Flashy K-22 Outdoorsman - King Sights / Orville Kuhl Engraved

RKmesa

RKmesa

Platinum
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
7,547
Reaction score
50,424
Location
AZ
I've had this Outdoorsman for a few years now. It left the factory in October 1938, and at some point in its life it spent time in San Francisco, where grips were carved and the gun engraved by Orville Kuhl. I also believe spent a day or two in the King shop, where they switched out the sights. In my opinion, the pre-war K-22 Outdoorsman Revolvers make a beautiful canvas for the engravers' art. I only wish more of them were engraved.:)

















I would love to see any other engraved K-22's that are out there (heck I'd love to see photos of ANY engraved S&W).:D:)

Thanks for letting me share,
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
diecidecimi said:
The hammer is an humpback one, right? The stocks carving pattern remember to me the synthetic Murad Pointers.
Click to expand...

Good observation - the hammer is a humpback hammer. And I agree with your comparison to the Murad Pointer grips - I have often thought that same thing.:)
 
IMO, the stocks really bring this revolver together. Very, very nice. Thanks for sharing.
Hank
 
Nice one Richard. It seems the style of engraving is very different from many of your others. Is there a name for this type of engraving? Also, are you aware of the significance of the star on one side and duck on the other? Love the stocks. Thanks for sharing.
 
Looks like a really fun gun to own. I remember when it came up for sale! Glad you got it. I really like it. I am sure you appreciate the mix of King and engraving.
 
Great looking engraved piece.
Looks like the engraving done right thru the factory bluing and left 'in the white'.

That tiny scroll work is a signiture style of Kuhl I'd guess from the few guns I've seen (photos) done by him.

The distinctive border cut, that deep V cut that surrounds most all of the majot parts is normally done just inside the edge of the part. Then the solid shadow line closely parallleling it to form the complete border.

Here the engraver actually cut the heavy V pattern right on the 90* edge of the part itself .
Likely using a Flat graver on that edge to produce the cut. In doing so it also leaves a shallow bright cut on the opposing edge of the part.
Quite unique really.
Nice clean cuts, no uneveness, and no room for mistakes.
Cutting thru the blue,,there isn't any room for error.

What did they use for the white spacers behind the grips against the frame?, unless I'm seeing something there that's just highlighting in the pic.

The Star kind of reminds me somewhat of the Texas Ranger Star badge format,,a fancy one at that w/o any number or unit engraved on it.
Is the Star an overlay of Silver or other material standing higher than the guns surface? or is that just the pics making it look so.

I like the grip carving. Intricate chip carving to get that depth and crispness to the carving.
They supplied the grips in some very nice Walnut back then.

Very Nice!
 
Thanks to all for the comments and the likes. This is a gun I have liked from the moment that I first saw it on the forum 9+ years or so ago, when it was posted by CoyoteHunter here:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...oorsman-king-sight.html?313256=#post137185128

Missing it on GB when it came to auction converted a weekly routine of searching GB for engraved S&Ws to a daily routine.:eek::rolleyes: It took a winding path, with some price appreciation along the way, but I am glad that it eventually ended up here in the AZ.:D:cool:

LPD256 said:
...It seems the style of engraving is very different from many of your others. Is there a name for this type of engraving? Also, are you aware of the significance of the star on one side...?
Click to expand...

One of the reasons that I like this O/D so much is that it is different than any of my other blued engraved guns.:) As noted by the much appreciated, expert analysis of our resident engraver (2152hq), Kuhl engraved right through the bluing and did not refinish the gun, leaving the engraved areas "in the white". Also there is no background dot punching to bring some engraving surfaces forward (as seen on many of my other engraved guns), rather it is just the fine cuts themselves that provide the embellishment.

As to the star, I am not aware of the significance (probably the star from the S&WCA...;)). I do wish I knew more about the history of the O/D. Maybe one of these days I'll request a letter for it so that I can at least find out where it shipped originally - perhaps it shipped directly to King like one of my RMs.:)
 
Last edited:
RKmesa said:
Jeff:

I had this one engraved a handful of years ago. It is also one of my favorites...







... and as you know, I love the pinto finish. :D
Click to expand...


Richard,

How exactly does one decide what one wants engraved when going to the time and expense commitment for something like this. Does the engraver do a mock up drawing, or do you provide an idea and carte blanche???

Of course me asking you this is kinda like the guy who asked Jack Nicholas how he put backspin on a golf ball with a 2 iron. Nicholas supposedly asked if the man hit a 2 iron and the guy said no, so Nicholas said, " Then why the heck do you want to know how to put spin on a ball with one?"
 
Richard-Since this is a 1938 gun it seems to me the star looks like one that might be found on the side of an Army Air Corps plane. This one probably went to LeMay or Doolittle. At least that's what I'd say.
 
raljr1 said:
Richard,

How exactly does one decide what one wants engraved when going to the time and expense commitment for something like this. Does the engraver do a mock up drawing, or do you provide an idea and carte blanche???

Of course me asking you this is kinda like the guy who asked Jack Nicholas how he put backspin on a golf ball with a 2 iron. Nicholas supposedly asked if the man hit a 2 iron and the guy said no, so Nicholas said, " Then why the heck do you want to know how to put spin on a ball with one?"
Click to expand...

The answer to your questions is "it depends" :) I generally select a revolver in a caliber and configuration that I love. That would typically be N frame 357s. But in this case, I wanted a matching set of Pre war Outdoorsmans. So I looked for guns that had some wear and could use a facelift, sent them off to Phil Quigley (an engraver friend). We collaborated on what I wanted in general and then he went to work. We continued collaborating throughout the process (which made me feel a part of it), resulting in what you see in that photo.
 
RKmesa said:
The answer to your questions is "it depends" :) I generally select a revolver in a caliber and configuration that I love. That would typically be N frame 357s. But in this case, I wanted a matching set of Pre war Outdoorsmans. So I looked for guns that had some wear and could use a facelift, sent them off to Phil Quigley (an engraver friend). We collaborated on what I wanted in general and then he went to work. We continued collaborating throughout the process (which made me feel a part of it), resulting in what you see in that photo.
Click to expand...

Don't know how I missed your posting of the second one until today. Anyway, beautiful. . . . .not that you have any that aren't.

Jeff
SWCA #1457
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

RKmesa
Beautiful Engraved RM - Orville Kuhl Style
2
Replies
24
Views
4K
2152hq
2
S
My new to me K-22
Replies
3
Views
709
RKmesa
RKmesa
RKmesa
When Grizzlies Attack - An Engraved K-22 is The Answer
2
Replies
37
Views
3K
RKmesa
RKmesa
RM Vivas
HD/O's as a collecting goal
Replies
17
Views
1K
raljr1
R
ddeanjohnson
For Sale WTS: 16 guns -- all offers respectfully considered -- collection liquidation
2
Replies
35
Views
21K
Heinz
Heinz

Latest posts

Back
Top