have a pronounced palm swell on either side. The K-frame target stocks are good stocks in their own right, but don't have the unmistakeable coke-bottle profile you see on the N-frame stocks when you look at them from behind.

Pictures? We love pictures.

EDITED TO ADD: Target stocks were usually not numbered to the gun they were mounted on. Since they enclose the frame rather than matching its profile, there was no need to do precision fitting to a particular unit. And don't be in a rush to get some period diamond magnas unless you just want to have them. I prefer the early K-target stocks on my K-Masterpiece revolvers. I won't take off magnas that are numbered to the gun, but if I get a gun with some other number on the stocks, I have no hesitation about digging up some appropriate target stocks and putting them on.

And I would buy a high-condition older revolver over the closest modern equivalent any day of the week.

__________________
David Wilson

Thanks for the info its rookies like me that can really use this info to get a better understanding .I will be getting a standard SM catalog to keep learning.do the newer editions help more or older...ps the hammer is quite a bit wider than my 19-3 but havnt seen 2 k22s with different hammers together.it makes me happy to think grips are original

Well,
The saying goes that you don't pay too much, you just pay too early. These guns seem to go up and up. For making so many K22's they sure seem hard to find in good shape. I saw one recently a local gun shop and it was $600 with incorrect grips.

I think the target grips are nice. Sounds like a nice gun.
Munster

__________________
GO NAVY!

Hello David
I have no Intent to spark an argument over this, and God Know's this subject has been argued Plenty in the past But I currently have Two set's of K-Sq. Target stocks that "Indeed have the slight Palm swell in them". Sage S&W collectors in the past often say that "they are Not Coke's" but a rear view Picture I have Provided below of them proves Different. I asked MR. Jinks a long time ago about this very subject and he told me that the same stock making equipment was used in making both of different frame size target stock's from that time period. The difference I see between these and the larger-N-frame Coke's is that the K-Frame stock's do not have the checking extended as far to the revolver's back strap area so as I see it the current S&WSC is correct in using the Term of K-Sq. Coke profile stocks....




K-Sq. Frame Stock's



K-Sq. Frame stocks rear view showing the Evident Palm swell




N-Sq. Coke stocks showing more checking coverage than the same time period K-Sq. stocks above

This is the type of knowledge us new collector's seek! "Acquisition insurance" is so much more palatable than "overpaid." I have frequently "bought" acquisition insurance but didn't know the correct terminology at the time....I just knew it was worth the premium I paid. Thanks DCWilson for clearing things up!

To the original poster...sounds like a very nice K22. Would like to see pics of your gun along with the stocks.

In my experience the earlier stocks for the K frames (1950s) do exhibit a slight palm swell (the Magnas also feel more rounded to me than later versions). But I do not believe this makes them the same as the "Cokes" on the N frame 41s and 44s. It appears to me that the checkered are is smaller than on "Cokes."

As for being in the Catalog, numerous mistakes in this publication have been noted and acknowledged by the author. Nobody is perfect. I find mistakes in art textbooks all the time.

David

Thanks for taking the time to explain the finer points of buying/collecting older S&W's, and doing so in a manner that encourages other new posters.


Charlie

Paplinker,
K22's are one of the more interesting topics and we love pics .
I went back and reread your posts, You make no mention of them having a diamond center or not.

Pictures are necessary to identify the grips on your gun,

the SCSW chapter on grips identifies certain features associated with "Cokes"...They are :

Both K & N Cokes introduced "Mid 50's"
Used about 1955 to 1968,
Both plain and diamond checkered versions found ,
K checkered version "Scarce".
Common material is Rosewood,
Goncalvo Alves to a lesser extent.

Identifying features :
"Swell" around the mounting screw ,
"Flare" at the butt,
Checkered area slightly larger,
Early examples generally have a larger "Filler peice"

I would only add that mine are exactly like the ones at top and do not have as large a checkered area as the N cokes pictured below them.

Good luck and post some pics!

Did you pay too much.... I look at it like this

The K22 model 17 is a current S&W item that lists at $959
Product: Model 17 Masterpiece

It has a hole drilled in the side for a lock you will most likely never use. It won't have the nice high polish or hand fitting of your 50s model, it has plywood Magna grips whereas yours are solid walnut Target grips, it has cast MIM parts where yours has forged and case hardened trigger and hammer. I would buy your old classic in a heartbeat over the new one.

__________________
Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

At $800 the gun probably should be a solid 99% and should have included the box, SAT, cleaning rod and Helpful Hints pamphlet. As previously stated, you just bought a little too early. K-22s are in high demand and the price seems to escalate quarterly. The stocks, are they K frame cokes or are they targets? Ah, the old on-going argument. Clearly this is another S&W peripheral item for which there is no pat answer. On one hand some may have a palm swell but on the other the checkering never extends far enough to match the N frame cokes. As Roy continually states, "S&W was in the business to make money and really had no desire to document everything with us collectors in mind." The only comment that can be made with any certainty regarding this thread is that the SSWC should not be treated as a bible that contains flawless gospel even though it is one of the best reference source that we currently have.

__________________
Doug

There is a point where the price is just too much and I walk away.

BUT, if it is close, and the condition is right, I remind myself I don't buy to sell. If you buy to sell, then you have to be worred about price. If you buy to hold, then don't get crazy, but price matters a lot less.

I too am sort of new to S&W's. I have had a model 36 for years, but never really was into s&w. I too just bought a K-22 for my GF (and me) for our pistol league. I paid 550 for it on GB, but after examination, I think it was a 450-475 pistol. It shoots well, my GF likes it, I won't ever be selling it, so who cares?

i keep all my guns so far thats why i;m a stickler on condition and have paid more.gun shows around south PA mostly sell 90% smiths so they really don't have bargains when 98% comes along.trying internet more.a old 35 is next and prices are more than k22s!..finding a no holster wear is brutal

I just recently laid the same rationale as Smith357 did on a friend of mine.

He is helping to liquidate a collection of firearms for a deceased friend. In the collection was a mint, I mean mint, K22 made in 1956, no box, no accessories. I told him it was worth $700.00 and why. Same as Smith357 said.

__________________
Have guns...will shoot'em.

glad you shoot .so do i.all my guns see either the range or my cabin. I stick with affordable calibers ammo wise.hopefully i can keep them in same condition. would have been all over his k22 before purchase

DCWilson....I too will always buy an older gun in good condition over a new model almost any time. I picked up an excellent condition, used K-22 about two years ago for $425. Birdshead grips and standard trigger and hammer, but a sweet shooter.

Can't go wrong with these older Smiths.....

Man, I love you guys. I was about to list my 17-2 for sale here today to fund another purchase until I saw this thread.

Looks like the 17 gets a pardon and the 1st year Beretta 92 compact LNIB gets the axe (cheap ad here for when I figure out how to price it) but I digress.

I am also fairly new to Smith revolvers but am a bookworm so I'm learning alot in a little time.

When I thought I paid a little too much for one of my guns, I went to another site and basically got "you're a chump" from the overwhelming majority.

Not so around here. Someone told me the same that you all are telling the OP. "You don't pay too much for an old Smith, you just buy it a little too soon for the price."

Way to go everyone. Around here you never leave a man or woman hanging out to dry; you circle the wagons and prop em' up.

Now pay attention: I have over 1 WHOLE YEAR of collecting under my belt so let me put this to bed once and for all. THEY ARE COKES (at least until I sell mine off)

Attached Images

	053.jpg (68.1 KB, 164 views)
	055.jpg (74.3 KB, 162 views)
	056.jpg (79.4 KB, 166 views)