Don't get me wrong, I just picked one up recently and this site was very helpful and the people were great. It's just that I was wondering why they seem to be extremely popular to find and collect. Was it that they produced and sold scads of them, people want a cheap round to shoot for target or small game, or that it's a niche collector revolver?

They certainly don't seem to be any cheaper to buy then the center-fire S&W revolvers of the era sans registered .357s or small run models, is that due to the interest in them or just the fact that they "just don't make them like they used to" perception? [I do understand that]

I don't have many S&W revolvers, just a USP marked Victory and the K22, and I'm looking for a Mod 18 but I'm surprised at the interest the K22 seems to have and the number of posts on it as opposed to other models and was just wondering why that is so.

I just picked one up recently

Well you can't be expected to understand..............yet

I'm not going to beat around the bush, I've been buying Colt 1911s and A1s for many years, was turned off by a horrible early run S&W 686 that couldn't hit a barn from the inside and stayed away from S&W since then til recently. Far more interested in older S&W revolvers then new ones, but that is also somewhat true of other firearms for the past few years, very little new manufactured firearms interest me much, I can appreciate how they were screwed together years ago as opposed to the "crank them out" as cheaply as possible ideal today.

I bought the K22 partly because I'm getting tired of policing .22 brass out of the grass and because it seemed to be screwed together well. Originally [it was in a blue S&W K17 box] I didn't think it was as old as it turned out to be but I'm not complaining about that.

I do understand the interest of certain era's products, It's just that I am surprised at the number of K22 posts from this era and was wondering why that was. I'm shooting a lot more .22 now as opposed to the past and it's one reason I picked one up.

K22 is as well made as any S&W and you can shoot it a lot more for a lot less. Plus it is the ideal gun to teach new shooters, wives, and children how to handle a handgun. It has low recoil and does not allow rapid fire that you see in a lot of Youtube videos. So it tends to allow concentration on marksmanship rather than rate of fire. The local gun shop I frequent cannot keep K22s in the case especially this time of the year.

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Revolver luvin' Mountaineer

All of the above, and more...oh, so much more.

The K-22 (and later Model 17 and 617) has never been inexpensive which means there are less of them in circulation than the center-fire target models of the same era. As shooter-collectors fill their safes with .32's, .38's, .44's and .45's they soon realize all center-fire guns cost exponentially more to shoot than the .22LR. If the shooter-collector wants a high quality DA .22 revolver from the same era as their bigger bore guns, they then need a K-22 or Colt Official Police/Police Positive. This want/need keeps the market hopping and prices up on the quality older (and newer) .22 revolvers.

I have an early 50's K-22, a late 70's Model 17 and model 617's from the 90's and recent production. The 1950's gun has old-school class and grace. The late 70's 17 is superbly finished and very accurate. All the 617's I've ever owned or shot have been remarkably accurate too. All are still K-22 Masterpieces and all have held their value or appreciated right along with the old classics. They are truly a firearm that any gun enthusiast worth his bacon should own and shoot!
Classic 1952 K-22

Still Great in its 2008 form

I've kind of been wondering the same thing, fxntime, even though I've had a pre-18 for years, and was just able to identify it with the help of the fine folks here. It's typical S&W to shoot (not a bad thing at all!) and the only thing that really makes it "special" to me is that it once belonged to my Granddad, but it wouldn't be less special if it had been a model 10, 15 or 28 on ad-infinitum. If I had the money and didn't have a .22 Combat Masterpiece already, I'd spend it on a Highway Patrolman instead...or a 4" Model 29...or Model 66...you get the idea...

The so called K frame was the premier and marketing success for S&W for as many years as it was produced. The K 38 being the champ of double action .38's. When I was just a boy, it was the revolver everyone said was THE one. The easy to handle size and great balance beat out Colt for its DA action, with a smooth pull and no stacking.

That Smith & Wesson built the K in .22, .32 and .38...all at the same weight and feel was a boon to target shooters. In this day of high ammo cost and a less shooter friendly environment, the K 22 offers the same feel and quality as a .38 with lower cost, noise and recoil.

All quality .22's are at a premium these days and the S&W K is a top of the line value.

