Pre War K22's

[Engine49guy]

While my collection centers around post war K22's its the classic lines and DEEP dark blueing of the Pre war K22's that stir my true passion.

After spotting this late model Outdoorsman at the SWCA in Orlando I simply could not pass it up.

While the factory grips were unfortunately sanded down and altered to fit the metal grip adapters,
I was pleasently surprised to find that they were stamped Smith and Wesson.

On a side note on the afternoon of the final day of the collectors meeting there was an auction where I won a baggie with two pre war hammers.
One was a centerfire hammer, the other a rimfire that I thought went to a pre war Outdoorsman .

While I am away right now and cant post a pic I am now suspecting it might actually be for a second model k22 pre war Masterpiece.

Can someone point out the differences between the Outdoorsman hammer and the pre war Masterpiece hammer ?
Are they both long stroke? Does one have a ledge behind the hammer spur?

 

[bigmoose]

Wow, that Outdoorsman looks great. The pre war magnas really show it off. Congrats.

 

[rburg]

2nd model hammers are easy to identify. The back, behind the hammer spur is a cut or step. The only ones that have it. And they're not long action guns, they're the very first short action guns. Not interchangeable.

 

[DCWilson]

That's a terrific score. Congratulations! Original K-frame grip adapters are not common, and that set by itself is worth major coin. The prewar magnas are nice too. The alternative way to mount grip adapters on a gun with magnas was to shim the upper part of each grip with a dark wood, or maybe a contrasting ivory. My clumsy hands prefer the wider grip you get with unplaned stocks, which was to my mind one of the advantages of the grip adapter; the extra heft was as important as the support for the middle finger.

The OD hammer fits the long-throw action; the K-22/40 had a short-throw action. The short-action hammer needed a notch on the back convexity to avoid a hammer/frame collision.

 

[Engine49guy]

I have to Thank Mr Lee Jarrett for the Outdoorsman as well.
Found it right next to the early post war large ejector K22 I just posted,
There was also a large ejector knob K38 but it was gone so fast I couldnt scrounge the money up to buy it.

Well.... Im now convinced that one of the two hammers is indeed a Pre war Masterpiece rimfire hammer .
It has the ledge and pre war spur as well as a reg us pat off. stamp.

While there I did see some new grip adapter copies selling for $150 but original ones ranged from $350 to $850 but the few I looked at did not have S&W manufacturers stamps on them.

Were some pre war grip adapters made by aftermarket companies ?

Besides having a great time it looks like I had a pretty good run of luck.

 

[DCWilson]

Grip adapters

There are replica N-frame adapters available from an SWCA member, but I don't think there are K-frame replicas. The originals should have both the company name and a patent number stamped on them. No patent number, not original.

Working from memory here. Hope that's right.

 

[depicts]

I love my K22 OD. I found it with the original box, sight tool and cleaning tools, unused as far as I can tell. The Gun had been fired, but it's pretty much 98%+ I'd say. Even came with a like-new set of pre-war Magna's. It's without a doubt my prettiest Smith & Wesson.

I hope the market for these beautiful guns is still strong. In this economy, I can't tell if prices are moving up or down. Seems the .22's have been moving pretty well though. Haven't seen 5 Wire do any comparison pricing lately *S* (hint)

Bill d

 

[JP@AK]

It's without a doubt my prettiest Smith & Wesson.

That's a beauty, Bill. Congrats!
JP

 

[gjamison]

thats a great looking k22 OD, i have 2 and am always looking
for others.

i guess i'm now looking for a pre war grip adapter.

 

[Sebago Son]

Pre-War K-22's...

Outdoorsman's and Masterpiece (K-22/40)

If I get ambitious later today I'll take a break from my 'working vacation' (staining the house) and shoot some close ups of the hammer differences...

Nice guns so far everyone!

Drew

 

[tango-papa]

Congratulations!

While my collection centers around post war K22's its the classic lines and DEEP dark blueing of the Pre war K22's that stir my true passion.

After spotting this late model Outdoorsman at the SWCA in Orlando I simply could not pass it up.

While the factory grips were unfortunately sanded down and altered to fit the metal grip adapters,
I was pleasently surprised to find that they were stamped Smith and Wesson.

Congratulations on acquiring that beautiful piece of history and thanks for sharing the photos.

tp

 

[tango-papa]

I love my K22 OD. I found it with the original box, sight tool and cleaning tools, unused as far as I can tell. The Gun had been fired, but it's pretty much 98%+ I'd say. Even came with a like-new set of pre-war Magna's. It's without a doubt my prettiest Smith & Wesson.

I hope the market for these beautiful guns is still strong. In this economy, I can't tell if prices are moving up or down. Seems the .22's have been moving pretty well though. Haven't seen 5 Wire do any comparison pricing lately *S* (hint)

Bill d

Congratulations - what a neat package-o-history.

tp

 

[tango-papa]

thats a great looking k22 OD, i have 2 and am always looking
for others.

i guess i'm now looking for a pre war grip adapter.

That's quite a sexy pair if I ever saw one...

tp

 

[RKmesa]

There are replica N-frame adapters available from an SWCA member, but I don't think there are K-frame replicas. The originals should have both the company name and a patent number stamped on them. No patent number, not original.

Working from memory here. Hope that's right.

Photo of an N Frame pre-war grip adapter. My K Frame pre-war adapter is stamped the same way...

Outdoorsman with Magnas:

Masterpiece with Magnas (it was an early one that shipped in an Outdoorsman box with 22-40 stamped on the bottom in red ink):

Not great photos, but you can see the difference in the hammer.

 

[tango-papa]

Those Pre-War K-22's are beautiful pieces of history.
Thanks to the OP for sharing and to the others who added their photos to the thread.

What is the ballpark price range on a nice Pre-War K-22 these days?
Having only recently 'rediscovered' my interest in S&W revolvers, I have managed to scrounge a few Heavy Duties and currently have another one in the works. Clearly, I must add a Pre-War K-22 to the stable one of these days as well.

tp

 

[boykinlp]

You guys are showing us some great looking guns. I, also really like the look of the original grip adaptors. Would most of them been an aftermarket addition or factory?

 

[gjamison]

Those Pre-War K-22's are beautiful pieces of history.
Thanks to the OP for sharing and to the others who added their photos to the thread.

What is the ballpark price range on a nice Pre-War K-22 these days?
Having only recently 'rediscovered' my interest in S&W revolvers, I have managed to scrounge a few Heavy Duties and currently have another one in the works. Clearly, I must add a Pre-War K-22 to the stable one of these days as well.

tp

You can pick them up for around $1200 to $1500. If they
have there boxes,paper work & sight ajustment tool could
be as much as $2000

 

[DWFAN]

Not a 22/40 but........

 

[RKmesa]

DWfan

Paul:

Great box and cool hammer modification!

 

[Engine49guy]

My only two Pre war K22 Outdoorsman's.

Older one has the small S&W trademark and "Humpback" hammer.

The Roy Jinks letter that came with it says the factory didnt fit K frame grip adapters to guns with Magna grips.

Im interpreting this to meen that the factory might have fit them if your gun came with Circassion Walnut service grips as they required no modification to the grips?

On the subject of the pre war rimfire hammer ...Well...Here she is.