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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 02-17-2008, 11:40 AM
beb42503 beb42503 is offline
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A book I am currently reading mentioned a Colt New Service with King ventilated rib and adj. King Sights. I just wonder if this is where the idea came up for the rib on the Colt Python & Diamondback. I had seen some very nice S&W's here recently with the King sights but I have never seen a S&W with a King rib added. Does anyone on the forum happen to either have one or have a picture of one?
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Old 02-17-2008, 11:40 AM
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A book I am currently reading mentioned a Colt New Service with King ventilated rib and adj. King Sights. I just wonder if this is where the idea came up for the rib on the Colt Python & Diamondback. I had seen some very nice S&W's here recently with the King sights but I have never seen a S&W with a King rib added. Does anyone on the forum happen to either have one or have a picture of one?
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Old 02-17-2008, 09:14 PM
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King ribs & sights, either solid ribs or ventilated ribs, are seen on S&Ws occasionally. It usually depended on the whims of the buyer as to what he ordered from either the factory or later directly from Dean King, as to what got added to the gun. I have had several King rib jobs on S&Ws I have owned over theyears, being on the guns when I got them. Personally I wouldn't have gone to the trouble, but some shooters liked them.
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Old 02-18-2008, 07:33 AM
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I don't know just how much truth there is to this but I was told by a Colt Rep that the rib was added to reduce the "heat distortion" of the sight picture during long strings of fire. He was also trying to tell me that the Python didn't require the installation of a Target Bull barrel for PPC matches. I know that the Heavy Target Bull barrels, including Sight Ribs, are installed, in part, for this very reason.

Back in the '70s and early '80s I was shooting PPC and can't ever remember seeing a Python with a custom barrel. The guns of choice were all "K" Frame Smiths. But I did know a few shooters that shot stock barreled Pythons and managed to do pretty well.

MAK
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Old 02-18-2008, 08:01 AM
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If you do a search you can find pictures on this forum. Many of the innovations pioneered by King and other pre-war gunsmiths were "borrowed" by Colt and S&W after the war: vent ribs, target hammers and triggers, the shortened action, etc. I think that's part of the reason King, Buchanan and others weren't able to survive after WWII.

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Old 02-18-2008, 01:41 PM
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This Python prototype is from RL Wilson's The Book of Colt Firearms:



As Kevin notes, the influence of King and other prewar smiths is unmistakable.
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Old 02-18-2008, 02:26 PM
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K-22 Outdoorsman with a King Super Rib and cockeyed hammer and Roper grips.
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Old 02-18-2008, 02:32 PM
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I read (somewhere) years ago the "ventilated" rib on the Python was really meant to reduce the overall weight of the gun and has nothing to do with dissipation of heat.

Bill
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Old 02-18-2008, 02:59 PM
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Doc, I've read weight reduction, weight addition (like the King rib), heat dissaption, etc.

Ya know what I think? I think it's supposed to look cool (which it does ) and that is the sole reason for it. I think the rest is marketing balogna. (Okay by me tho -- I like Pythons well enough, and think they are sexy lookers!)

I think it interesting how the Python underlug was originally hollow, but then became solid. I suspect that change was for reasons of economy, not weight.
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Old 02-18-2008, 04:18 PM
beb42503 beb42503 is offline
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Thanks for the information & pictures and especially the email giving me access to the King information. Handejector thank you for providing the picture of the K-22 Outdoorsman. That's a super looking revolver! Hopefully one of these years I will run into some King modified revolvers.
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bull barrel, colt, k-22, outdoorsman, ppc, prewar, roper, wwii

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