I have two, 5 screw "pre-17" revolvers and one of them (K3081x) has a much thinner sight than the other (K15217x) . Both look original, did S&W change front sights at some point? On another note can someone provide shipping dates for these two? Thanks in advance.

Yes. Some were 1/8" and others 1/10". I don't know when the change took place. No doubt the change was phased in, as they always seem to be.

As for the dates:

K3081x (five digits) would be early, probably shipped in 1948.
K15217x is from 1952. I show a bunch in that range that shipped in October of that year. But those are .38 Special (K-38), so I'm not sure how reliable that would be with respect to a K-22. Shipping dates can vary quite a bit from model to model. And you always need to remember that S&W didn't ship in serial order.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Jack, thanks for the info. I can't recall an unanswered question on this forum.

• K22 Masterpiece .125" (1/8") front sight:

SCSW 3rd edition pg 121, K130XXX and K140XXX (January to April 1952) the 1/10" sight was discontinued and the prior optional 1/8" became "standard.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

fourb20, does the older one have a slightly tapered barrel, and the younger one a straight barrel?

I will look and get back to you.

I checked both barrels and they look the same, non-tapered.