I have acquired another K22, but this one is from the 1931 - 1940 era; I believe. Of all the research I can find & even one thread posted here, the gun is pointed to that time frame.

It is a little rough on the right side, but the barrel is almost perfect. Looking at another thread very similar, Smith_&W has one that is 6,000 numbers away & lettered to 1933.

Serial number matches every place it is stamped and should be stamped, but the bottom is stamped upside down from the way they normally come. Not sure if this has any significance or not.

I am guessing this was shipped around 1934 to 36? What do the experts think of my new toy?

Very interesting Outdoorsman,
The large medallion service grips are very nice , do they number to the gun?

I generally divide the pre war K22 OD into 3 sub categories, Your gun would be #2.

1) Early examples with a one screw rear site,
2) Early examples with a small left side trademark and a two screw rear site ,
3) later versions with a two screw rear site and large right side trademark.

There was one last K22 revision before WWII ,
A new micrometer click rear site /taller front site and short throw hammer/trigger were fitted ,
The Pre war K22/40's were the first K22's with the new rear site and new " Masterpiece" Title.

War time"Victory" production shut down K22 manufacturing until 1946 when the first post war Masterpieces began to appear.

How about a little more info on where you found it etc?

This K22 was a private sale at a gunshow in Beckley, WV. I picked this up, that 22/32 Beakeart, & a couple of others as well. Time has rendered any pencil written serial number unreadable, if ever there were any. It looks like it had none.

I'm going to take a wild guess here and suggest the grips aren't original to the gun. When I first saw them I was thinking "wow" he got one of the very rare sets of K large medallions. But then when you look closely, you'll see they're the 19-teens style not the 1930s raised ones. They only look silver because of the flash reflection. I think we can be pretty certain they're just replacements. Since they show wear similar to the rest of the gun, they go good with it. I agree its probably a 1935 gun, give or take maybe a year. Probably has 3 screws in the rear sight, known as a 2 screw (because we only count the adjusters).

Yes its a first model K22, aka Outdoorsman's gun. There were no 1st models except Outdoorsman. There were no subsequent K22s that were also Outdoorsman. Its a shooter, so enjoy it.

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Dick Burg

Sounds like someone might have been liquidating a small collection?

Occasionally the old ones turn up at a gunshow and its great to be standing in the right place when the lightning strikes.

The old K22's are very interesting and I am fascinated by the little changes and revisions that happen in each Models lifespan from introduction to current model.
Sometimes a screw disappears or appears or it can be just a new barrel taper or grip style,
Those little changes is what makes collecting them so much fun.

On a side note I just pulled my oldest Outdoorsman as I thought it might be close in serial to your 651091 ,

Mine is 86 numbers lower at 651005 but I havent got a shipping date yet.

Thanks for sharing it.

Regarding shipping dates, I have an Outdoorsman with a serial number in the 648000 range and it shipped in January 1935.

Bill

Engine49guy is exactly right about someone selling off parts of their collection. He was an older gentleman & appeared to be in his mid to late 70's. As we conversed, he said I have 2 girls, neither shoot & grandkids are only interested in video games. He explained that he would rather sell these firearms to someone that would have as much enjoyment out of them as they had given him. I assured him that they would bring me many hours of it.

The little story he told me (which only adds value to these revolvers at least to me) was worth every dollar I spent, and I spent a lot as I bought 8 revolvers from him that weekend.


That is cool. I have never bought one and had a fellow collector/member be within one-hundred serial #'s of my own. Very nice, thanks for sharing

Thanks to everyone that contributed in any way and even to members for looking. I truly appreciate the feedback I receive from this forum whenever I post a question.

Congrats on your acquisition,but you forgot the pics of the other SEVEN.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Please be patient and I will put them up. Not all of them are old like this. 2 are 1905 3rd or 4th change, 1 66-0 w stainless rear sights, a 64-2 snubby, a 2nd 65-2 P&R, & a couple more.

Instead of individual threads I will post pics on them here (if that is OK to do), but for now I am beat and off to bed I am going.

