K-22... Help with model ID

[vinny77]

I ran across this over the weekend and I could'nt pass it up. As i started to research this I ran into some confusion (which is typical for this ole Viet Nam Vet!) Here's what I know:

serial #: K 2781XX- cylinder and bottom of grip (1956?)
no model # in yoke just a "K"
4 screw,
10 line backstrap.full serrated top ramp
target hammer, smooth wide trigger, 1/8 patridge blade
no notch behind hammer, grip numbers dont match
Book says changed to Model 17 in 1957
Just trying to pin point the exact model.
Thank you for any assistance...She's a sweetheart!

vinny

 

[Camster]

Vinny,your gun is a.....wait for it!........K22!
or more specifically a K22 target masterpiece.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

That would be known as a pre model 17. 1957 is when S&W went to model numbers.

John

 

[crsides]

Its a pre model 17 K22 target masterpiece. The fifth screw was mandated to be gone in 1955 and the model @ stamping was mandated to begin in 1957. It all took awhile to work thru inventory. A 4 screw pre model marking 17 is using 1957-58. Could be a little earlier.

Charlie

 

[glowe]

Vinny,your gun is a.....wait for it!........K22!
or more specifically a K22 target masterpiece.

Actually, the name for this revolver has never contained the word "Target". It is just a K22 Masterpiece. With that serial number, it would have shipped in late 1956 and is a pre-model 17 by less than a year.

Nice gun with what looks like original stocks and overall original configuration.

 

[DWalt]

Yours probably shipped in the late 1956-early 1957 period. And it's called a K-22 Masterpiece Target Revolver.

 

[Camster]

Actually, the name for this revolver has never contained the word "Target". It is just a K22 Masterpiece. With that serial number, it would have shipped in late 1956 and is a pre-model 17 by less than a year.

Nice gun with what looks like original stocks and overall original configuration.

Just tryin' to differientiate for him,as we use the term "combat masterpiece" around here for the pre-18.

 

[tlay]

Nice K22! From one VN Vet to another, thank you for your service!!

 

[vinny77]

Ok, this is a k-22 masterpiece Target revolver pre-17? Wow, those smith engineers were drinking a lot of kool aid. Would this have shipped in a gold box?

 

[Peak53]

"K 22 Masterpiece" is all you need to identify this gun. That differentiates it from the Model 17 that came after and the K 22 Outdoorsman from before WWII. Its a nice one. They didn't call it a Masterpiece for nothing. Sorry, don't know about the box color. Others will. It needs a lot of shooting to get properly broken in. Be prepared for sticky cases upon extraction at the range by bringing along a cleaning rod with a brass brush to run through the cylinders when things get tight.

 

[glowe]

Ok, this is a k-22 masterpiece Target revolver pre-17? Wow, those smith engineers were drinking a lot of kool aid. Would this have shipped in a gold box?

I believe that all Masterpiece revolvers of that era would have been shipped in a Gold box. There were only 2 revolvers in the Masterpiece line, the Masterpiece and the Combat Masterpiece. Forget about those other added names. Also, when these revolvers were manufactured, there was no pre-anything. There were 3 calibers, K22, K32, and K38.

We just like to make things more complicated than necessary.

 

[vonn]

Looks like you pick up a hot one! Have fun with it!

 

[crsides]

Yours is right on the cusp of the box change over from gold to blue. If you don't have the original numbered box, you could go with either. The gold box would look like this one.



Charlie

 

[Engine49guy]

Im pretty sure your gun would have shipped in a blue box but Im no box expert,
Also if we are splittin hairs there was a pre war masterpiece as well for a short time after the K22 Outdoorsman we call the K22-40.

The initial 6" post war K22 "Masterpiece" appeared in 1946 and began shipping in 1947 with a 5 screw frame and tapered barrel .

Around 1954/55 they phased in a wider rib version with a less tapered barrel and phased out the 6" narrow rib tapered barrel version by 1955,

The tapered 4" "Combat Masterpiece" appeared in 1949, became the Model 18 in 1958 and continued till around 1985 .

the 6" wider rib K22 Masterpiece continued into the 4 screw era and then became the Model 17 , the 17-2 was the first 3 screw version and continued until the 17-5 when the rib got wider and barrel got thicker, During the 17-6 run they went to a full underlug barrel and the SS 617 appeared which slowly supplanted the blued version.
The 17-7 got the new rear site, the 17-8 was the 10 shot alloy cylinder version,

 

[JP@AK]

There were only 2 revolvers in the Masterpiece line, the Masterpiece and the Combat Masterpiece. Forget about those other added names. Also, when these revolvers were manufactured, there was no pre-anything. There were 3 calibers, K22, K32, and K38.
We just like to make things more complicated than necessary.

Thank you, Gary!
The "pre" thing is convenient, but it is completely anachronistic. It is an invention after the fact - because people identify with model numbers nowadays.
You have a K-22 Masterpiece, four screw variant. Period. These are great revolvers and, as someone else has said, they were called "Masterpiece" for a reason.

As for the box, by late 1956 a lot of Masterpiece revolvers were shipping in blue boxes. I have a couple from that period (that year, in fact) that did. Gold boxes were still used, of course, because S&W hated to waste anything and they still had them in inventory. But the blue boxes were on the way in, and eventually supplanted the gold boxes.

Incidentally, the decision to use model numbers was made in about June or July of 1957. But it took a while to implement and most models did not start shipping with model numbers until sometime in 1958. The Model 10 started shipping in September, 1957, but I have not seen positive evidence that any other models shipped before 1958. The Kit Gun was still shipping without model numbers for the first month or so of 1958. And Roy told me the first Model 29 did not ship until January, 1958. I really don't know when the earliest Model 17 shipped. Perhaps someone here has lettered one that shipped early. I would really like to see a letter that indicates a Model 14, Model 15, Model 16, Model 17 or Model 18 that actually shipped in 1957. I've never run across one.