Been looking for one of these for a little over a year. A few months back, I found 2.......Couldn't resist.

In the spirit of honesty, only one came with it's original box and grips. I had to piece meal the cleaning kits, SAT's, Helpful Hints and wrapping/tissue paper. One is DARN NEAR PERFECT, the other is a REALLY nice shooter (almost to nice to shoot).

I don't think "rare" is an appropriate term, perhaps "scarce" is better?

Anyway, I have a thing for the 1 Line Address

DSC_0021.jpg

DSC_0013_edited.jpg

DSC_0014.jpg

DSC_0023_edited.jpg

Do any of you fine folks have an idea of how many of these were produced?

Thanks COYOTEHUNTER!

Have a nice evening folks,
Bob

Bob brought both the .38 one liners and a lerk K-22 to the NE Ohio bunch 10 days ago. Nice guns, he had a proud grin on his face. Both are in great shape for their age. We had a lot of nice guns show up and Bob had 3 of em. Enjoy them, Larry

Larry,
Been grinning ever since I got them! I can't get that K22-40 out of my head
Bob

There was a recent thread discussing these; I think it stated the one-line stamped K-38s were fairly uncommon and ones with the LERK rare, with smaller numbers produced than the K-22 of the same vintage. Enjoy!

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Is the "one for each hand" the Ohio version of the New York reload?

__________________
Randy
Provenance nerd

Kinda....sorta.....

image.jpeg

"I have two guns....one for each of you"

Bob

Bob:

Great guns and photos!

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Mr. Mule, I believe you are correct on terminology. Rare is an often thrown around term. Scarce is pretty good. Not commonly encountered, suits these two S&Ws. In my opinion. Just my opinion. That aside, two beautiful guns, Congrats on the snag.

__________________
Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Well, I don't have an idea how many were produced---but I do have a theory. And while it remains to be proven, it also remains to be disproven ----so it's argument ammunition. (And this has to do with K frame serial numbers---not K-38's.)

There were 614 K frame serial numbers cranked out in 1946 (according to Jinks "History"---page 190), 18,171 more in 1947, and 54,390 in 1948. The four line address came along in the fall of 1948. I have observed a four line K-38 shipped in October, 1948, so let's say September---just for the sake of the argument. Nine months worth of 54, 390 amounts to 40,797. Add up the respective numbers, and you should get 59,582. Given that is not a particularly pleasing number for our purposes, know that the first K-38 carried number K-1661---and adjust accordingly. You'll end up with another not particularly pleasing number. A slightly less displeasing number is to be had by using eight months worth of 1948 numbers. I reckon an almost pleasing number could be had by deciding there were a bunch more K-22's using up these serial numbers than there were K-38's. I have no clue how many "a bunch more" is, so you're on your own for that.

When you're all through crunching whatever numbers strike your fancy, I suspect you'll decide the one line K-38's are as you said (not rare)---also not scarce----just hard to come by. I know they're hard to come by because I don't have one.

The moral of this story is figures don't lie, but liars sure can figure.

Ralph Tremaine

Ralph, I printed..."not commonly encountered...". Im not a number cruncher, and was liar directed to me? No offense taken. Mike

__________________
Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

No----liar was directed at the author of the post about the numbers and the crunching thereof---the one who spent/wasted time accomplishing very little of value-----------perhaps as an illustration of another one of his theories about getting answers to what might seem to be entirely reasonable questions (now)----if they didn't have to do with things that happened quite some time ago----at a time and place where nobody cared. Something along the lines of "People in Hell want ice water!".

Ralph Tremaine

Hello Ralph, like I previously printed, no offense taken. Just trying to be very cautious with my past history on this Forum. Having been doing this hobby for a long period, some terms just bristle up my hair. Appreciate your prompt response. Mike

__________________
Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

All one-line K-38s known to me have serial numbers below K25000. Any K-38s with higher serial numbers appear to be four-liners.

Distribution by serial number ranges:

K4500-K5000: eleven known (four LERK, five non-LERK, two unreported)

K22xxx: two known (both non-LERK)

K23xxx: fifteen known (one LERK, all others non-LERK)

K24xxx: three known (all non-LERK)

Documents show that the first K-38 production run was for 350 units; those are probably all included in the K-plus-four digit serial numbers. I suspect most of the K22xxx through K24xxx range numbers will be K-38s, but almost certainly not all of them. I don't see how total one-line K-38 production can exceed 2500, and it may be somewhat less -- even as little as 1500, but that feels to me as though it is veering into improbability.