This is tremendously ironic. I have lurked on this forum for a couple of years. I only have one S&W revolver - a ~ 1980 P&R 6" model 57. Yesterday I had an older gentleman give me his k-22 on "extended loan" provided I clean it up a little bit. I just registered for the forum because I wanted to ask when it was produced - its serial number is 65115x.

What are the odds that the second post in the forum the first time I log on as a member would be from two guys who have guns within a couple hundred of the one I have right now? Probably not too good.

So is it safe for me to assume that the one I have was produced in 1935-36?

When did they switch to the K-###### serialization protocol?

Thanks,

SR

Hello SR
I would say the K-22 Outdoorsman that you have would date somewhere in 1935. I have a First Variation K-22 Outdoorsman that dates September of 1936 with serial number 65773X. it is shown with it's correct red picture box and Paperwork. it has it's original serial numbered service stock's as shown. The Outdoorsman series first variation guns were made from 1931-1939. The first 500 made in 1931 had the Call Gold Bead sight and all other's after that got a stainless bright bead call sight blade. In 1946 They started up with Civilian gun production again after the War effort and that is when we saw the K-Prefix used before the serial numbers. I have an early Post War Third Variation K-22 as well that shipped in November 1947. it has serial number K-366X. it is what we call a Transitional K-22 which are very scarce. These models had the Pre-Wear style Mushroom shaped extractor ends on them. It took far more machine work to use the Pre-War style extractor end's but S&W was not a company to waste any part's that could be used, so they used up existing supplies before changing them over to the straight wall style extractor's. Sometime in 1948 S&W changed their single one line factory address stamp which is located in the lower right hand corner of the frame below the cylinder. This change was to use the newer style Four line address stamps that we still see used today and was used on all later made K-22's. Both variations of K-22 are shown below with their boxes and paperwork, I hope this answer's your questions. Regards, Hammerdown
















Early Post-War K-22 Transitional K-22 revolver shown with original serial numbered Magna's and with original box wearing a set of Early Diamond Target stock's

Hammerdown,

Thank you for the reply, it was very helpful.

The guy who loaned me this gun is an old friend of the family. I stopped by his house to chat on Friday and showed him my model 57. We start chatting about Smiths and I tell him that I'm looking around for a k-22 to shoot for practice. He gets this look on his face and says "follow me". He goes and pulls the old k-22 out of a box with a half-dozen other guns and says it hasn't been shot for 30 years. It was pretty rough from rust and neglect.

Anyway, we start talking some more and he tells me "why don't you just take that gun for about six months. Carry it around a bit and then you can decide if you want to buy one. I don't want to sell that one - but at least that way you will know if you really want one or not." Well, I cleaned it up and shot it enough yesterday to know I am hooked.

A guy could really use more friends like him.

SR

First timer to forum. A few months ago I picked up k-22 beautiful little gun. Just got letter back from mr.jenkins at smith&wesson seems my little 22 was made around 1939 ,and shipped to hibbard spencer Bartlett & co in Chicago, il . I am a avid collector of colts and now an avid collector of smith$&wesson .anyone wanting to know about their s&w handguns well worth the 50$

I have what appears to be a K-22.
6" Barrel
6 round cylendar
SN 639212
"Call Gold Bead" site
SN on the but, 4287 on the frame when cylnder open, SN on bottom of the barrel and possibly on the inside of the star wheel ejector
patents on top of barrel Feb6,06, Sep.14,09, Dec 29,14
From a retired naval officer with pisto team experience.
Can youall put an accurate model, history etc on this.
I do not intend to sell this gun, cherishing it from my father in law and using it for a hiking side arm. Thank you.

doydavis:

Sounds like a K-22 Outdoorsman. I have SN 639380 and it shipped in March 1932. Yours most likely shipped in that same time period.

If you search on the forum you will find lots of info on this classic model (one of my favorites) there is a copy of the original brochure in this thread that will tell you quite a bit about your gun...

K-22 Outdoorsman Appreciation and Photo Thread

BTW: Start your own thread and post a few photos and you'll get much more attention.

Good luck,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

K22 Outdoorsman S/N 63770X joined my accumulation last month. It was shipped July 1931, I believe that to be within the first 7 months of production.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244