Model 17-3 K-22 Masterpiece

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I finally was able to pick this one up today after the state-mandated two-week wait (that didn't include a further two-hour wait as the folks at Cabelas did their thing at a complete snails pace).

Complete with matching box, paperwork and cleaning kit. 8K15xx dates it to 1975 according to a couple of you who helped me earlier. About 98% condition, with almost no finish wear but a couple of minor nicks and scratches. It'll go good with my Model 19s, which I love to shoot but cost me too much to shoot as much as I'd like to.
 

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I have your guns older brother, 17-3 from around 1967.

Last Thursday, my LGS had two K-22's. A 17-5 with excessive wear for $650 and a 1952 that was worn to all get out (the ratchet was just bumps!) for $975.

If your 17-3 has extraction/tight chambers, get the "Finish Ream" From Brownell's (along with cutting oil and a ream handle). I used a padded vise to hold the complete cylinder. It took about 15 minutes per chamber. I also sacrificed an old cake pan, to make a "Bed" (like a lathe) to hold rags to catch the cutting oil! Several years ago I had a number of gunsmiths quote me $60 to do the job. I've done the 17-3 and a 34-1 and still have the tools and 3/4 quart of oil for about $20!

Ivan
 
Nice revolver. The correct factory nomenclature is a K-22 "Masterpiece". No big deal anyway, because you can be be a "target master" with it. It is a terrific gun. Enjoy!
 
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sodacan said:
Nice revolver. The correct factory nomenclature is a K-22 "Masterpiece". No big deal anyway, because you can be be a "target master" with it. It is a terrific gun. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Whoops! Corrected the thread title. :o
 
I have one I bought new in the mid 1970s. I am very happy with it. I have no idea how many rounds have been thru it.Sometimes the extraction gets sticky. I use a brass wire brush and some Hoppe's and clean each chamber real good. That has always solved the problem.
 
I had the extraction issues with my 34-1 "Kit Gun" that I bought earlier this year. I put some polishing paste on a .22 wool mop, chucked it in a drill and went to town on the chambers. It's much better now... it takes a couple hundred rounds for the sticky extraction to return but it's not like I put a bazillion rounds through 6-shot wheelguns at the range anyway. I'll have to see if this one needs the same treatment.
 
I had time to clean it tonight, and I think it's actually unfired. Zero wear on the ejector rod, hardly any turn line on the cylinder, and the front of the cylinder is squeaky-clean with no carbon or evidence of blast rings. Just a couple of marks from being handled or slid around inside the box.

So am I going to shoot it anyway? You bet. :cool:
 
Very nice revolver. Let us know what ammo it likes. I have a 8 3/8" 17-4 that shoots most ammo very well, but not so much the bulk Remington I picked up.
 
I have a 17-3 that was shipped in June 1968 to a sporting goods store in Sturgeon Bay, WI. It’s an early -3, so much so that it is marked -2 on the yoke. IMO they’re the finest .22 handguns ever made.
 
Valmet said:
I have a 17-3 that was shipped in June 1968 to a sporting goods store in Sturgeon Bay, WI. It’s an early -3, so much so that it is marked -2 on the yoke.
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I have a similar 17-1 with all the -3 features that was shipped in a box marked as a -2...Mine was also shipped in 1968...;)...Ben

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After reading Ben's (Truckman) post #15, I am confused. I have a very nice Model 17-2, and my research indicates its serial number of K658986 was the last K frame produced in 1965. I have not lettered it so its shipping date is unknown to me.
My point of confusion is that Ben's 17-1, which I assume would be an earlier engineering change variation of the 17 models has a serial number, K790030, that is 140,000 higher than mine.
I know from a few years of being a forum member that S&W doesn't always do things in a logical manner but this has me curious enough to ask the experts for their opinions.
Are the engineering changes between the -1, -2, and -3 easily discernable?
Seasons Greetings to all!!
 
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MTC(SS)Ret said:
After reading Ben's (Truckman) post #15, I am confused.
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No more confused than I am...For the time being, it's just an unexplained mystery gun...Here are some pics to illustrate my points...:confused:...Ben

[And I didn't intend to hijack the thread, just adding one more layer to the mystique that permeates S&W history...]

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MTC(SS)Ret said:
Are the engineering changes between the -1, -2, and -3 easily discernable?
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Yes.
The Model 17-1 has a four screw frame. It would have three in the side plate and one in the front of the trigger guard.

The Model 17-2 was the first of the three screw frames. The one in the trigger guard would be gone.

The 17-3 is very easy to distinguish from the -2. The screw that holds the rear sight in place is located above the barrel extension on the dash 3; it is NOT directly above the barrel/cylinder gap, where it is located on all previous versions of the K-22 Masterpiece.
 
Thanks for your insights, gentlemen. So it appears that Ben's IS a 17-2 but was incorrectly stamped as a 17-1?
 
JP@AK said:
Yes.
The Model 17-1 has a four screw frame. It would have three in the side plate and one in the front of the trigger guard.

The Model 17-2 was the first of the three screw frames. The one in the trigger guard would be gone.

The 17-3 is very easy to distinguish from the -2. The screw that holds the rear sight in place is located above the barrel extension on the dash 3; it is NOT directly above the barrel/cylinder gap, where it is located on all previous versions of the K-22 Masterpiece.
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Those were my thoughts as well, Jack...The thread I posted on the SWCA forum was started in the attempt to nail down exactly what I have...I logged it into my records as a 17-1 as it is stamped on the frame, I see no signs of alteration there...The box label appears to be legit, and yet the telltale evidence of -3 changes are clearly there...On receipt of Don's letter the mystery deepened as no invoice could be found for the gun in company records...Another S&W anomaly...:cool:...Ben
 
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