They had it right from the very first and the public know and appreciate it. My 17-2 was a ranch gun for several years and is the last gun I would be willing to give up...I love it! It seems to shoot where I point without much thought.
(Wood Stocks are put away to preserve them).

10/22.

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Not sure that I agree with your premise. I don't think the K22 gets discussed significantly more than other models. Topics run in cycles. For a while you see a lot Registered Magnum threads. Then you see a bunch of Victory Model discussions. The last few days there have been a number of K22 posts. That's the way it goes.

BTW, here's my K22.

They are just cool. How is that for scientific reasoning.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

That just about nails it on the head!

Many of us learned with a .22. The first gun I ever shot was a .22 rifle and I still enjoy shooting them today. The cartridges are about 1/10th the cost of factory centerfire ammunition, so you can shoot a lot more for the same money. They have virtually no recoil, less muzzle blast and report than most other chamberings and are quite accurate. Many of the guns are crafted with the same care and attention to detail as their larger bore counterparts, so there’s no sacrifice in quality. Virtually all American firearm manufacturers produced a number of different .22’s, which means there’s enough variety to keep collectors interested for a lifetime. I know of several local collections that are based solely on .22's.

I almost never go to the pistol range without taking at least one .22 pistol and I typically fire more .22 L.R. cartridges than any other caliber. Recently, because of a forum poll, I tallied up the handguns that I’ve accumulated over the past 35 years. The .38/.357 came in first place, but the .22 L.R. was a close second. If you separate the .38 Specials from the .357 Magnums, the .22 wins hands down. I can’t speak for all other shooters, but I can tell you that the .22 is overrepresented in my collection because I like them and they make me smile!

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"I also cook."

Here's my 1955. Are there more?

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K-22's are the Crack Cocaine of Post War S&W collecting.

Here's just a few of mine..



Once you get hooked, there's never enough...

Drew

I think it's because the K-22 is in a class by it's self. Lots of folks made 22 revolvers, the K-22's and model 17's were just the creme of the crop, very desirable for the craftsmanship and shootability.

You may mention the Colt 22's and to that I say they were scarce according to my observation and too pricy as compared to the S&W models.

A. From the OP, "..they seem to be extremely popular to find and collect."

B. From S&Wchad, " ...I still enjoy shooting them today."

C. From glenncal1, "They are just cool."

I'm goin' with C!



Oh I had to Edit to give a nod to this statement !!! "K-22's are the Crack Cocaine of Post War S&W collecting. "
We have a winner!


GF

I went to the range a few days ago to run some rounds thru my 39-2 and k38. Got the truck loaded and something was not right. Back to the house for the k-22,It seems I can not go to the range with out a 22. The K22 is the one revolver the grandson's make sure is with us on a trip to the range. It's just a great handling revolver.

Anyone have a gold K-22 box for sale?

I'll absolutely agree the Colt .22 revolvers are scarce and no one tends to get rid of them often, it took me several years of looking to find a nice 4" Diamondback at a decent price. There are a LOT more K22s out there and since Colt quit building revolvers years ago, there isn't a ton of choices past S&W if you want a US made .22 DA revolver. [yes I know Ruger is now producing them]

For me, I bring it along to the range to further my day of shooting. Shoot the others first, then finish with the k22. I don't worry about the price of ammo and it will always be a mainstay in my rotation.

I've owned probably 200 handguns over 40 years of gun enthusiasm, 150+ of them .22s, and if you limited me to just one .22 it would be the K22.

I once had a Korth 22 and it didn't seem to me that it was much better than a K22

I thought one K-22 was enough. WRONG.

Model 17-6:


Model 617-1:


Model 48-4:


1953 K-22:


Pre Model 18:


1948 K-22:


1952 K-22:

I've got a few,but I gotta save 'em for the K-22's in my future.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

The K22 IS in a class by itself (as already mentioned). Diamondbacks were overpriced and hard to find. If you wanted a high quality double action 22 -- this was (is) pretty much it.

This 1959 no dash was my grad. present to myself in 1971 -- I've shot it a gazillion times. It's killed thousands of varmints. I still have a sub-one inch, 6 shot, 100 yard group I once shot with it. I've won turkeys and hams with it. Hands down, my best firearm purchase --- ever.

