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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 01-12-2014, 10:41 AM
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Default Masterpiece vs. Masterpiece Heavy

I have been moving forward by decades with my collection and now am a happy early post-war Masterpiece owner, My question is can you tell the difference between a K32 or K38 Heavy vs Standard without weighing them? Are there stampings or physical differences that can be noticed at gun show table? I know there is a couple ounce difference in weight, but that is not a helpful fact when you do not carry a very accurate scale along with you.

It is my understanding that the heavy barrel was introduced in 1949, but were both barrels offered from that time on or was the whole production switched?
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Old 01-12-2014, 11:49 AM
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Gary I am FAR from an expert but it is my understanding that the difference between the two is the barrel that is used with all else being the same. The difference between the tapered barrel and the heavy barrel is fairly obvious IF you teach yourself what to look for. Find a friend who has a couple and just study them. I find hands on to be more worthwhile than trying to do it from pictures because camera angles can prove deceptive.
I am also pretty sure that the tapered barrel did not have a wide rib and the heavy barrel did.
Take a look at the barrel rib joint I believe that the standard barrel joint is undercut slightly and the heavy barrel joint is straight. That is true on the couple I have seen but may not hold true for all.
I borrowed these pictures from an auction site just to give you an idea of what I was referring to. The standard barrel is first and the heavy is second (ignore the red dot if you can)
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Attached Images
File Type: jpg k 38 light barrel.jpg (48.3 KB, 116 views)
File Type: jpg k 38 h barrel.jpg (67.8 KB, 123 views)

Last edited by chipking; 01-12-2014 at 12:27 PM. Reason: add rib info
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Old 01-12-2014, 12:14 PM
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Gary
Chipking is correct. The earlier K-38 had a tapered barrel with a narrow rib. The Heavy Masterpiece had the straight barrel and a wider rib. Look for the flare of the barrel just ahead of the frame boss. If it's flared, it is tapered. If the shoulder of the barrel is the same all the way to the boss, it has the heavy barrel.
I believe all the early tapered barrel K-38s also had the tapered sides on the top of the frame boss, like the Combat Masterpiece continued to have after the Heavy Masterpiece came out. I believe they were flattened on the Masterpiece to more closely match the contours of the heavy barrel.
Jack
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Old 01-12-2014, 12:17 PM
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Sorry. Forgot about your second question.
My understanding is that the Heavy Masterpiece replaced production of the tapered barrel variant. Of course, there would have been some overlap, but the narrow rib/tapered barrel K-38 Masterpiece was quickly phased out.
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Old 01-12-2014, 01:13 PM
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Default As described by JP@AK

Here are some comparison pictures that may help.








Also, the K-38 Heavy was introduced in late 1949 but the K-38 Tapered barrel wasn't discontinued until circa September 1953. This is a longer transition than most but you'll find once the Heavy was introduced, the number of earlier tapered barrels were fewer and fewer.

Russ
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Old 01-12-2014, 03:23 PM
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It's even more confusing to me because both my 17-3 and my K-32 have a rib that is the same as the narrow rib in Linde's picture on the right.... at the muzzle, but back at the frame barrel joint, it is wider than the narrow one in his pic, but a lot narrower than the wide one in the pic. There is no "pencil barrel" taper to the barrel on the 17-3 or k32. They are definitely tapered from frame to muzzle more than the 14-1 though. His wide rib or "heavy" rib is the same exact one as on my 14-1. I know that they added metal to the k-38 rib to make the weights of all three guns match due to the larger chambers and bore of the 38, but by the same token the 32 has much larger chambers and bore than the 22, and they are exactly the same as far as the barrel and rib goes.

So, were/are there actually three different ribs used on the masterpiece guns? Anyone care to shed some light on this too?

Last edited by Gun 4 Fun; 01-12-2014 at 03:26 PM.
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Old 01-12-2014, 03:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by linde View Post



Russ
Perfect picture for comparison. The "newest" S&W revolver I currently own is a 1948 K22 Masterpiece, so I had no idea that the barrels and ribs were so dramatically different. An easy comparison to spot as I move forward.

Thanks everyone for the assistance.
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Old 01-12-2014, 06:01 PM
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I guess that in those days, the engineers looked at each other and asked "What solution should we use today?" My c.1954 K-32 has a uniform taper barrel with a tapered rib. The lined portion of the rib is constant width, while the ouside of the rib follows the barrel contour.

Bob

Last edited by red9; 01-12-2014 at 06:26 PM. Reason: edit photo
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Old 01-12-2014, 06:20 PM
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I guess that in those days, the engineers looked at each other and asked "What solution should we use today?" My c.1954 K-32 has a uniform taper barrel with a tapered rib. The lined portion of the rib is constant width, while the ouside of the rib follows the barrel contour.

Bob
That is exactly what my 17-3 and K-32 rib/barrel combo looks like. thanks for posting that pic (so I didn't have to )
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Old 01-12-2014, 09:52 PM
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I believe the ribs varied between calibers with the .38 having the widest rib to offset the weight loss from the larger hole thru the barrel. That way all three calibers ended up weighing the same loaded.
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Old 01-12-2014, 09:58 PM
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I believe the ribs varied between calibers with the .38 having the widest rib to offset the weight loss from the larger hole thru the barrel. That way all three calibers ended up weighing the same loaded.
This is correct, Much of the weight adjustment came by changing the rib.
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Old 01-12-2014, 10:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Alk8944 View Post
This is correct, Much of the weight adjustment came by changing the rib.
I understand that as I mentioned above in my post, but the 32 and 22 are identical. The weight can't be the same for each when the bore and chambers are so much larger in the 32. There's roughly as much difference in the amount of steel missing between the 32/22 as there is between the 32/38.
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Old 01-12-2014, 10:20 PM
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I presume the grooves kn the barrel rib were cut with a horizontal milling machine?
Seems a shaper would take too long.
More accurately cut, but slower.
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