Hey Mitch,
Very nice - perseverance does pay. You are two Holy Grails ahead of me - I still need the K-32 and the K-22/40!
Very nice - perseverance does pay. You are two Holy Grails ahead of me - I still need the K-32 and the K-22/40!
Happy Happy Happy! Completed my K Frame Masterpiece Trio.
- Thread starter COYOTEHUNTER
- Start date
Rigmover
Member
Mitch Congrats on your trio.
Very nice Family of Masterpieces.
I too have a trio
Pre-K32 First Model from 1937
Pre-K22 from 1951
14-2 from 1965
Gotta love them K Frames everyone needs at least one of each in there collection.
Enjoy!!
Rick
Very nice Family of Masterpieces.
I too have a trio
Pre-K32 First Model from 1937
Pre-K22 from 1951
14-2 from 1965
Gotta love them K Frames everyone needs at least one of each in there collection.
Enjoy!!
Rick
Mitch:
Congrats on completing the trio! Very nice. I, on the other hand have several K-38's
, a bunch of K-22's
, One K-32 box, but sadly - NO K-32 to fill the box
. If anyone wants to help me out with a nice K-32 I'd be more than happy to make it worth your while...
Once again - very nice!
Congrats on completing the trio! Very nice. I, on the other hand have several K-38's
, a bunch of K-22's, One K-32 box, but sadly - NO K-32 to fill the box. If anyone wants to help me out with a nice K-32 I'd be more than happy to make it worth your while...Once again - very nice!
Congratulations, Mitch!
Green Frog
Member
First, congrats on hitting the trifecta! You realize that it's kinda weird to get the K-32 as any but the final lucky acuisition, don't you? As for shooting the 32 S&W, it seems that ammo and brass for it go through cycles of flood or drought. I just swapped for a couple of hundred rounds of once-fired brass, bringing my total up to about 750 or so... enough that I'm no longer scrambling to find it. Gun shows and surprisingly, flea markets (around here) sometimes prove fruitful.
Have you picked up a set of loading dies and a bullet mould yet? I think Lyman has discontinued their version (I made up a set one die at a time) but the RCBS set did quite well for me and a Lee set I used to have worked well also.
As for bullets, I really like semi-wadcutters of about 95-100 grains for general use and 95 grain wadcutters for pure target (either swaged HBWC or cast solids.) Bullseye™ has been my "go to" powder.
I hope you will enjoy both ownership and shooting your "Big 3."
Regards,
Froggie
Hello Mitch
Congratulation's on completing the S&W Masterpiece trio ! I did as well a few year's ago and believe it or not the hardest one to find for me was a Decent K-38. I got my Transitional K-22 One line address K-22 about Ten year's ago, but mine is a lot higher in Serial Number than Your's they are Tough to find in Transitional form with the larger Extractor end's on them, and Proof that S&W did Not waste useable parts. I Guess Machining cost was moderate back then as the Transitional K-22 had to have it's barrel Milled out to allow the mushroom shaped extractor end to lock up the action. The Masterpiece series is the finest Target revolver creation to come out of S&W for sure. here is my Trio for your viewing pleasure.
On the subject of Sight Height being to do with Caliber or a Gun's recoil, I Humbly disagree. I have heard that the sight height was derived by the barrel length not caliber or Recoil. Proof of that would be in my modified S&W Model 16-4 of which I had Modified to fire the Much Hotter Federal .327 Magnum cartridge. The gun left the factory chambered in the Anemic .32 H&R Cartridge but now is modified to fire the Hotter Federal .327 magnum. I did not change out the sight blade front or rear and I have Plenty of room for adjustment. The average velocity of the H&R .32 Magnum is around 1000 FPS. The average velocity of the Federal .327 Magnum is around 1500 FPS. I do Notice if I fire Lighter Bullet's in my hand load's that their Point of Impact is lower than that of the heavier weight bullet's, but it can be corrected by adjustment. Recoil between the two rounds is very different as the Federal .327 Magnum is a Lot more in felt Recoil than that of the .32 H&R Magnum...
Congratulation's on completing the S&W Masterpiece trio ! I did as well a few year's ago and believe it or not the hardest one to find for me was a Decent K-38. I got my Transitional K-22 One line address K-22 about Ten year's ago, but mine is a lot higher in Serial Number than Your's they are Tough to find in Transitional form with the larger Extractor end's on them, and Proof that S&W did Not waste useable parts. I Guess Machining cost was moderate back then as the Transitional K-22 had to have it's barrel Milled out to allow the mushroom shaped extractor end to lock up the action. The Masterpiece series is the finest Target revolver creation to come out of S&W for sure. here is my Trio for your viewing pleasure.
On the subject of Sight Height being to do with Caliber or a Gun's recoil, I Humbly disagree. I have heard that the sight height was derived by the barrel length not caliber or Recoil. Proof of that would be in my modified S&W Model 16-4 of which I had Modified to fire the Much Hotter Federal .327 Magnum cartridge. The gun left the factory chambered in the Anemic .32 H&R Cartridge but now is modified to fire the Hotter Federal .327 magnum. I did not change out the sight blade front or rear and I have Plenty of room for adjustment. The average velocity of the H&R .32 Magnum is around 1000 FPS. The average velocity of the Federal .327 Magnum is around 1500 FPS. I do Notice if I fire Lighter Bullet's in my hand load's that their Point of Impact is lower than that of the heavier weight bullet's, but it can be corrected by adjustment. Recoil between the two rounds is very different as the Federal .327 Magnum is a Lot more in felt Recoil than that of the .32 H&R Magnum...
