EDITED 4/6/2012 to add info from letters received yesterday.
The K-22 was shipped April 11, 1940 to Weed & Co., Rochester, NY.
The .22/32 was shipped September 18, 1940 to Weed & Co., Buffalo, NY.
Yes, same business but two different locations. Weed & Co. was a hardware firm that had outlets in both cities. I am not aware of other Weed & Co. stores, but they may have existed.
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(Entire original post lies below this line.)
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Today I was able to take delivery of two more prewar revolvers that have been on my "must" list for a long time. Both are .22s. Both were shipped in 1940. In my uncontrollable enthusiasm for these revolvers, I hastily took a bunch of photographs so that I could present them here.
The one I have yearned for longest is this one: a K-22 Second Model, or K-22/40 as the factory referred to it -- the 1940 Model of the K-22, which had been introduced as the K-22 Outoorsman nine years earlier. I confess that I am one of those unfortunates who are hopelessly addicted to five-screw K-frame .22s.
Please meet 684698. It has the original box and sight adjustment tool, as well as some related literature that will be scanned and posted later. (In my unedited original post I mistakenly said this was a proper SAT, but not original to the gun; I was corrected by the former owner.) I believe I am the third owner. The forum member from whom I just acquired this wonderful specimen reports he bought it from the original owner over 30 years ago. The prior owner was the original buyer.
The most obvious feature of the K-22/40 is the large micro-click adjustable rear sight. If only all Smiths had been equipped with this design from the earliest hand ejectors! The other innovative feature of the K-22/40 is the short-throw action toward which S&W design engineers were moving in the late 1930s. WWII interrupted commercial model development, and after the postwar transitional period, all models were produced with the new short action whose original concept had been implemented in the 1067 produced units of the K-22 Second Model.
This particular gun is in excellent condition, but it was shot regularly in a prior phase of its life and well-maintained throughout its years. The frame interior is spotless, though you can see a hammer rotation scuff where the gun "smoothed itself out" in operation.
The internals are unstained and look the way they must have 71 years ago.
I plan to shoot this one at least a few times. I will post range reports when I do, but it may be some time before I get around to it.
THE OTHER GRAIL GUN.
Actually, this is more like another specimen of a Grail Model rather than a single grail gun. For about three years I have been completely obsessed by the Prewar .22/32 Kit Gun; when I can't collect specimens of the model, I search out serial numbers and descriptions in auction sites and availability lists in order to add the guns to a data base. I have been able to post a few of these fine revolvers here over the last several months, but I have rarely had the pleasure of posting a package that makes my smile as wide as this one does.
This is 534507, apparently one of the last 100 kit guns manufactured before commercial production was suspended so the company could turn to wartime contracts. It too comes with an appropriate box and a sight adjustment tool, though they were not the ones originally associated with this gun. Condition is easily 99%. The gun may never have been fired or, if fired, was cleaned and cared for with amazing attention.
I imagine I will just let this gun rest on its laurels. I have a shooter grade Kit Gun that lets me have the experience of shooting these small prewar I-frame target .22s.
= = = = = = = = = =
I want to tip my hat to forum member Model39 for trusting me to care for these two guns he has looked after for many years. This deal, like a lot of deals, came about in an unexpected way. We were in off-list conversation about some gun topic when it emerged that he had a couple of prewar .22s he was thinking about selling. I said I might be interested in what he described, and within a day or two we had a deal. Then there was a comedy of errors about finding a local FFL in his state who was willing to ship to an FFL in California, a process made more complicated by his preferred FFL's computer problems and malfunctioning fax machine. But after nearly a month everything came together and the guns were successfully shipped.
Anyone can enter a deal with Model39 in complete confidence.
The K-22 was shipped April 11, 1940 to Weed & Co., Rochester, NY.
The .22/32 was shipped September 18, 1940 to Weed & Co., Buffalo, NY.
Yes, same business but two different locations. Weed & Co. was a hardware firm that had outlets in both cities. I am not aware of other Weed & Co. stores, but they may have existed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Entire original post lies below this line.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Today I was able to take delivery of two more prewar revolvers that have been on my "must" list for a long time. Both are .22s. Both were shipped in 1940. In my uncontrollable enthusiasm for these revolvers, I hastily took a bunch of photographs so that I could present them here.
The one I have yearned for longest is this one: a K-22 Second Model, or K-22/40 as the factory referred to it -- the 1940 Model of the K-22, which had been introduced as the K-22 Outoorsman nine years earlier. I confess that I am one of those unfortunates who are hopelessly addicted to five-screw K-frame .22s.
Please meet 684698. It has the original box and sight adjustment tool, as well as some related literature that will be scanned and posted later. (In my unedited original post I mistakenly said this was a proper SAT, but not original to the gun; I was corrected by the former owner.) I believe I am the third owner. The forum member from whom I just acquired this wonderful specimen reports he bought it from the original owner over 30 years ago. The prior owner was the original buyer.
The most obvious feature of the K-22/40 is the large micro-click adjustable rear sight. If only all Smiths had been equipped with this design from the earliest hand ejectors! The other innovative feature of the K-22/40 is the short-throw action toward which S&W design engineers were moving in the late 1930s. WWII interrupted commercial model development, and after the postwar transitional period, all models were produced with the new short action whose original concept had been implemented in the 1067 produced units of the K-22 Second Model.
This particular gun is in excellent condition, but it was shot regularly in a prior phase of its life and well-maintained throughout its years. The frame interior is spotless, though you can see a hammer rotation scuff where the gun "smoothed itself out" in operation.
The internals are unstained and look the way they must have 71 years ago.
I plan to shoot this one at least a few times. I will post range reports when I do, but it may be some time before I get around to it.
THE OTHER GRAIL GUN.
Actually, this is more like another specimen of a Grail Model rather than a single grail gun. For about three years I have been completely obsessed by the Prewar .22/32 Kit Gun; when I can't collect specimens of the model, I search out serial numbers and descriptions in auction sites and availability lists in order to add the guns to a data base. I have been able to post a few of these fine revolvers here over the last several months, but I have rarely had the pleasure of posting a package that makes my smile as wide as this one does.
This is 534507, apparently one of the last 100 kit guns manufactured before commercial production was suspended so the company could turn to wartime contracts. It too comes with an appropriate box and a sight adjustment tool, though they were not the ones originally associated with this gun. Condition is easily 99%. The gun may never have been fired or, if fired, was cleaned and cared for with amazing attention.
I imagine I will just let this gun rest on its laurels. I have a shooter grade Kit Gun that lets me have the experience of shooting these small prewar I-frame target .22s.
= = = = = = = = = =
I want to tip my hat to forum member Model39 for trusting me to care for these two guns he has looked after for many years. This deal, like a lot of deals, came about in an unexpected way. We were in off-list conversation about some gun topic when it emerged that he had a couple of prewar .22s he was thinking about selling. I said I might be interested in what he described, and within a day or two we had a deal. Then there was a comedy of errors about finding a local FFL in his state who was willing to ship to an FFL in California, a process made more complicated by his preferred FFL's computer problems and malfunctioning fax machine. But after nearly a month everything came together and the guns were successfully shipped.
Anyone can enter a deal with Model39 in complete confidence.
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