SEE POST NO. 12 BELOW, POSTED 5 AUG 2013, FOR UPDATED INFORMATION.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When S&W introduced the postwar K-22 Masterpiece in early 1947 (two specimens are known to have been delivered in late 1946, but for all practical purposes commercial distribution began in 1947), supplies of wartime parts remained available for use. Among them were several thousand large-knob ejector rods. Many were used on the early postwar M&P revolvers that carried S-prefix serial numbers, and some were used on the earliest K-22 Masterpieces. More than 5000 and fewer than 6000 K-prefix revolvers were produced with large ejector rod knobs and notched barrels to accommodate their larger diameters. These have been referred to by some collectors as LERK Masterpieces to distinguish them from the later postwar K-target revolvers that had knobless ejector rods with knurled ends.
The highest known serial number on a LERK Masterpiece is K5680; that gun is a K-22. Not all guns numbered lower than that are LERK guns, though an overwhelming majority of them are. A few lower-numbered K-22s in the K5xxx range are known to have knobless ejector rods (K5154 and K5678, for example), and we may conclude that the serial-number boundary between these varieties is fuzzy.
Though most LERK Masterpieces are K-22s, not all are. A K-38 with the serial number K1661 is known, and I think it is almost certain to have been a large-knob gun. According to Roy Jinks in History of Smith & Wesson, K1661 was delivered in June, 1947; the recipient is not identified. I suspect that this gun was a salesman's sample, and a few other such samples may have been produced at the same time. [See Addendum at bottom of post.]
After K1661, the next known serial numbers of K-38 Masterpieces fall in the K45xx to K48xx range. The lowest observed number is K4562, though a K4549 is said to be referenced in records. K4564 and K4593 have also been reported. The highest known serial number on a gun in this range is K4820. Another early K-38 in this range (K4647, recently reported on this forum by member and distinguished collector bmg60) is extremely interesting in that it has a knobless ejector rod. It is thus the lowest-numbered Masterpiece of any caliber known to have a knobless rod.
I recently had the good fortune to acquire this LERK K-38, K4709. My thanks again to Scotter260 for the deal that brought this gun to my collection.
The gun has been a shooter, not a safe queen. I put its condition at about 90%, with muzzle and high edge wear, a turn ring, blue loss on the bottom of the trigger guard and some scuffing in the cylinder lock pockets. Bore and chambers are fine and shiny. There is no push-off. There is a bit of endshake in the cylinder, and perhaps slightly more rotational play than one sees in the better looking guns of the early postwar era, but movement is within tolerances. The stocks that came to me on the gun were from much later (numbered over 200000). I had the stocks seen in the photos in the woodpile. They are at least closer to the proper age (11464) though they still do not fit the gun particularly well.
This gun shipped in February 1948, which makes it one of the earliest K-38s to have been commercially distributed. The only other LERK K-38s I know about are ones that have been reported over the years in this forum: K4562, K4564, K4593 and K4820 -- along with the one I report here, a total of five. By May of 1948, other K-38s were being shipped with serial numbers between K22700 and K23700. Not one of these guns is known to have shipped with a large knob. But like their few LERK precursors, they are all narrow-rib guns and have a single line address. A single K-38 in the K25xxx range is probably also a single line gun, but the next known K-38 (serial number in the K35000s) may be a four-liner; a handful of K-38s in the K39000s are almost certainly four-line guns. [EDITED APRIL 2014 TO ADD: Based on discussion in posts below, we now know that K4562 and K4820 are not LERK specimens; they have the single-diameter ejector rods.]
