[ATTACH][ATTACH]IMG_0045-1.jpg[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]Hi,
New to the forum.
Just thought I would share a couple of my pre-war k22's
The oldest one (SN 6335XX) isn't numbers matching. Sometime in history (was back at S&W twice) a new barrel was installed and the king Target sight rib was installed. The grips/barrel aren't original but everything else matches. I have the S&W letter stating an April 1931 ship date.
The second one(SN 6392XX) is all numbers matching including the grips. Doesn't have any marks under the grips indicating it was ever back to S&W for repair. My bit of research makes this a 1932?
The first one, I bought in a garage sale 25 years ago for $100. Used it to win many turkeys over the years. The second one I just picked up at Cabela's for way more. Not knowing too much about K22's can anybody give me a feel for what the value of these two pistols might be?
Thanks

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Thanks for the info. I did finally manage to attach some pictures.

S&Ws with King Super Target Rib sights attached are the cat's meow. My heart is beating fast just looking at these pics.

In case you didn't catch it, the hammer on your earlier gun is a humpback hammer. That would make it a replacement part because these weren't introduced until 1938. The gun may have gone to S&W for the hammer and barrel replacement, then on to King for the installation of the rib sight. Are there return date stamps from S&W on the left side of the grip frame? It would be interesting to know those if you care to report them. How did you determine that the barrel was replaced?

With the replacement parts and modifications, I'd suspect that the whole gun might have been reblued at some point. That would cut into collector value some, but the upgrades, including the King connection, would offset that in my view. I'm thinking that's close to a $2000 gun right now, and that's without identifying the target stocks it is wearing. If that is custom wood by a known maker, it would support a still higher price.

The later gun is a winner, too. Cabela's does not sell guns cheaply in my experience, so I imagine you probably paid about market value for it. I agree with B.D. Green that it looks like a $2000 gun, and the price could go higher if a couple of deep-pockets quality hunters at an open auction got into an argument over possession rights.

Spectacular revolvers both. Congratulations on finding them, and thanks for sharing. Lots of K-22 fans here, and some of us think that the later Masterpiece design changes, however good they were in their own right, didn't necessarily make the later guns any better shooters than the ones that came out of the factory in the 1930s.

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David Wilson

Model52:

Welcome to the forum. The pre-war K-22's are some of my favorites and the two you posted are speaking my language

Mine with SN's close to yours:

639380 (shipped March 1932) - A King Super Target





And...633253 (shipped April 1931) with a rare factory installed swivel lanyard.





Thanks for sharing...

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Model52guy,
Welcome to the forum. You have 2 winners there! I have a very early K22 Outdoorsman with the King Target Rib too. It shipped on January 17, 1931. Here is mine:

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Welcome to the forum! Since you know that first one with the wrong barrel, wrong hammer and wrong grips will never be a collectors item, I'll do you a favor and offer you 3 times what you paid for it originally at that garage sale. We like to treat new members real nice.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

If you could get some lighted/outdoor pictures of the one with aftermarket grips that would help. Looking close at them they seem to have a hint of Sanderson stocks. That would add a good bit!

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Get off my lawn!

Thanks for all the info and the great pictures guys. in answer to some of the questions:
The 1931 has 3 return dates stamped under the grip, 12.44, 4.45 & 3.50. There is also a Star after the serial number on the butt. Not sure what that means. The barrel is blank on the boss under the ejector rod where the serial number should be so I assume that means it was replaced during one of the repair trips back to smith. The underside of the LH grip has an embossed 18 and another small mark under the 18. The RH grip just has a pencil 18.
The 1932 doesn't have any return dates. I does have the gold bead front sight.
I love both these pistols and will hang on to them for a long time.

Here are a couple of pics of the grips

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Very pretty wood.Are they lefties?

The star next to the serial number is the factory rework symbol. It can indicate something as simple as a return for a refinish, or something more serious like a major part replacement.

Interesting that there is no serial number on the barrel, because at the time of the returns the factory was still numbering replacement parts to fit the frame number of the gun. Interesting too that two of the return trips occurred during WWII: good proof that even though the assembly floors were given over to military production, the service department was still undertaking repair work on guns in private ownership.

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David Wilson

Yup, Sandersons.

The value of the revolver just took another upward leap.

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David Wilson

Thanks for the info. Don't think the grips are lefty's. The checkering on the right grip fit the fingers well. They look a little like rosewood but i'm pretty sure the are just well aged walnut.
I have a set of original style grips but I still shoot this one and the target grips are very comfortable.

Those are both gorgeous. I will give you $200 if you want to double your money on the one you bought from the garage sale lol.