Where to start. Maybe I'll take the negative approach since I've been having a bad day so far.

OK, like the OP here, I consider myself a newcomer to the K22s. I didn't start buying them until I was 25 back in 1973. Simple reason was I couldn't afford one until then. Things like school and baby got in the way.

At one time a few years ago I had 36 of them and realized I kind of had a problem. So I dumped 2 dozen of them into the market, and have remained happy ever since. I still look at them whenever I see one up for sale, but for me to buy it will need to be better than one I've kept (not going to be easy) and I'm going to need to part with one I've already got. That'll be difficult, too.

We like them because they're great guns. I don't limit myself to the postwar, having only 6 nearly perfect prewar models. My shooter is a ratty old one that came to me having been shot a fair amount. The only evidence I have of that is its been *'d (starred?) and the honest wear it shows. Some day when I get some ambition, I'm going to try to wear it out. I'll need more ammo.

I made that above comment about it being ratty for a good reason. I doubt anyone here would describe it that way. And it worries me a lot. A huge percentage of K22s I've picked up over the years show almost no wear and tear. Some appear new in the box, others so new I had to mate them with a suitable box (katrina trailer.) What worries me most is how so many great guns can remain new showing now use at all. If they were such great shooters, you'd think the original owners would burn them up in the first year or two. Yet my early 1930s guns are perfect. It would appear to me the owners never discovered how great they really are.

I figured I need to test this theory by asking it here. Recently we had a poster put up pictures of a well used one. I'm going to guess he's the exception, not the rule. How many of you have well used K22s showing a bunch of wear and tear? Out of my dozen, only the one can be described as a working gun. I bought it originally because of the serial number, K155. It didn't bother me it had the star, at the time it was the lowest number postwar I'd seen. So it gets to have all the fun while the other ones get punished for their good looks.

And I really don't know why we all love them so dearly. I sure have fallen for them, and a whole bunch of others seem to have, too. Clearly the original owners didn't experience them, to their detriment but my gain.

Boxes are even highly sought. I still remember very clearly 20 years ago (give or take, it kind of blurs) walking the aisles of National Gun Day and finding a book vendor with extra tables. I don't know, maybe he didn't buy them and just expanded to make the show look full. On one of his extra tables, he had gun boxes. We could call him a Dan Tanko light. The two that interested me were the gold and red K22 picture boxes. He wanted $25 each for them, but using my best negotiation tactics, I got the pair for $40. My friends were almost rolling in the aisles laughing at what a fool I was. Thinking forward, I know one lost his retirement in the stock market, the other never saved a dime. Maybe I wasn't as foolish as they thought. Point being its not just K22s that are well loved, its the accessories.

Want to spend some money? Go out and try to buy a screwdriver some time. I know, you can buy one at Harbor Freight. For the price of a prewar model you can buy half the store. The nickel ones have vanished off the gun show tables. I tend to assign that to our discovery and publication of the idea the K22 2nds came with them, as did the very early postwar guns. Not sure there ever were enough blued/black oxide ones to satisfy the demand.

I'm going to guess we really don't know why we like them so much.

But I'm as bad as the original owners. They remain in their boxes. And I've stuck in a screwdriver and the other accessories when there wasn't already one. I even have period boxes of ammo in the box, in the empty triangle under the barrel.

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Dick Burg

Dang Sax,
What's up with them "Targets" no that lit'l K frame?




They do look nice fer sur don't they.



Su Amigo,
Dave

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"IN GOD WE TRUST"

Well, I have yet to get my Model 17, Pre or otherwise but it is only because I just have not been looking hard enough yet. I do have a few Model 18's and they are K22's too but are just not called by that. Guess I better get busy and find me a Model 17 or a pre-Model 17 if I am lucky.

Here is a pic of my first Model 18. It is a model 18-3 and is a tackdriver! It really does not belong in this forum as it is not that old but it is my first!

It goes in waves. A while back it was 27's and 520's. Then it was 10's and Victory models. Now it's K22's . I remember for a while it was triple locks for a brief time.