What do the serial number ranges tell us? If we set aside the suspected salesman's sample(s) and emphasize the power of round numbers, it appears we might have a block of K-38 Masterpieces numbered from about K4501 to K4825 or K4850. That is a first production run of about 325 or 350 revolvers. There are no known K-22s with serial numbers in this range, and other than the suspected salesman's sample no known K-38s with K plus four-digit serial numbers outside of this range. We know one gun with a knobless ejector rod from this range (K4647 mentioned above), but the other known K-38s with K plus four-digit serial numbers are LERK specimens. It is probably safe to predict that no more than 350 LERK K-38s were ever produced, and perhaps no more than 300, depending on where the true beginning and end of the serial number range actually lie. If that is true, and if only 5500-5600 or so LERK Masterpieces were produced, around 93 to 95 percent of them would be K-22s and about five to seven percent K-38s.
It is possible that another 1000-1500 K-38s were produced in early 1948 at a time when frames still received only the single-line address markings. But the serial numbers are a little more scattered, and single-line K-22s are known with serial numbers in the K25000-K30000 range (though none are known in the K22701-K23700 range that may consist entirely of K-38s). By the time the K-32 Masterpiece came into earliest commercial production with serial numbers in the K56xxx range, large knob ejector rods had long since ceased to be used in Masterpiece production. One should not expect to see a LERK K-32 unless it is an early salesman's sample from sometime in 1947. The histories refer to a single salesman's sample, but there may have been a few. It strikes me as inconceivable that more than a dozen LERK K-32s might ever have been produced, and perhaps far fewer than that. Those would be among the rarest Masterpieces. [ADDENDUM ON THIS POINT: I had forgotten about K66035, which is a LERK K-32, though questions have been raised about its configuration. See this thread: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/294235-need-info-1948-k-32-added-pics.html ]
If anyone else has a LERK K-38 not reported here, I would appreciate learning its serial number. A PM is fine if you would prefer not to post to the forum, though I encourage all with such guns to announce them and post photos of them in this thread.
ADDENDUM: I had forgotten that there is some uncertainty over the identification of K1661 as the first K-38 Masterpieces. The correct number may be K2137. That number itself is a little confusing because it is in some places identified as a K-32. Actually, the first K-32 is probably K2143. Mike Priwer has pointed this out in other forum posts, and I simply didn't recall his observations when I first composed this message.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When S&W introduced the postwar K-22 Masterpiece in early 1947 (two specimens are known to have been delivered in late 1946, but for all practical purposes commercial distribution began in 1947), supplies of wartime parts remained available for use. Among them were several thousand large-knob ejector rods. Many were used on the early postwar M&P revolvers that carried S-prefix serial numbers, and some were used on the earliest K-22 Masterpieces. More than 5000 and fewer than 6000 K-prefix revolvers were produced with large ejector rod knobs and notched barrels to accommodate their larger diameters. These have been referred to by some collectors as LERK Masterpieces to distinguish them from the later postwar K-target revolvers that had knobless ejector rods with knurled ends.
The highest known serial number on a LERK Masterpiece is K5680; that gun is a K-22. Not all guns numbered lower than that are LERK guns, though an overwhelming majority of them are. A few lower-numbered K-22s in the K5xxx range are known to have knobless ejector rods (K5154 and K5678, for example), and we may conclude that the serial-number boundary between these varieties is fuzzy.
Though most LERK Masterpieces are K-22s, not all are. A K-38 with the serial number K1661 is known, and I think it is almost certain to have been a large-knob gun. According to Roy Jinks in History of Smith & Wesson, K1661 was delivered in June, 1947; the recipient is not identified. I suspect that this gun was a salesman's sample, and a few other such samples may have been produced at the same time. [See Addendum at bottom of post.]
After K1661, the next known serial numbers of K-38 Masterpieces fall in the K45xx to K48xx range. The lowest observed number is K4562, though a K4549 is said to be referenced in records. K4564 and K4593 have also been reported. The highest known serial number on a gun in this range is K4820. Another early K-38 in this range (K4647, recently reported on this forum by member and distinguished collector bmg60) is extremely interesting in that it has a knobless ejector rod. It is thus the lowest-numbered Masterpiece of any caliber known to have a knobless rod.