Bob, I don't know if I logged your two fine revolvers when they were under other ownership. Would you be willing to provide me with their serial numbers in a PM if you don't want to broadcast them in the clear? I will revise my table above if they are new to my register.

Like you, I have stumbled into two K-38 one-liners over the years and love them both. My avatar over there shows the one-line rollmark on a 1947 K-22.

__________________
David Wilson

[EDITED TO ADD - I SEE THAT DAVID CHIMED IN PRIOR TO MY COMPLETING MY THOUGHTS - HE IS MUCH MORE ATTUNED TO THIS ISSUE THAN I (AND APPARENTLY A FASTER TYPIST) - SO WEIGH MY BELOW COMMENTS ACCORDINGLY ]

Ralph:

I would agree that in general Masterpiece one-liners are not rare at all. I have a bunch of them. Not to be contentious, BUT in the spirit of healthy debate I strongly believe that the K-38 one-liner Masterpieces are much less common than their K-22 counterparts and the one-liner K-32s are pretty much unicorns. Using your logic and re-doing the math, I think the total is 59,582 (614+18,171+40,797) rather than 95,801 - numerically and mathematically important, but not statistically important when determining "scarce", "rare", "uncommon", "infrequently found", or "hard to come by". I would also tell you that there are many Masterpieces with SN's less than K59682, that have the 4-line roll mark (several of which are in my safe), and yes I know that they did not necessarily ship in SN order. I also know that I have looked and continue to look for early K-38s and on this forum the lowest SN that I and several others (who track these items) have found is in the mid K4500 range, causing me to believe that K1661 is a K-38 flyer. I also know that the majority of the K-38 one-liners identified here and in various databases available to us common folks (who do not sit with Roy and do letters) are in the K4XXXX range, making me believe that of the 59,582, many of the K-38's came later in the production cycle, resulting in a significantly lower proportion of the 59,582 being K-38s. In conclusion - my theory (whether right or wrong, proven or disproven) is that the K-38 one-liner Masterpieces are much harder to come by than their K-22 one-liner counterparts. And my thoughts and $10 will buy you a small cup of deluxe Starbucks "coffee"...

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Just goes to show you can't proof read your own stuff---you know what it's supposed to say. That aside, Mickey Mouse transposition errors like 95 for 59 are particularly embarrassing----my bad!!

Ralph Tremaine

When it comes to name calling, I limit my targets to myself----another guy might be bigger than I am---or meaner----or both.

Ralph Tremaine

First off....
Thank you all for the nice comments! This new guy appreciates it.

I didn't realize this would turn into a calcgebranomitry equation I have 10 fingers and 10 toes, so anything after those 23 fingers and toes.....I gotta stop, and start eating crayons or my brain is going to melt

Mr. Tremaine,
I have heard & read here that the 1 Line Address ended & the 4 Line Address started in April of 1948. So.....that would significantly lower the "final #" of "1 Liners".

Or....., is that when the order came out to change it and it didn't take effect till the fall of 1948? To back this theory, I read today, the order to start the 1 Line Address came out in 1922 and didn't actually start until 1923. Some suspect, that frames were still being shipped without the 1 Line Address as late as 1925. Don't ask me where I read that. I ran out of crayons about an hour ago and can't remember.


Mr Wilson,
Yes Sir. I will PM you the complete serial #'s.

Your quote..." I suspect most of the K22XXX through K24XXX range numbers will be K-38's....". In this instance, you hit the nail on the head. K23,XXX and K24,XXX

For those who are interested, according to the SCSW 3rd Edition these shipped in 1948.

Mr. Richard Mesa,

Your quote- "scarce, rare, uncommon, infrequently found, or hard to come by" I think we should call Webster and get definitive meanings.

Other quotes-

"causing me to believe K1661 is a K-38 flyer"
Would please explain what you mean by this?

"and the one-liner K-32's are pretty much unicorns."
I have seen a picture of one here, heck, it was probably yours.
I wish I could remember which thread it was in to see if it was a LERK. Reading Pre-29Smith's thread on his Masterpiece LERK Trio reminded me of this.
On a side note, it's interesting his K-32 has a 4 Line Address, adding to rarity of the 1 Liner/LERK or unicorn K-32.

Thank you for the compliment on my photos.