I've got a Ruger 22 I want to sell-think I'll start threads about them, build up a little momentum turn it into the HOT gun, stir the market up, list it for sale at the high water maek, make a lick and then move on
I see that happen here. Right now the K22 is a HOT gun as are the Model 10's- Awhile back it was 27's. For a while there was a frenzy on the old NYSP 520's. The trick is to figure out what the next hot gun will be, buy it now and sell it at the high water mark. Just me thinking.......

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Forum consigliere

Another old log....





Drew

You can also use a K-22 and not beat it up. The first new gun I bought when I was 21 was a 6" 48-4. I am a lot older than 21 now and the gun still looks good even after several thousand rounds down range. How? you ask. 1. Store the gun properly. 2. Keep the gun clean. 3. Leather makes a good looking holster but it is hard on bluing. When I have carried the gun it is either a lined leather holster or a non leather unit. 4. No dry firing unless snap caps or empty casing in place.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

This is what my 1953 Pre-model 18 looked like when I bought it... Some muzzle wear, light dings here and there... I bought it online from a shop in Maine, so from the looks of it with the wear, replaced grips, etc... It was someone's working / woods plinker... Used, but not abused... But not vacuum sealed in a temperature controlled safe with the box, tools, papers, only havings seem test rounds fom the factory...



I haven't shot it alot, but it usually goes every time to the range for a couple cylinders, maybe a box of 50 RDS...

Here it is now with better grips and a Tyler-T...

Now this is one nice .22 Combat Masterpiece. Drew, do you have a bunker full of S&W's on your property?

How did you snag this one from under Sebago Son's nose?

Simply put, there's never been a better .22 handgun ever made.

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Pat Henson

Why is the K-22 so over represented? Well.... two reasons, actually.

For the collector - the K-22 is to .22 revolvers what the P-51 Mustang is to WW-II fighter planes.

For the shooter - the K-22 is a tack-driver, reliable and inexpensive to operate.

When you find a firearm that both shooter and collector admire, it is going to be the topic of numerous discussions and it is going to be sought after.

Mike

Oh the shame! And on an open forum too, where all can see!

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Dick Burg

it is a crazy thing...i didn't own one until about 5 months ago and today i have 8 with a model 48 no dash in the mail..

I compare it to the movie Close Encouters of the Third Kind, where the character Richard Dryfus played didn't know what he was obsessed with but he just kept getting more obsessed. He started with small, loosly detailed sketches and then worked his way all the way up to building a huge three D sculpture in his living room. The scultpure being the metephoric equal to the big stash of K22's all of us are piling up in our safes......

Say, does anyone have any K22's they are willing to part with?

Part of the answer might be that a lot of us learned to shoot and grew up shooting K22s. I did, and I still have my Dad's K22. It is no collector's item, for sure, but I wouldn't trade it for one, for obvious reasons. In my teenage years, I probably put 10,000 rounds through that gun - maybe twice that many. I remember being told to rake up and throw away empty .22 cases because they were so thick on the ground next to the driveway where I stood to shoot that it annoyed my Dad. I guess he thought I needed a little lesson in general tidiness.

The K22 is about as perfect as it gets when it comes to a .22-caliber handgun, if you are concerned with hitting something. It's only "drawback" is its weight, but the weight also is what makes the gun very shootable, when fine accuracy is a requirement. In field shooting, the Model 34 is probably about half as accurate in my hands as a K22. Sure, the 34 is a lot handier, for a woods loafer, but the handiness definitely comes at a price. I like both models, but the K22 would always be my first choice if I could only have one.

Well....for those of you who haven't heard it yet, and those who are expecting it...here I go again:

I NEVER MET A K-22 I DIDN'T LIKE

having just aquired a pre war K (1935), with all intentions of selling ! i mistakenly joined this forum and suddenly back stepped the idea and began to read and ask questions ! as one poster commented , the recent purchase is why the confusion of its popularity ! just by sensing the " pure enthusiasm" from k owners on here haulted my rush to sell , and ignited my rush to learn ! they do have a magnetic charm that lies just beneath their vintage patina ! what that charm is , i dont know ! but i am closer to finding out thanks to the informative members of this site, whom find no hesitation displaying what they feel when a uneducated newbie stumbles into their mist !