I recently had the good fortune to acquire this LERK K-38, K4709. My thanks again to Scotter260 for the deal that brought this gun to my collection.
The gun has been a shooter, not a safe queen. I put its condition at about 90%, with muzzle and high edge wear, a turn ring, blue loss on the bottom of the trigger guard and some scuffing in the cylinder lock pockets. Bore and chambers are fine and shiny. There is no push-off. There is a bit of endshake in the cylinder, and perhaps slightly more rotational play than one sees in the better looking guns of the early postwar era, but movement is within tolerances. The stocks that came to me on the gun were from much later (numbered over 200000). I had the stocks seen in the photos in the woodpile. They are at least closer to the proper age (11464) though they still do not fit the gun particularly well.
This gun shipped in February 1948, which makes it one of the earliest K-38s to have been commercially distributed. The only other LERK K-38s I know about are ones that have been reported over the years in this forum: K4562, K4564, K4593 and K4820 -- along with the one I report here, a total of five. By May of 1948, other K-38s were being shipped with serial numbers between K22700 and K23700. Not one of these guns is known to have shipped with a large knob. But like their few LERK precursors, they are all narrow-rib guns and have a single line address. A single K-38 in the K25xxx range is probably also a single line gun, but the next known K-38 (serial number in the K35000s) may be a four-liner; a handful of K-38s in the K39000s are almost certainly four-line guns. [EDITED APRIL 2014 TO ADD: Based on discussion in posts below, we now know that K4562 and K4820 are not LERK specimens; they have the single-diameter ejector rods.]
What do the serial number ranges tell us? If we set aside the suspected salesman's sample(s) and emphasize the power of round numbers, it appears we might have a block of K-38 Masterpieces numbered from about K4501 to K4825 or K4850. That is a first production run of about 325 or 350 revolvers. There are no known K-22s with serial numbers in this range, and other than the suspected salesman's sample no known K-38s with K plus four-digit serial numbers outside of this range. We know one gun with a knobless ejector rod from this range (K4647 mentioned above), but the other known K-38s with K plus four-digit serial numbers are LERK specimens. It is probably safe to predict that no more than 350 LERK K-38s were ever produced, and perhaps no more than 300, depending on where the true beginning and end of the serial number range actually lie. If that is true, and if only 5500-5600 or so LERK Masterpieces were produced, around 93 to 95 percent of them would be K-22s and about five to seven percent K-38s.
It is possible that another 1000-1500 K-38s were produced in early 1948 at a time when frames still received only the single-line address markings. But the serial numbers are a little more scattered, and single-line K-22s are known with serial numbers in the K25000-K30000 range (though none are known in the K22701-K23700 range that may consist entirely of K-38s). By the time the K-32 Masterpiece came into earliest commercial production with serial numbers in the K56xxx range, large knob ejector rods had long since ceased to be used in Masterpiece production. One should not expect to see a LERK K-32 unless it is an early salesman's sample from sometime in 1947. The histories refer to a single salesman's sample, but there may have been a few. It strikes me as inconceivable that more than a dozen LERK K-32s might ever have been produced, and perhaps far fewer than that. Those would be among the rarest Masterpieces. [ADDENDUM ON THIS POINT: I had forgotten about K66035, which is a LERK K-32, though questions have been raised about its configuration. See this thread: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/294235-need-info-1948-k-32-added-pics.html ]
If anyone else has a LERK K-38 not reported here, I would appreciate learning its serial number. A PM is fine if you would prefer not to post to the forum, though I encourage all with such guns to announce them and post photos of them in this thread.
ADDENDUM: I had forgotten that there is some uncertainty over the identification of K1661 as the first K-38 Masterpieces. The correct number may be K2137. That number itself is a little confusing because it is in some places identified as a K-32. Actually, the first K-32 is probably K2143. Mike Priwer has pointed this out in other forum posts, and I simply didn't recall his observations when I first composed this message.
Last edited:
