Post war K-22 large to small extractor knob transition

[bullmack]

Is there any consensus as to where in the serial numbers the transition to small extractor knobs occurred?

[Dennis S]

I have been told K3900 by a person who should know.

Dennis

[DCWilson]

The highest known serial number with a large extractor rod is K5680. There are some serial numbers lower than that with knobless ejector rods. Every K-22 I know with a serial number under K5000 has a knob. Every K-22 I know above K6000 has a knobless rod. So there is a transition zone rather than a specific serial number at which the change occurs. I would guess that guns between K5250 and K5750 might go either way. Possibly the range is narrower, say K5500-K5700.

[BlackAgnes]

Dennis, David--

Can we assume that all large knob guns are single-line address guns?

I have a single-line gun with a small knob, serial number K- 132XX.

I wonder how many of that configuration there were. Looks like the Factory was using up both frames and ejector rods; waste not, want not!

Tim

[Dennis S]

I have a single line address K-22 with serial number K20459.

[DCWilson]

The factory was out of large knob ejector rods before the order came down to start the four line address. I think the last large knob guns were being manufactured and shipped about September of 1947; there could have been stragglers in inventory that shipped later, of course. The first four-line guns were produced in April of 1948 and were being shipped in May. I would expect any gun with a serial number between K6000 and about K25000 to be a knobless single-line gun. (My avatar shows the single line address on K14784, a knobless K-22 that shipped in January of 1948.)

And yes, all postwar large-knob K-frames would be single-line guns.