Can't be over-represented because there is no "Ultimate K-22 thread" , yet.

My 1948 vintage K 22 doesn't want to extract; you have to tap the extractor rod with a plastic hammer before it will release the empties. What's wrong? Were those chambers made for ammo that had more wax or grease on them than today?

I bought my first S&W 22lr revolver about 4 years ago and now I have 8. Why because they are extremely well made and a blast to shoot and great to let the grandkids shoot a brick of ammo an shoot until they finally get tired of shooting.

I own just about every pistol caliber except 10mm and I reload so it's not just a pure cost deal for me as much as it's a fun to shot situation that provides many positive reasons for shooting the lowly 22LR. The first is the practice of trigger control and the second is sight picture and you can work one these for the cheap and they apply to all pistol shooting and will make you a better shooter.

My son learned to shoot a rifle by shooting a pellet gun 1000's of times a month and when he got his first rifle he already had the skills honed to be a crack shot.

There's one on ebay.... search... gun accessories / boxes- cases/ S&W
JIM........

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SWCA # L-1911

Why do we like them? Maybe that they are the perfect revolver. Reliable, accurate, easy to shoot well. I like my model 63, but it's nowhere close to my 1967 vintage K22 that I've had for 35 years.

I have to keep it, because it's got stories on me that I'm not sure I want repeated.

i'm not nearly as "crazy" as you...i didn't own any .22 Smiths until Feb of this year. i currently own these, and shoot all of them. i may buy more if the prices are too good to pass on.. as these were

Hello
I don't feel they are over rated at all, and Neither did the Inventor of the perfected cartridge of them being D. B. Wesson. He Poured countless hours into perfecting the Primer Ignition of the .22 cartridge in secrecy inside his factory until he got it just right, after he captured the expired Patent of Rollin White's straight through cylinder design, which was held while he worked with Sam Colt. He called his creation "The Number One Cartridge" intending it's use primarily for the companies number one revolver in 1857, sadly, D.B. Wesson would not see the Importance of his cartridge primer improvement to grow into what we know as the K-22 as he died of Heart failure on August 4, 1906, But his son't that followed in his foot step's & that ran his company would. Later on serious Target shooters as Phil Bekeart of California prompted the birth of the 22-32 Hand eject Target model that was not well received by fellow shooters as letter's began to pour in that the serious Target shooter's wanted a larger frame Target .22 revolver, and thus it sparked the ignition for the Birth of the first series of K-22's being "The Larger K-Frame Outdoorsman" which we saw the order come from Harold Wesson, who was D.B.'s son and then president of S&W on August 13,1930 as he called for the tooling fixtures to be used to make 500 K-Frames into the brand new exciting K-22 Outdoorsman Target revolver. It was the first revolver to have a recessed cylinder to encompass the heads of the newer high speed .22 Cartridge brought out by Remington Arm's and Winchester repeating Arms.




This new innovated feature was of a safety design built into the then new Outdoorsman series K-22 revolver's as the engineer's of S&W Learned of a serious Case head Rupturing problem with the new super speed ammo and they had heard shooters and by stander's were getting hurt from this flying shrapnel of these bursting case heads at shooting events, so they set out to eliminate this problem. The design & Development team of Smith Wesson was in such a hurry to offer his new safety feature of a Recessed cylinder, and offer it to the public that they failed to Apply for a Patent on it, and it is one of the most copied design's ever known to this day used by all other Manufacturers on their gun's after seeing how important it was in eliminating Case head ruptures. The new line of K-22's were winning many shooting event's as well as the hearts of hunters that carried them in the woods so the demand was very strong for them as it remains to be today. To me, it was good sense and good business to come out with the K-22 and they were a very important gun of the Famous S&W Legacy of the finest guns made or offered....Here is the K-22 that started it all, an Outdoorsman that shipped in September 1936. The fit and finish of these guns remains unmatched well over three quarter's of a Century later, that Other Gun Manufacturer's could only follow not Lead after this example hit the market....