my lgs has a 95% 53 4 screw,11 inserts,2 22 jet cylinders,and a factory fitted 22 mag cylinder.what would value be on this gun with extras

is it possible that smith wesson made a 22 mag cylinder just for the model 53?

It's possible, but it would have to have been a special order. Are all three cylinders numbered to the gun? There is a model 48 in .22 Magnum.
Don Mundell
Assistant Historian SWHF

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Don Mundell

mr munden,thanks.i never thought about that.so i can assume a model 48 cylinder in 22 magnum would have the same dimensions as a model 53?did the 4 screw cylinders have the serial number of gun stamped on cylinders?

IIRC the Model 53 is unique in that it has a longer cylinder like the Model 19 where the Model 48 and K-22's have a cylinder that is equal in length to the K-38.

Any factory fitted cylinder from that time frame would have the serial number stamped on it. The amount of screws in the frame have no bearing on the company policy about stamping. If the revolver was sent back to have the extra cylinders fitted, there will be a factory rework stamp on the frame under the left stock.

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Don Mundell

I have a Mod 53 purchased in 1964. It is in the box complete with a .22 LR Cyl, .22 LR inserts, papers, (sales receipt, etc), tools, and red tag informing you to keep the .22 Jet Cyl free from oil, or Cyl will lock. I got the idea to acquire a set of extra .22 LR inserts and have them bored out to accept .22 WMR ammo. I Called S&W and asked them about my plan. They told me, bad idea. The larger diameter of the WMR bullet would create higher pressure.

I just purvhased a model 53 from an estate of 267 22 cal guns. The first one i bought was a 1961 manufactured gun vetified by smith. It sat on the shelf at Smith for 13 years until it was eold to some distributor as excess and obsolete. Mine came with original un numbered box and 2 genuine smith cylinders. One in 22 Long Rigle and one in 22 Magnum. It also had 6 inserts tor the jet cylinder for 22lr.

Anyone who says Smith did not offer cylinders in 22 Magnum is inncorrect. The factory parts list that came eith the gun offered a extra cylinder in Lr or Magnum for the huge sum of $31.00. You could even buy a frame for $46.00. Try to get one now. I saw a cylinder go for $1800.00. They are rare and hard to find alone. Numrich lists it but has no stock.

Reminton Jet ammo is etill available from SG Ammo from Privi Part for less tha $25.00 per box. This cartridge is so powerfull that we hit a b27 target 2 hand free stand at 100 yards. Loud as heck with zero recoil. If your dealer is anywhere under $2000 with all the stuff and paperwork, i would grab it. Its worth more in parts

Ron. Retired Sheriff

The Model 53 was stamped on barrel as .22 Magnum. It came with a magnum cylinder that was chambered for the .22 Remington Center fire Magnum, or called the .22 Jet. It came with 6, .22 LR inserts. You could also get a .22 LR cylinder fitted at the factory. Some revolvers came with it. This revolver was never chambered by S&W for the .22 Rim fire Magnum as the .22 RFM was .224 and the .22 Jet was only .223 and it would cause excessive pressure.

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I respectfully submit that a bore diameter difference of 0.001" will make just about no pressure differences at all. Besides, the .22 Jet develops a lot higher pressures than the .22 WMR does, so any extra pressures that would develop from using the rimfire cartridge wouldn't be enough to damage anything.

There are a few long-time members and S&W owners on this site who have or have seen factory fitted .22 WMR cylinders on their Model 53's.

Buff, I would like some of the names of the guys that have Model 53's with .22 Rim Fire Magnum cylinders that S&W fitted to them. Anyone can contact S&W and they will find out that they would not do this procedure.

I don't recall any names. I got the impression at the time they were discussed that a person kind of needed to know somebody at the factory to have one done. People in customer service at S&W currently have a track record of not knowing much about items they made more than a few years ago. S&W ran out of auxiliary .22 LR cylinders for the Model 53 not long after discontinuing the gun, I tried to get one fitted by them in about 1978 and they were gone by them. I am pretty sure that the cylinder blanks for a .22 WMR cylinder would have started life intended to become a .22 LR.

Maybe one of the owners or former owners will see this thread and pipe up.

We've discussed the bullet diameter issue at length here in the past. The Jet uses .222 diameter bullets. There are those, and then some .223 bullets for the Hornet, and then the great mass of .224 the rest of the uncivilized ugly black rifle guys use. Our poster Dave Keith has a die his grandson pushes .224 bullets through to make them .222 diameter. I asked him how hard it was to push and he said "they just about fell through".

Jets are just too hard to come by to risk damage by firing over pressure loads. My opinion is the inserts are a pain and really need to remain in their box. I even read a story here about a guy that was fishing and loaded his 6 inserts with 22s. He fired them at whatever, the out of habit opened the cylinder and dumped them in the lake. Inserts and all.

These days if I want to fire 22 rimfire, I just select a K22 for the work. Almost all Jet shooters are also reloaders. Most of the people I know also load them well under maximum pressures. They're still way to loud to even consider firing without ear muffs and maybe plugs too. Its even a night time cartridge if you want to blind anyone looking. Even factory loadings push a remarkable ball of flame out front.

Yes, we have an unofficial cult. I was stupid long ago and even turned down a scoped jet priced at $300. It was ugly and had no finish on one side, an even had pits. The other side looked nice so maybe you could say it was a 50% gun. Or not.

I've seen 3 cylinder guns. I couldn't justify buying one because I can load Jet rounds for less than I can buy 22 mag rounds. Its nearly cheaper to fire Jets than lr. But I don't think a $2000 price is out of line if the gun is great.

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Dick Burg

I've only seen one 53 for sale with three cylinders..Jet. Long Rifle and Magnum. I do not remember if all the cylinders were numbered and I don't recall the add saying whether or not the Magnum cylinder was factory original or not.

I've had a 1961 since 1974 and put so many Jet rounds through it the forcing cone looked like a funnel and there was a loose spot in the barrel Was lucky enough to find a brand new take-off barrel of the same vintage.

If in fact the gun in question has a .22 Magnum cylinder, or did the seller just say it was a Magnum because 22 Magnum is on the barrel, and is numbered to the gun...$2K+. If the rimfire cylinder is a Magnum and is numbered to the gun, get a good light and magnifyers and check to see if it has been rechambered to Magnum from the original caliber.

Are both Jet cylinders numbered to the gun?

Bob

I do not want to offend anyone, but I'd love to have a few .22LRs and .22 Magnums' bore diameter actually measured to put this to rest once and for all. I have always suspected that these bore sizes might be closer than we assume.

I know the measurements are complicated due to the bores having five lands and grooves.

Any machinists out there game?

All that needs to be done is slug one of each and then mic the slug. I don't have a 22mag to slug.

ALHunt--

I think it's more involved than that--a straight mike measurement would measure both a land and a groove, due to the five land/groove setup. What you are looking for is a diameter across both lands. I think there are special mikes for this, or maybe some fancy math equation.

Dunno

Tim

I have a M53 with both Jet and 22Mag cylinders. The 22Mag cylinder is numbered to the gun. However, it does appear that it has been rechambered from a 22LR.
I have not fired it yet and was concerned about the bore difference, but I am fortunate to live in the home town of "the good ole boys" from CCI/Speer. I brought this up in conversation with an engineer and he assured me it would be absolutely no problem firing 22Mag's through that bore. One of these days I'll get around to it.

It doesn't matter, that little 22 mag bullet would go from .224 to .222 in nothing flat with a tiny blip of pressure. Look at the amount of cylinder the thing has and thickness of the forcing cone. Wouldn't even notice it.