|
|
01-20-2022, 01:46 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 358
Likes: 610
Liked 441 Times in 107 Posts
|
|
New-to-Me K-22
My late grandfather, a WW2 veteran and post-war businessman, had a number of minty firearms that accompanied him on occasional shooting trips to the Western high desert near where he lived the bulk of his life after the war. My father described going shooting with him and recalled a particularly nice S&W .22LR revolver his then-new father-in-law would bring along.
I, unfortunately, never got a chance to shoot with my grandfather, but he did tell me that his guns would one day be passed down to me “when he was done with them.”
As things go, the guns never made it to me; I suspect other relatives had a hand in that and, frankly, it’s neither here nor there, as I’d take my grandfather back for a day or even an hour over any gun he might have wished me to have.
The notion of that .22 stuck with me over time. Both he and my father had referred to it as a “K-22,” and, in time, I came to understand that designation. Such it was that, when an opportunity to acquire a 1947-era K-22 came about, I was happy to be able to do so. No box, no papers, just a nice little time-capsule of a gun that has gone to the range with me almost every range-trip since. It seems to me like this would be in the vein of my grandfather’s revolver. It has become part of a sort of a personal “revolver renaissance” that I’ve experienced over the last couple of years, and continues to help me hone the wonder that is DA revolver shooting. (As an aside, I’ve fired maybe six rounds SA through this gun - I stick with DA just like I do with my centerfire revolvers).
Apologies for the lengthy ramble here - pictures attached.
Last edited by SixgunFife; 01-20-2022 at 01:47 AM.
|
The Following 41 Users Like Post:
|
22hipower, bob1956, boykinlp, cndrdk, GSP Fan, Hawg Rider, IWK2HT, JayCeeNC, Jimmyjones, JP@AK, Kansasgunner, Lee Barner, LPD256, lscocoa, M29since14, markeb, mh51, mikeruns, Mister Heavyhand, Nightowl, rey1917, rjm6120, RKmesa, RobertJ., Rodan, rrhemi, series guy, skywag, slight_turn_line_69, Southernboy, SS336, stansdds, SVT28, Vidd, Waveski, wetdog, wheelgun610, Wingmaster, Wiregrassguy, woden, wundudnee |
01-20-2022, 08:33 AM
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,471
Likes: 13,943
Liked 6,406 Times in 966 Posts
|
|
Very nice K-22 Masterpiece! And a well told story. I’m glad it brings back good memories of your family.
__________________
Tim
SWCA #2697
|
The Following 3 Users Like Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 08:52 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: southern illinois
Posts: 1,954
Likes: 2,266
Liked 2,401 Times in 1,015 Posts
|
|
Beautiful revolver!..they shoot great, that one will bring you memories for a long time
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 09:23 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 358
Likes: 610
Liked 441 Times in 107 Posts
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kansasgunner
Very nice K-22 Masterpiece! And a well told story. I’m glad it brings back good memories of your family.
|
Thank you!
|
01-20-2022, 09:23 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 358
Likes: 610
Liked 441 Times in 107 Posts
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Babysitr
Beautiful revolver!..they shoot great, that one will bring you memories for a long time
|
Thank you!
|
01-20-2022, 09:47 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2010
Location: The Steel City
Posts: 2,158
Likes: 6,840
Liked 4,405 Times in 1,409 Posts
|
|
What a great way to pay tribute to your grandfather.
|
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 09:59 AM
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 11,956
Likes: 10,147
Liked 10,131 Times in 4,801 Posts
|
|
Good looking K22, and good story. I think a lot of us have had similar stories. In my own case, it was my Grandpa's surplus RR 1911, which we often shot together when he was shooting age. In his last years, it "disappeared" because one of his daughters thought it was unsafe to be in the house with him. Of course once a gun disappears under circumstances like that I imagine very few ever return. So it goes.
|
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 10:31 AM
|
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Michigan
Posts: 664
Likes: 1,045
Liked 1,150 Times in 371 Posts
|
|
These older Smith's are indeed a time capsule and that this K22 provides a link to your Grandfather makes it all the better. I never knew my Grandfather but when I take his 1905 M&P target to the range it's like he's there with me. I also have my little brothers Ruger target pistol that he never got and that feeling of him being with me is also there. When you pass it along to your children and they take it shooting you will also be there with them.
|
The Following 3 Users Like Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 10:39 AM
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: East Central Florida
Posts: 1,935
Likes: 4,776
Liked 4,290 Times in 1,198 Posts
|
|
Great story and a tribute to your grandfather! I know that you'll enjoy that K-22 for many years to come, and hopefully you'll get to pass it down through the family. I have one from 1948 and it's a very accurate and dependable shooter...it'll go to one of my sons in a few years.
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 10:49 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 358
Likes: 610
Liked 441 Times in 107 Posts
|
|
Thanks so much, all!
|
01-20-2022, 11:40 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Kalamazoo MI
Posts: 3,265
Likes: 5,027
Liked 15,188 Times in 2,495 Posts
|
|
Great story and a beautiful K-22. My greatest joys these days (gun related) are handling and shooting my K-22's from the 1930's, 40's, 50's and 60's!
And the many memories they bring - my brother is in the process of handing down our Dad's old double barrelled 16 ga (from the 50's) to my son. So cool.
__________________
Pass it on.
Mark
|
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 12:39 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 358
Likes: 610
Liked 441 Times in 107 Posts
|
|
Just for fun, a couple more images of the K-22 posed alongside another favorite S&W, a 5-inch 27-2 (the latter of which I purchased from a fellow member of this Forum!)
Both guns were a touch dirty when these pics were taken.
|
The Following 6 Users Like Post:
|
|
01-20-2022, 06:47 PM
|
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 7,257
Likes: 18,667
Liked 11,134 Times in 3,316 Posts
|
|
SixgunFife, great guns and love your story! Since you didn't mention it, you might not have had this problem, but a good many K22's are ammo sensitive. Some brands can be "sticky" when trying to eject the empty shells, especially after shooting a lot without cleaning. The lucky ones seem to shoot all day without any problems.
Larry
__________________
Miss My Buddy crsides!!
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
01-21-2022, 12:21 AM
|
|
Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 358
Likes: 610
Liked 441 Times in 107 Posts
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by boykinlp
SixgunFife, great guns and love your story! Since you didn't mention it, you might not have had this problem, but a good many K22's are ammo sensitive. Some brands can be "sticky" when trying to eject the empty shells, especially after shooting a lot without cleaning. The lucky ones seem to shoot all day without any problems.
Larry
|
Hey thank you for that info! I have tended to let this gun run a good bit longer than I’d allow a centerfire gun to ride between cleanings, and have had that sticky-ness only rarely, thankfully!
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
01-21-2022, 12:25 AM
|
US Veteran
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: central Virginia
Posts: 2,944
Likes: 13,398
Liked 7,023 Times in 2,126 Posts
|
|
Nice memories, nice gun, nice write up about both.
Keep on enjoying both!
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
01-21-2022, 12:26 AM
|
|
SWCA Member
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Salmon, Idaho
Posts: 3,273
Likes: 4,143
Liked 9,518 Times in 1,466 Posts
|
|
Congrats and thanks for sharing!!
__________________
Tom Graham SWCA #2303
|
The Following User Likes This Post:
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
|
|
|
|