For a recap on this old, beat up, cosmetic nightmare pawn shop find look here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...-k-22-masterpiece-pre-model-17-update-ii.html
In a nutshell - 1947 one-liner with solid mechanicals, nice bore and chambers but an awful looking exterior. Bought "cheep cheep" and after many months of range use I came to realize this was a great shooting revolver. It became one of my favorites and always seemed to make the trip to the range over many much, much nicer looking guns.
(For those not inclined to look at the old thread here's one photo to show just how bad this one looked.)
I decided it deserved to look better and besides, the rust was only going to get worse over time unless I did something. So back at the end of June 2013 I dropped it off at Ford's Custom Gun Refinishing to see what they could do to bring it back. After 7 months there the results are in:
I'm thrilled with the results. Ford's did an amazing job given what they had to work with. I wasn't trying for a 100% correct restoration - it's a fairly common K22 and it's obvious to an experienced eye that it's been refinished. I lost the "one-liner" rollmark so it's now a "no-liner" and I put a very nice set of non-relieved target stocks on it that I bought from a fellow forum member a few months ago. These are not the "correct" stocks for a 1947 K22 but I like the way they look and feel so that's what it will wear.
It's still a shooter K22 but my, what a nice looking shooter it is!
Here's a couple of photos with it's younger brother, a K22 from around 10 years later (refinished K22 on right):
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...-k-22-masterpiece-pre-model-17-update-ii.html
In a nutshell - 1947 one-liner with solid mechanicals, nice bore and chambers but an awful looking exterior. Bought "cheep cheep" and after many months of range use I came to realize this was a great shooting revolver. It became one of my favorites and always seemed to make the trip to the range over many much, much nicer looking guns.
(For those not inclined to look at the old thread here's one photo to show just how bad this one looked.)
I decided it deserved to look better and besides, the rust was only going to get worse over time unless I did something. So back at the end of June 2013 I dropped it off at Ford's Custom Gun Refinishing to see what they could do to bring it back. After 7 months there the results are in:
I'm thrilled with the results. Ford's did an amazing job given what they had to work with. I wasn't trying for a 100% correct restoration - it's a fairly common K22 and it's obvious to an experienced eye that it's been refinished. I lost the "one-liner" rollmark so it's now a "no-liner" and I put a very nice set of non-relieved target stocks on it that I bought from a fellow forum member a few months ago. These are not the "correct" stocks for a 1947 K22 but I like the way they look and feel so that's what it will wear.
It's still a shooter K22 but my, what a nice looking shooter it is!
Here's a couple of photos with it's younger brother, a K22 from around 10 years later (refinished K22 on right):