MAX HEADSPEED
Member
Only if you don't have a MOD 66 in your free hand and at least one foot on the floor.
Hey, I'm just say'n.
That's certainly a sweet trio, though.
I'm getting a bit light-headed just looking at them.
Hey, I'm just say'n.
That's certainly a sweet trio, though.
I'm getting a bit light-headed just looking at them.
mesaman
Member
AWESOME Mitch! Usually the K32 is the pride of everyone's K-Target trio but in your case that K190 is hard to beat
Have a postwar K22 NIB purchased in the early 1970's. That is the reigning royalty of all my S&W handguns. Great pictures and it saves me having to go dig mine out to look at it.
It's been over a week since you posted your good fortune, and my jealosy has subsided enough to offer my congatulations. Well done. That is a fine looking bunch of six-shooters.
That is a fine trio, sir. I've had my eye out for a K32 or years. Congratulations.
Cruise
US Veteran
What a great set! Makes my collection of one K-22 look kind of lame. No plans to correct that. Received it as a gift when I graduated from the 8th grade! That would not fly with todays PC crowd!
Hi everyone, I grew up with firearms, fired a handgun my entire career but never collected. Seeing Mitch's trio of K22; K32; and K38 and all the comments have realy inspired me to do a lot more reading and possibly collecting. I see a lot of forum members discuss other groups of handguns for collecting which gives me many ideas, mostly dreams. Thanks for all your input. Jack
YeshuaIsa53
Member
Are the sights and the sight bases all different per caliber? Looks as though they are. I always thought trajectory had a little to do with it, too. Live and learn.
Also, that is a threesome to be proud to have. Nice guns.
Also, that is a threesome to be proud to have. Nice guns.
Beautiful guns! I bought my K-22 about 35 years ago, it was, and is, a great shooting gun. Shortly after, I bought a K-38 in 8 3/8"; being young and dumb I traded it off for something I don't remember and probably don't have anymore. I finally found a nice Pre K-38 8 or 9 years ago. I'd love to find a nice K-32, just don't know if I could afford it :- ).
I just rediscovered this thread and realized that although I hit the first post with a well-deserved "Like," I never added the larger comments that it deserves. Congratulations on putting together one of the more difficult combos in S&W collecting: The postwar masterpiece trio is a hard group to assemble, and I respect anyone who manages to pull it off.
Once the basic goal is met, of course, the collector's goal becomes a series of retreating and ever more difficult targets: the narrow-rib trio, the wide-rib trio; the NMM trio, the model-marked trio; the one-line trio, the four-line trio; the no-knob trio, the LERK trio; and so on, but that exhausts the major options. At least these different categories overlap a little, so a member of the trio club could sometimes use one specimen to fulfill the distinction of different classes.
Should someone start an Official Masterpiece Trio thread? I bet it would be one of the shortest "Official" threads this forum has ever seen.
Really, congratulations. It takes extreme patience or a lot of luck (and sometimes a pretty deep pocket) to assemble a Masterpiece Trio. Well done!
Once the basic goal is met, of course, the collector's goal becomes a series of retreating and ever more difficult targets: the narrow-rib trio, the wide-rib trio; the NMM trio, the model-marked trio; the one-line trio, the four-line trio; the no-knob trio, the LERK trio; and so on, but that exhausts the major options. At least these different categories overlap a little, so a member of the trio club could sometimes use one specimen to fulfill the distinction of different classes.
Should someone start an Official Masterpiece Trio thread? I bet it would be one of the shortest "Official" threads this forum has ever seen.
Really, congratulations. It takes extreme patience or a lot of luck (and sometimes a pretty deep pocket) to assemble a Masterpiece Trio. Well done!
Memphis
Member
I've really enjoyed this thread. I was hoping there would be a surfacing of a early K-38 LERK. I don't know how many of those rascals exist but I'd love to have one. If my memory serves me right I believe the esteemed gentleman from california does have one. I'd also like to have a pre-16...but I digress. Great thread and great pics!
Thanks, Roger
Thanks, Roger
Roger:
Since I posted in this thread, I completed my trio - all narrow ribbed guns, with the 22 and 38 being LERKs...
Once the basic goal is met, of course, the collector's goal becomes a series of retreating and ever more difficult targets: the narrow-rib trio, the wide-rib trio; the NMM trio, the model-marked trio; the one-line trio, the four-line trio; the no-knob trio, the LERK trio; and so on, but that exhausts the major options. At least these different categories overlap a little, so a member of the trio club could sometimes use one specimen to fulfill the distinction of different classes.
Should someone start an Official Masterpiece Trio thread? I bet it would be one of the shortest "Official" threads this forum has ever seen.
Really, congratulations. It takes extreme patience or a lot of luck (and sometimes a pretty deep pocket) to assemble a Masterpiece Trio. Well done!
David:
I'm the K-22 shy of the wide rib NMM trio, but I have not looked very hard for the K-22 yet. I've been more focused on the scratched up ones lately...
All the best,
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Locked
