1948 K-38 One Line Joins my Collection

[bravastar1]

I had been looking for this one for quite a while and it finally popped up on a well known auction site. I may have paid a bit much but what the heck. I wanted it and you only live once. It is a very nice One Line K-38 that shipped in May 1948. I was really wanted this gun with a Large Ejector knob but you really never see those so I went for this one.I can't take credit for these great pictures.

 

[jjbrewst1]

Sweet....Very Nice...

Plus Your Pics are always amazing...Jealous....

 

[JP@AK]

Terrific find - with the box, no less. I'd probably have been willing to overpay a little bit for that one, myself.
I assume those stocks number correctly.

 

[bravastar1]

Jack-Sad to say but the stocks don't number to the gun. I had to overlook that fact.

 

[beagleye]

Your photography reminds me of Jack the Dog. Nice gun and pics.

 

[highpower3006]

Outstanding K38! I have one so close to yours that they may have come off the production line on the same day. Execpt that mine is a K22

 

[Engine49guy]

What a Beauty and clean as a whistle !
One of my big regrets was passing on a one liner K38 Masterpiece a few years back and I have not seen another for sale since,

When the original grips are not available the next best thing is grips of similar vintage as original, In this case the high sharp shoulder diamond Magnas with nickel brass medallions.
The tapered shoulder style was 1954 to 1967.

 

[JSR III]

Outstanding K22! I have one so close to yours that they may have come off the production line on the same day.

OP's gun is a K38 however, I may have a relative, K23233 that also shipped in May of 1948. The postwar factory was pushing them out for sure.

 

[bravastar1]

Your photography reminds me of Jack the Dog. Nice gun and pics.

As it should. This was a JTD auction. Does any one out there have a correct set of stocks that would make this one right?

 

[RKmesa]

Jim:

Very nice K-38... I might even call it a "Masterpiece"

Thanks for sharing.

 

[bullmack]

As it should. This was a JTD auction. Does any one out there have a correct set of stocks that would make this one right?

My inventory says I have a pair of K frame Diamond Checkered Magnas, black washers, s/n 39155. I haven't laid eyes on them for a while so I'll need to check their condition.

 

[ckeller]

I am a newbie. What does "one line" refer to and what is it's significance?
Thanks for educating me.

 

[highpower3006]

OP's gun is a K38 however, I may have a relative, K23233 that also shipped in May of 1948. The postwar factory was pushing them out for sure.

Duh, I knew that.... I was just so focused on the serial number being close to my K22, that all I was thinking was K22, K22.

Edited to correct my lack of focus...

 

[fungunnin]

My inventory says I have a pair of K frame Diamond Checkered Magnas, black washers, s/n 39155. I haven't laid eyes on them for a while so I'll need to check their condition.

I think I have some high shoulders on the shelf .... I'll check when I get home.
Beautiful K38

Sent from my Motorola Flip phone.

 

[glowe]

I am a newbie. What does "one line" refer to and what is it's significance?
Thanks for educating me.

The one liner has a stamping MADE IN USA. This was introduced in 1922 and a 4 line address was introduced around 1948-1949. The stamping was on the right side directly above the front of the trigger guard. There were not too many one liners made after the war, so it is a collector's variation that is sought after.

 

[JSR III]

Jim, are the stocks that came with the gun numbered? It just downright amazes me how many beautiful old S&W's had their slippers removed and replaced.

I will say it AGAIN, we need to start the S&W Stock Exchange. Every collector that has been around S&W's for more than a few years has a woodpile of old stocks that might be able to be matched up with their original iron if there was a database of serial numbers. Members could list the numbers from their woodpile and if another member had a match, they could make a trade and then put that number into the exchange. Eventually, all older S&W's would have their original wood back. OK, well maybe a few.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

really SWEET guns. This K 22, K1090 is the best I can do these days. Box, SAT and original stocks are put away-

 

[DCWilson]

A fine specimen.

The LERK single line K-38s probably number no more than 300-350. So few are known that it is impossible to do serious statistical analysis, but all of them will probably be numbered below K5000. Be careful, because at least two of the five known K-plus-four-digit K-38s do not have large knobs.

After the first several dozen large knob K-38s, the next K-38s (single line address, no knob on the ejector rod) show up in the K22xxx-K24xxx range. Before I learned of K24654 from this thread, I was unaware of any single-line K-38s in the K24xxx range. These .38s numbered in the K20000s are intermixed with K-22s, so it is not known how many K-38s actually have the single line address. I formerly estimated the number might be in the range of 1000 to 1500. With K24654 before us, I'm thinking we might need to kick total single-line K-38 production (including the LERK guns) up to 2000 or a little above. I wish we could find more of them to firm up the serial distribution stats.

This is K-38 Masterpiece K23351, which shipped in May 1948. Narrow rib, single-line address.

 

[fungunnin]

My single line k-38 is k23297 .... Never realized the total count was that low.

This means that there are about half as many single line K38s as LERK K22s.
I had always thought the LERK K22 was the less common of the more often seen post war target k frames.
This of course excludes the blue moon LERK K38 and K32. Any idea of single address line K32s?

Sent from my Motorola Flip phone.

 

[DCWilson]

This of course excludes the blue moon LERK K38 and K32. Any idea of single address line K32s?

Next to none. The ones that exist may all have been salesman samples--perhaps a dozen or fewer.

Remember that commercial distribution of the K-32 didn't really get under way until February of 1949, nearly a year after the four-line order came down from on high. At least two K+four digit K-32s are known, and both apparently have large ejector rod knobs. These guns were produced in 1946, according to factory records. There is one known commercially distributed LERK K-32 known from 1949. It is possible that the K-32 Masterpiece is the only masterpiece model in which the vanishingly rare LERK specimens outnumber the even more rarely encountered single-line variety. But with only three specimens to talk about, it is hard to be sure.