Originally had two of these. Sold 5601 that shipped December 3, 1954.
Model of 1955 .22/32 Airweight Kit Gun, caliber .22 Long Rifle.
Butt serial number 6211 shipped to Frankfurth Hardware Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 8, 1955.
3.5-inch barrel, blue finish, adjustable rear sights, plain ramp front sight, flat latch and checkered walnut square butt stocks with silver Smith & Wesson medallions. The grips number to the gun. Also have a period correct box that a kind Forum member gave to me.
It has been refinished. S<> on the rear of the cylinder and on the barrel flat. 10 74 and R-S on the grip frame.
In my dad's notes on the gun he says he sent it in 1974 to have Red Ramp White Outline sights installed. Maybe the refinish and the sights were done at the same time. SWHF has no repair records for the gun.
When he sent the gun in to S&W for the sight work they told him they could not do it. Said the front sight was too narrow for the tool they used to do the red ramp.
Dad was an engineer and knew a little bit about tooling. He suggested a different tool and the work was completed.
Besides being an engineer my father owned a gun store and was a gun writer. He did freelance work for American Handgunner, Gun Digest and others. He wrote a regular column for an industry publication named American Firearms Industry.
Besides the column he covered the industry trade shows for them.
He met Roy Jinks at the Denver show in 1978. He asked Roy about the Kit Guns and received a nice letter with ship dates and a little history.
Roy says the first guns were manufactured in November 1954.
My letter from Don Mundell says the first shipments were in the fall of 1954. I have first hand knowledge about 5601 that shipped December 3, 1954.
So what is the first year? 1954 or 1955? I know there are some differences of opinion on this.
Model of 1955 .22/32 Airweight Kit Gun, caliber .22 Long Rifle.
Butt serial number 6211 shipped to Frankfurth Hardware Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 8, 1955.
3.5-inch barrel, blue finish, adjustable rear sights, plain ramp front sight, flat latch and checkered walnut square butt stocks with silver Smith & Wesson medallions. The grips number to the gun. Also have a period correct box that a kind Forum member gave to me.
It has been refinished. S<> on the rear of the cylinder and on the barrel flat. 10 74 and R-S on the grip frame.
In my dad's notes on the gun he says he sent it in 1974 to have Red Ramp White Outline sights installed. Maybe the refinish and the sights were done at the same time. SWHF has no repair records for the gun.
When he sent the gun in to S&W for the sight work they told him they could not do it. Said the front sight was too narrow for the tool they used to do the red ramp.
Dad was an engineer and knew a little bit about tooling. He suggested a different tool and the work was completed.
Besides being an engineer my father owned a gun store and was a gun writer. He did freelance work for American Handgunner, Gun Digest and others. He wrote a regular column for an industry publication named American Firearms Industry.
Besides the column he covered the industry trade shows for them.
He met Roy Jinks at the Denver show in 1978. He asked Roy about the Kit Guns and received a nice letter with ship dates and a little history.
Roy says the first guns were manufactured in November 1954.
My letter from Don Mundell says the first shipments were in the fall of 1954. I have first hand knowledge about 5601 that shipped December 3, 1954.
So what is the first year? 1954 or 1955? I know there are some differences of opinion on this.
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