K Masterpiece Rib Question

[Green Frog]

OK, I have taken it as a given over the time I've even thought about S&Ws that the K Masterpiece series had two types of 6" barrel, a skinny "tapered" type of barrel with a narrow rib, and the other style of 6" barrel which has a heavier "bull" profile and a wider rib, serrated (longitudinally ribbed) in a raised middle section with a "shelf" with matte finish on either side.

Is anyone familiar with a third style, tapered almost as much as the first style above and carrying a wider rib that the first style, partly serrated and having a narrower matte shelf on either side? This is the K-32 barrel I've discussed for my recreation project and as I look at it from the muzzle it looks like an old narrow ribbed tapered barrel and over the breech end it resembles the style of a wide rib bull barrel, but is not quite so wide. Yes, it has all the proper factory markings but does not appear to ever have been fitted to a gun... NOS replacement, but for what variant?

As always, TIA for any and all help and information you may be able to share.

Froggie

PS A quick scan of SCSW gave me nothing.

 

[k22fan]

For decades the Target Masterpieces with straight tapered heavy barrels had different barrel or rib dimensions so that .22, .32 and .38 revolvers weighed the same loaded with five of their standard Bullseye cartridges. I could be more specific if was at home where I could compare rib widths, which, if I recall correctly, is what was adjusted to match weights. If my memory is good, K-32 ribs are wider than k-38 ribs.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Green Frog]

For decades the Target Masterpieces with straight tapered heavy barrels had different barrel or rib dimensions so that .22, .32 and .38 revolvers weighed the same loaded with five of their standard Bullseye cartridges. I could be more specific if was at home where I could compare rib widths, which, if I recall correctly, is what was adjusted to match weights. If my memory is good, K-32 ribs are wider than k-38 ribs.

I hope this helps a little.

Should that be the other way around? The K-32 has a smaller hole, leaving more steel, so wouldn't the K-38 be left larger on the outside to have the same weight? Meanwhile I guess that would require a more narrow rib too?? I guess a K-22 should have the smallest outside dimensions since it has the smallest hole to "lose weight." Or am I missing something?

Froggie

 

[glowe]

Original post-war Masterpiece revolvers all had narrow ribs and each of the three calibers had different weights. Heavy barrels first became available in 1949. (K76XXX sn range). Narrow rib barrels were stocked until 1952. (K140XXX sn range). The purpose of the wider ribs on the K32 and K38 guns was to make all calibers the same weight. The picture is of a 1948 K38 and a 1951 K38 with the heavy barrel and wide rib.

I believe that the K32 had a narrower rib than the K38 and wider than the K22. An early post-war K32 would have a narrow rib, but later it would have been made wider to match the weight of the K22.

 

[Green Frog]

My K-32 barrel has a rib width about halfway between the two you show, and I'm going to guesstimate the OD of the barrel at the muzzle is close to the same as my 1948 vintage K-22. Where does that leave me??

Froggie

 

[75R90S]

GF, does your barrel look like the second one here?
Left to right, these are a 1948 K22, 1953 K32, 1948 narrow rib K38, and 1954 heavy barrel K38.

 

[rct269]

I have all the narrow rib and wide rib guns (22/32/38) from the get-go to the end of the 5 screws (also a 4 screw 22 and 38, which don't really fit into my collection, but were acquired in partial payment of a debt). If you'll give me measurements, I'll tell you what you have. Conversely, I can give you measurements. You'll need to tell me which measurements.

Ralph Tremaine

Forget it! Having re-read your post (and paid attention this time) the rib you've described is the wide rib version of the K-32. It measures .321" at the muzzle. The narrow rib K-32 is .215". Let me know if you need measurements at different points.

And to perhaps clear up what appears to be some confusion (maybe mine), at the point in time S&W chose to respond to the fussing about mismatched weights, they came out the wide rib versions of the 32 and 38-----which came very close to matching the weight of the narrow rib 22. Everybody was happy---but not for long. Along came the K-22 Heavy Masterpiece---a wide rib gun. Both the wide rib and narrow rib K-22's were sold side by side for a spell---take your pick. Not all that long after the fussing about mismatched weights, it became apparent the marketplace preferred the wide rib K-22 over the narrow rib---which went the way of the Dodo bird. Now we're right back where we started---with mismatched weights again. It would appear the fussers left well enough alone after that.

 

[glowe]

I believe all early post-war Masterpiece revolvers had the same width ribs, but different weights. The K22, K32 Heavy, and K38 Heavy all weighed 38.5 ounces loaded. That means the guns did not weigh exactly the same empty.

 

[Green Frog]

Bingo! I definitely have a "wide rib" K-32 Barrel! Now, the next question is, "does the front face of the frame have any kind of relief notch to allow for the slightly more narrow rib, or is there a step there? Looking at the pictures I have now seen as a result of some deeper digging, it would appear that the step is present. I have gone back to planning on utilizing a nice Model 14-3 (1971 Vintage) as my donor gun and will be taking the whole package to David Sams Custom Guns tomorrow afternoon for a final consultation.

Froggie

 

[Green Frog]

Here are pix of the donor and parts as well as a closeup of the K-32 barrel markings.

Froggie