4" K22

[red9]

I have K22 #K44958, before the introduction of the CM. I was told by the seller, who owned it since about 1950, that the dealer returned a small group of them, new, to the factory to be shortened. It letters as 6", SWHF has no records of it, and there are no return markings. The work looks like it could be factory, however.
Question - Is the presence of the lines on the rib under the sight definitive proof that the work was not done at the factory?

Bob

 

[murphydog]

It sounds to be a plausible explanation for the gun as you see it. It has the Patridge front sight of the earliest .22 CMs so that fits but too bad the SWHF records are silent. Interested to hear what others think.

 

[handejector]

IMO, that is a Factory cut barrel. Everything looks correct.

 

[rct269]

What he said!

The muzzle was the first thing I saw, and the last thing I bothered to look at.

Ralph Tremaine

And as an aside, I just looked at a stock as a stove K-22------and it too has lines on the rib under the sight.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Looks righteous to me. No expert here, though.

 

[glowe]

I am on the other side of that fence. Looking at mine, The barrel muzzle is very nicely finished, that one is not. It also looks like a ring around the base of the muzzle and not perfectly blended into the barrel. It has a narrow rib barrel that should be tapered down to the width than the front sight base. The rib should measure about .240"" wide at the sight/muzzle and .30" at the frame.

The front sight base is that of a 6" gun and do not appear to be the ramp style found on K22 CMs?? The front sight blade is not original to anything I have seen on a K22 CM. I believe it originally left the factory as a 6" Masterpiece and might have been returned to be shortened??

Just thought about the serial number you list and it tells us that the gun was built in 1948, but I do not think that the K22 CM was available until 1949, and if so has to be cut barrel.

 

[younggun22]

IMO, that is a Factory cut barrel. Everything looks correct.

I had one very similar to this. Whether it came from the the factory this way or was sent back to be done will forever be a mystery.

The work was top notch and appeared factory as does yours.

Nice piece!

 

[Alk8944]

The grooves on the rib extending under the front sight mean nothing, that is normal for S&Ws. I have owned several target sighted K-Frames, and every one has the rib grooving under the front sight. Several were bought new or NIB by me.

 

[Engine49guy]

That is a very nice 4" K22 !
The serial appears a bit low for the first factory original 4" versions that were shipped around April 1949 but Im not so sure since I have a 6" K22 serial K 42696 that shipped In March 1950 which btw is very late for that low a serial.

The second batch of 4"ers is from October 1949 and should have serials in the K75000-K77000 range.
Those early run guns did have the same Patridge front site, after checking my early run 1949 version which is app K75xxx it appears to have the same front site set back and wider rib than site ramp just like yours.

I would think it likely went back to S&W to be cut down from a 6" gun to a 4" gun based on the muzzle finish which perhaps appears slightly more grooved and the back story that explains it was sent back although would love to compare the barrel roll stamp positions to my factory original gun as Im not so sure they didn't just cut down 6" barrels they had on hand for the earliest run.

Very nice piece of SW history thanks for sharing it !

 

[glowe]

There is a chance that the butt-frame will have a factory return date stamp on the left side. Take a look for a 3 or 4 digit number like 9 51, meaning September 1951 return. This was often, but not always done all the way up to around 1983. Also, a photo of the underside of the barrel where the serial number is located might show additional stamps??

 

[RKmesa]

I like it… a lot. The early 4” K-22s with the early one piece Patridge front sights have always appealed to me. I’d love to see some photos of the complete gun - please? If only I could run one down. I was the penultimate bidder on one about 10 years ago and have not seen one for sale since.

The closest that I have come is this one with a King reflector ramp front sight… I believe that it is modified post factory, but I have not lettered it …yet.





Edited… I forgot that I also have this 4-screw one with a factory red post…

 

[cmansguns]

rib width on 4"?

Question for glowe: When you posted rib width should be .240" at muzzle you are actually measuring a 4" factory barrel..correct?

I have two K22 Masterpiece guns: a Lettered shipment of August 12, 1947 s/n K 905, all numbers match, and an August 1948 shipment, s/n K 42372, all numbers match. Both guns are 6" bbls and Patridge pinned front sights.

Muzzle crowns appear deep dished like the Op's yet the rib measurements are as follows (taken with my recently calibrated digital micrometers):

1947: Frame = 0.2935", muzzle: 0.1895" (at 4" = 0.2385")

1948: Frame = 0.2935", muzzle: 0.1885" (at 4" = 0.2380")

What is the year of the 4" you are measuring?

I guess the OP's rib would measure the same 0.240" whether it was a factory 4" or a cut down and recrowned 6" as my measurements show... Is this a correct statement? If the Op's bbl flat has the same serial number that Lettered as a 6" then it would be obvious that it was cut at sometime unless the Letter from records had a mistake..true?

 

[cmansguns]

gotta go with glowe

Looking again at the OP's photo, I blew it up a tad and it looks like right under the front sight pin you can barely spot what looks like the "S" beginning of the Smith & Wesson roll stamp.

I got out my two K22 Masterpiece 6" and both are the same: The "S' is exactly 2.375" from the muzzle. If I measure 2" exactly from the muzzle....the "S" is now at .375" almost directly under the front sight pin.

Still a sweet looking K22 4" and if the factory did the bob job, all the better.

Would still love more pics of the complete gun. I'd love to find one, cut dowb or not!