LERK

sodacan · #1 08-12-2022, 07:56 AM

Picked this up yesterday. 1947 K-22 Masterpiece. The name certainly suits it, IMO. Serial number K 13XX. The long search was worth it. Thought I'd share.

Hawg Rider · #2 08-12-2022, 08:12 AM

Wow, that's a beauty! I have a 1948 (K40403), but it's been used quite a bit. Not nearly as nice as yours! Enjoy!

Retired W4 · #3 08-12-2022, 08:41 AM

I'll second that. Beautiful!

tt66 · #4 08-12-2022, 08:42 AM

That is a nice one !

I have K 1027 and K 1605, they were both shipped April 1947.

Tim

Major 2 · #5 08-12-2022, 09:09 AM

I'm looking for 1948 (birth year) really cool if it was April born.
very nice LERK

DARE · #6 08-12-2022, 09:46 AM

LERK?
An explanation of the term please.

RKmesa · #7 08-12-2022, 09:46 AM

Very, very nice!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JADARE

LERK? An explanation of the term please.

Usually used when referring to an early post-war Masterpiece with the Large Extractor Rod Knob...

[I see that I originally edited my post to answer David's question about the same time that Jack answered it below.]

Some additional information as it relates to the large knob on the Masterpieces - the designation of the large knob distinguishes them from the later guns when the knob was replaced with the knurled end. The larger knob was used for Masterpieces (K-22, K-32, and K-38) from K101 - K55XX. There are exceptions to that range, but that is the general rule.

JP@AK · #8 08-12-2022, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JADARE

LERK?
An explanation of the term please.

"Large Ejector Rod Knob"
Some us don't care for the term, preferring "barrel shaped knob," but that is what it stands for.

boykinlp · #9 08-12-2022, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sodacan

Picked this up yesterday. 1947 K-22 Masterpiece. The name certainly suits it, IMO. Serial number K 13XX. The long search was worth it. Thought I'd share.

Nice find, for sure. If you are like me, searching is more than half the fun. Of course, if I was to find what I am looking for quickly, I won't complain about it.

A great many on the forum look for 3 or 4 digit serial number K22's, and it is cool to acquire one.
Larry

two-bit cowboy · #10 08-12-2022, 11:20 AM

That's a handsome K-22. Congratulations on filling that hole in your collection.

Mine, not nearly as nice, is K2762, and S&W shipped it in August 1947.

RKmesa · #11 08-12-2022, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RdrBill

OP
Very nice condition K22.
I have K 5680. It is a little more used.
Outside of that general serial range.
A couple pics.

Bill@Yuma

Beautiful gun.

My SN range above was based on some notes that I took and my recollection of previous threads and discussions on this issue. I believe that David Wilson had a much more comprehensive SN list of the known LERK Masterpieces. Hopefully he will chime in.

JP@AK · #12 08-12-2022, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKmesa

the designation of the large knob distinguishes them from the later guns when the knob was replaced with the knurled end. The larger knob was used for Masterpieces (K-22, K-32, and K-38) from K101 - K55XX.

Just to round out this information generally (not just on the then-new postwar "Masterpiece" line):
The management change order to eliminate the knob and replace it with the knurled end on the K frames was issued on October 4, 1946. However, the change did not appear on the Military & Police line until about serial number S874xxx and those revolvers were shipping in February and March, 1947. Full production of the K-22 didn't start until January/February of 1947. The first K-38 wasn't assembled until June, 1947, and full production started in May, 1948.

This helps explain why there were a lot more K-22s with the barrel shaped knob than K-38s. And why there were a lot less of both than there were M&Ps with the old configuration. M&P shipments began in February, 1946.

Ruger 1,3 · #13 08-12-2022, 01:58 PM

Very nice pistola!

Memphis · #14 08-12-2022, 02:06 PM

I still have K 498. I love these thangs!

Roger

fdover · #15 08-12-2022, 03:52 PM

This may not fit in this thread since it was shipped 3/20/31 but it has a great story. I bought this in 4/19 from the son in law of his wife's father, Emil H. Scheele who had inherited them from his father 60 years ago. He was in his 80's. His FIL was a monument marker in Ohio and Flagstaff AZ eventually ending up in CA at Forest Lawn, not in the ground, but marking monuments. This also came as part of a package with a Colt Officer's Target .38 shipped 11/18/27. The Outdoorsman is in immaculate condition. I would rate it at 99% +. The bore and chambers are clear and shiny. The only reason the seller was selling was he had lived too long and needed the money for retirement! I wish I could take pictures as you would enjoy seeing this beautiful gun.

RKmesa · #16 08-12-2022, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdover

... I wish I could take pictures as you would enjoy seeing this beautiful gun.

Yes we would love to see photos Fred. Perhaps you bring it to Glendale next year?

Walter Rego · #17 08-12-2022, 04:31 PM

LERK's and MERK's

Hondo44 · #18 08-12-2022, 04:48 PM

Mushroom or acorn knob, barrel knob, and no knob (knurled rod tip).

Engine49guy · #19 08-12-2022, 04:55 PM

Very nice cornerstone for a post war K22 collection!

weatherby · #20 08-12-2022, 05:28 PM

Very close to one of mine it is 1332

glowe · #21 08-12-2022, 07:15 PM

I am not bashful and may have been the first to complain about the use of that term on K frames. This is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

It is true that it was coined with relationship to the early post WWII revolvers, but I have always felt that it left out the 2 million pre-war K frame guns. MERK does not mean mushroom, it was meant to mean medium along with the equally annoying SERK for small (which was not a knob at all!) How can you have a large ejector rod knob when there are no small knobs to compare on post-war k frames??

It is also a fact that the post-war LERK was the same as the smaller ejector rod knob on all pre-war guns from 1927 to the end of the war. The earlier knob from 1902 until 1927 was much larger and shaped like a mushroom, so what do you call those two knobs back then? The terms do not work, so many have quit using them, relying on what Jim posted earlier.

RKmesa · #22 08-12-2022, 08:22 PM

I try not to be confrontational or controversial on this forum. And I have generally tried to stay out of the LERK debate. BUT I like the designation of the LERK, as I think the majority of the forum members do. But only in the context of post war guns, most of which were produced in 1946-1947. As the knob went away after that and was replaced with the knurled tip. LERK first gained traction in discussions about early Masterpiece Revolvers. It is an acronym, used to allow people to type what they mean with fewer key strokes - like all acronyms it is not perfect, but it was rapidly adopted on this forum and I think most know what it means, even if it is not perfect. I also don't think that we have to figure out how to define extractor rod knobs all the way back to the beginning of S&W. "Barrel Knob" - don't think that works either. Does it refer to how the knob is shaped to fit the cutout in the "barrel" of the gun? Or the fact that the cylinder shape of the knob is a barrel in shape? Anything that is cylindrical in shape has similarities with a barrel... This will be my one and only post on this debate, but when people use the term LERK I think I know what they mean - especially when they post photos of their beautiful post-war Masterpieces... like the ones posted above.

Thanks,

paplinker · #23 08-12-2022, 09:21 PM

I used to have four but am down to one now.
K 936 is from April 1947 and was shipped with a factory red post front sight. Not offered until 1952 in catalogs. A retired LT Col was able to have the sight ordered for $3.00 in Dec 1945

I have the numbered magnas but original grips seem to end up put away.