Just received my Dads old gun. It's very clean and old, but looking forward to putting back to work on some targets.


4" barrel.
No Model number on it.
25XXX on the bottom of the grip.

Any idea of the year this got put out?

Thanks for any information.

RR

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Looks like you have a Pre M18 Combat Masterpiece. The serial number you show would be from 1948. That model was not introduced until 1949. Are you sure that is the correct number?
Oh, almost forgot, welcome to the Forum.
Jim

I think it is a pre model 34

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Looks like a square butt J frame to me. Either a M34 or a pre M34.

An alloy framed kit gun would be the M43 or pre M43 with a 3 1/2" barrel.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Yes, serial number from bottom of grip is 25XXX. Clear as day. Very clean. Dad hasn't shot it in at least 40 years. From reading, it seems like a 18, and 1948 or 1949 makes sense with my parents timeline too.

Should be from the late 1950s, just prior to the start of model numbering.

I would think 34 or pre 34. Does the other side have a flat latch cylinder release? I don't see the baughman ramp for the 18 in the picture.

Welcome to the best gun forum I've ever found.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I'll bet its a mdl. 43.

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S&W Accumulator

Should be easy to determine. The 34 (pre-34 kit gun) had a steel frame, and the 43 (pre-43, kit gun airweight) has an aluminum alloy frame.

This is the other view of 22 long rifle CTG.

The cylinder slide is not flat, it ramps.

The frame is steel.

That's the extent of my knowledge to this one. Hope that helps

Attached Images

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Your cylinder release is what would be called a flat latch one

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

The difference in the finish of the barrel and frame/cylinder, plus the wear pattern on the latter two parts, makes me think this is a .22/32 Airweight Kit Gun. As noted above, if it has a 3.5" barrel (muzzle to cylinder face) that would be consistent with this model. It weighs about 14 ounces vs. a steel Kit Gun at 24 ounces if that helps.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Well, I was wrong the barrel length. Sorry for that.

The barrel is 3 1/2" long. (From barrel end to cylinder face)

I guess that would help.

Thank you!!

Have you checked to see if a magnet will stick to the butt?

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Welcome to the forum.

That's a wonderful family heirloom. They are very accurate, fun to shoot, and very handy to carry in a fishing kit or hunting kit, hence the name Kit Gun.

As some have observed, you have a "Model of 1955 .22/32 Kit Gun, Airweight"; a .22 caliber made on the .32 caliber 'J' size frame. It was designated the Model 43 after June 1957.

It has a 3 screw side plate (earliest versions had 4 screws) and shipped from the factory at the end of 1956 or beginning of 1957, therefore nicknamed by collectors as a Pre model 43. It has an alum alloy frame and cylinder. These were only made with 3 1/2" barrel and square butt grip frame. Newer versions of these are still made today.

There are all steel versions from the same period made with 2" or 4" barrels with round or square grip frames. They are the "Model of 1953 .22/32 Kit Gun" made on the New 'I' size frame, which became the Model 34. And after Oct 1960, they were made on the 'J' size frame as well, the Model 34-1.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Thank you to everybody that helped out on this one. Hondo44 seems to have it all right. 3 screw side plate, it is an aluminum frame and cylinder. The magnet test confirmed that one.

So it's Official: I now have a 1955 .22/32 KIT GUN,AIRFRAME.

Thanks to all that helped me out. RR

Airweight, not airframe.

Those are nice little guns. I had one several years ago, as well as a 4" roundbutt M34.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Sorry to butt in, but I my dad has one that looks very similar to the OP's.
Not sure if it is a 4" or 3&1/2" but the numbers start
With M 219xx can I get some info based on the #s?

Point of clarification: You have a Model of 1955 Kit Gun Airweight. That does not mean it dates from 1955. My Kit Gun bears serial number 32230, it shipped in January, 1958, and is not model-marked. As Hondo44 pointed out, the correct shipping date on yours was late 1956 or early 1957. Probably not 1955.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

The M prefix serial numbers started in 1969. Yours probably dates from 1971, maybe 1970.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Ok thank you...

You'd have to look for the model number in the yoke to determine if it's an all steel Model 34-1 or Airweight Model 43.

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Jim
S&WCA #819