Grandpa's K22

[Doriangray6]

Did Pachmayr make checkered walnut grips?
All I have seen are rubber.

The grips aren't wood but some kind of plastic and I think that it's been quite a while since Pachmayr made them.
They've been on the revolver for as long as I can remember my father and grandfather shooting it, almost 70 years, and are still in amazingly good condition. Some wear marks and scuffs but no cracks.
Despite being plastic they never got slippery when my hands would sweat and if I could find a set for my S&W 586-8 I'd grab them in an instant!

 

[s&wchad]

...
PS: I don't know why the images came out upside down and have no idea of how to correct this.

I fixed it for you...
Think of this as an early Christmas present!

Ps. Your Grandfather had good taste.

 

[shawn mccarver]

What do you mean by a no no.....meaning against the rules of competition shooting or???

Trigger shoes are a "no go" as they are absolutely unsafe. It is not about competition shooting. It is about accidental discharges. They are too wide and will catch on the holster so that when inserting the gun into the holster, the friction will push the trigger back, often resulting in the gun going "bang" as you insert the gun in the holster. All trigger shoes should be removed for that reason.

 

[SLT223]

I sure hope my stuff gets in the hands of third generation. That would be a big win. Especially if I’m there for it.

 

[Doriangray6]

Trigger shoes are a "no go" as they are absolutely unsafe. It is not about competition shooting. It is about accidental discharges. They are too wide and will catch on the holster so that when inserting the gun into the holster, the friction will push the trigger back, often resulting in the gun going "bang" as you insert the gun in the holster. All trigger shoes should be removed for that reason.

I think the screw ups you mentioned are more a result of poor or no training and unsafe handling than having a trigger shoe.
That one has been on that revolver for decades and used by multiple generations of my family and none of us have ever had an accidental discharge with it when re-holstering the revolver, or any other time for that matter.

 

[Doriangray6]

As luck would have it my brother called me shortly after I logged off the forum so I asked him if the revolver had a screw in the front of the trigger guard.
He said that it did and according to S&W's records it is a 3rd model K-22 Masterpiece made in 1956.

 

[Doriangray6]

I fixed it for you...
Think of this as an early Christmas present!

Ps. Your Grandfather had good taste.

Much Mahalo. My computer skills are minimal and I'm one of the last people on Earth that doesn't have or even know how to use a cell phone.

 

[Doug M.]

Lots of folks have trouble with pix being upside down here. Your Luddite status might not be important in this case.

 

[DWalt]

Far too much has been made of the hazard of having a trigger shoe. It is largely a myth.

 

[Engine49guy]

The trigger shoe was an aftermarket way that people could change their narrow trigger to the fancier wide target trigger without actually going through the process of swapping out the whole trigger.
I do not know what they cost in their day compared to a new wide trigger but it was a quick and easy solution at the time.

It basicly fell out of fashion for the aforementioned reasons , besides not being original equipment they also tend to mar the factory case color finish on the trigger so are generally looked down on today.
Personally I prefer a narrower smooth combat trigger over a wide target trigger so have removed the few trigger shoes that came with some old K22s and stored them away in a parts bin.

Your K22 is most likely a very early 4 screw varient judging by its style of hammer,
Those were called "High Speed" hammers by SW but we're phased out shortly after your K22 was made after the supply was used up.
Yours represents an interesting stepping stone from the 5 screw version shipping the year prior to the 4 screw with new semi target hammer that came just after.

On a side note I texted my buddy yesterday asking if he had the serial number to his early 4 screw K22 like yours and haven't got a reply back yet, it will be interesting to compare to yours and my hunch is that they are pretty close.
I dont know how big a window these early 4 screw K22s with HS hammer had but my bet is it was only a couple of months at best solely based on the fact that they don't surface much at all.

The plastic Pachmayers are interesting by themselves , it's the first pair I've ever seen and they don't pop up on the forum so guessing they also were not mass produced.
I'm guessing they have the Pachmayer logo underneath maybe on the heel?
The factory stocks woukd have been the diamond Magna which are smaller in the hand, as collectors we generally try to pair original era stocks to a clean gun like yours but as a shooter it's whatever you prefer and since those have family history my guess is they will stay on the gun.

The stocks together with the trigger shoe were likely a cheaper way in their day to recreate a factory target stocks look with the faux wood grain and diamond centers so make sense ,
my guess is they were probably more readily available and on the shelf in the local shop it was purchased at either at the time of purchase or sometime later as funds became available.

 

[Engine49guy]

My friend just texted me his early 4 screw K22 details.
K 27041x shipped in late 1956.

Iirc the late 5 screw K frames are in the K250xxx range.
The Combat Magnum ( pre 19) was introduced in late 1955 early 1956 as the first 4 screw frame and serial range K 260000 to K 265000 was reserved for those.

The Combat Magnums that shipped in 1956 seem to be up into the high K 263000 range where 1957 generally are in the K 264000 and up range.

 

[JP@AK]

The Combat Magnums that shipped in 1956 seem to be up into the high K 263000 range where 1957 generally are in the K 264000 and up range.

Yes.

And I see K-38s up to the K278000 range shipping in 1956. I also show a .38 Combat Masterpiece at K280355 shipping in December 1956.

Interestingly, Combat Magnum number K282470 shipped in December 1956.

 

[boykinlp]

The plastic Pachmayers are interesting by themselves , it's the first pair I've ever seen and they don't pop up on the forum so guessing they also were not mass produced.
I'm guessing they have the Pachmayer logo underneath maybe on the heel?
The factory stocks woukd have been the diamond Magna which are smaller in the hand, as collectors we generally try to pair original era stocks to a clean gun like yours but as a shooter it's whatever you prefer and since those have family history my guess is they will stay on the gun.

The stocks together with the trigger shoe were likely a cheaper way in their day to recreate a factory target stocks look with the faux wood grain and diamond centers so make sense ,
my guess is they were probably more readily available and on the shelf in the local shop it was purchased at either at the time of purchase or sometime later as funds became available.

Those plastic Pachmayr grips are cool. I never would’ve guessed that they were made by Pachmayr or plastic.
Larry

 

[Jim Watson]

Me, either, looks like a gloss finish on grained wood.

A trigger shoe isn't going to snag on a holster if it is on a target pistol that goes from box to bench and back to box.

Strangely, I do not have a trigger shoe on a rifle or pistol, but I do on my trap gun.

 

[hkcavalier]

I like trigger shoes. They're on my target/range guns that don't get holstered. I can see why they might be a problem on a carry gun. The old Ace steel ones are not that wide, but the Williams brand (aluminum) are wider than the trigger guard for sure.

 

[gunbarrel]

I like trigger shoes. They're on my target/range guns that don't get holstered.

They were very popular on NRA Bullseye Pistol matches. But like you say, they were not carried in holsters; they were carried in your "gun box." Notice on the close-up pictures how they are slightly wider than the trigger guard.

And, how about that Smith & Wesson weight?