Thank you gentleman for your time and insight. I really enjoy this stuff.

For the short while I've been doing this (whatever THIS is), I've found that "we" try to wrap everything up in cute little bundles. Start dates, end dates... beginning and ending with serial # blah blah blah....8 row Vs 9 row, blued Vs nickle SAT's....

And yet, I'll be back tomorrow night for more, with a bigger box of crayons

Thanks,
Bob

Table in Post No. 13 above revised to reflect newly reported serial number.

EDITED TO ADD: Four more single line K-38s identified after a couple of hours in the forum archives. All have K23xxx serial numbers. Table in post no. 13 above has been further revised.

EDITED YET AGAIN TO ADD: I found a reference to K4639 as a K-38 Masterpiece. The gun is not observed, but it is documented in company shipping records. I don't know whether it is a LERK or non-LERK gun, but a nearby K-38 in the K46xx serial range is NOT a large-knob model. That Post No. 13 table has been updated once again.

AND AGAIN: Found four more in the K23xxx range and adjusted the table in post 13 above.

It's pretty clear now what the likeliest serial number ranges are for one-line K38s.

__________________
David Wilson

K1661 is noted in several pieces of authoritative literature as the 1st Masterpiece K-38. As David noted above, all of the K-38 Masterpieces known to several of us who follow these things (BUT do not have definitive or comprehensive information) have SN's higher than K4500, making me believe that K1661 is an "outlier" with no other K-38s around it. In target shooting terms that would be called the "flyer" of the group.

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

FWIW, I own K 23233 that is a one liner non LERK.

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

K1661 is a weird case. There is some uncertainty over the identification of that gun as the first K-38 Masterpiece. I don't know that the gun itself has been observed; that serial number appears to come from company records. The correct number of the first K-38 may be K2137. That number itself is confusing because K2137 is in some places identified as a K-32. Actually, the first K-32 is probably K2143. Mike Priwer has pointed this out in other forum posts.

Some Masterpiece prototypes are said to have had X-prefix serial numbers for in-house identification. Some if not all of these appear to have been re-identified with a K-prefix when they were released for use as salesman samples or inspection/review units. For the moment I am believing that some of these guns may have been given K21xx or K22xx serial numbers and were released into the wild before the actual commercial distribution of K-38s and K-32s began.

__________________
David Wilson

I do not own an "elusive for me" one line address K-38 for my 14 and Pre 14 collection. I do own I think three one line K-22 non LERK guns. Knew nothing about one line addresses when I bought them. I would have to lean toward others' thoughts the one line K-38s are less in number than the one line K-22s.
Do we know how many there are? Probably not. What we do know is the happiness they bring when we find we have one....or two. Nice guns and pictures.

Bob, the Mule, one thing for sure is if most of the 1 liners were bought years ago with no idea what they had. They were bought to shoot and I'm sure most were used extensively like the one I had years ago and sold. So, that makes the "like new ones" you have even harder to find. It always amazes me how guns are found in new condition years later. The area you are collecting is a difficult task. You are having fun doin it for sure, Larry

Forgot to mention that a friend collecter from Seattle has a LERK K-32. He did a thread on it and found out what he had.

My head is spinning from all the number-crunching and such, so just to regain my equilibrium, I'll return to the original post and offer the following:

Lordy mama, what a fine pair of S&W's finest!

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever

Hi, Bob. Thanks for referring this thread. Sal

__________________
ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

I have no idea if they are rare, scarce or just hard to find but they sure are nice revolvers. Thanks for showing us.

Hey Bob, first and foremost, glad to have you back stateside. Thank you so very much for your service.

Now, to the guns, what a great pair!! Certainly not something you will see often. Are you planning to bring them to the next meeting of the "NE Ohio Bunch"?

Just a little over three weeks away. Hope to see you there.

__________________
SWCA #2785
OGCA #35078

Make that 12 in the SN Range K4500 to K5000. SN: K4843 just showed up today. Sweet, too ! NON LERK. Photos another day.

__________________
ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

K-38 Transition "One-Liner" K4843

__________________
ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

My wife owns a matched pair of one liners, K13863 ( K38) and K24233 (K22) non lerk tapered barrels. Her shoulder went to hell so I have to take them out for exercise now and then. They have the smoothest actions of all our Smiths.

Noyo55: Post a few pictures for us. We'd love to see the one liner K-38. Sal

__________________
ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425