K38 with matte finish?
- Thread starter gmkmd
- Start date
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Got pictures?
There were the 50's guns that had a more flat finish than the pre war guns. Likely original but pictures would help
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There were the 50's guns that had a more flat finish than the pre war guns. Likely original but pictures would help
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
larryofcc
Member
The flat finish is known as Satin Blue. It came to be right after WWII, and continued into the mid 1950's.
The tale told to explain its use goes like so: Skilled labor was in very short supply following WWII, and polishers were in VERY short supply. I bought my very first brand new in the box S&W in 1956---a K-22 in Satin Blue. Customers were told they could have the Bright Blue finish via a special order --------and that delivery would be in SIX MONTHS!! Conventional wisdom has it the preparation for Satin Blue was media blasting of some sort. I put up with it for four years, and then sent the gun back for refinishing in Bright Blue. It came back in short order---a thing of beauty--absolutely flawless!
Ralph Tremaine
The tale told to explain its use goes like so: Skilled labor was in very short supply following WWII, and polishers were in VERY short supply. I bought my very first brand new in the box S&W in 1956---a K-22 in Satin Blue. Customers were told they could have the Bright Blue finish via a special order --------and that delivery would be in SIX MONTHS!! Conventional wisdom has it the preparation for Satin Blue was media blasting of some sort. I put up with it for four years, and then sent the gun back for refinishing in Bright Blue. It came back in short order---a thing of beauty--absolutely flawless!
Ralph Tremaine
The finish sounds correct for a 5 screw, but the '3T' part may or may not be factory original - depending on the exact age of the gun. The serial number would shed a little light on the approximate time frame when the gun in discussion left the factory.
Yep - satin blue finish. No problem here.
Well, probably he changed the trigger. A target trigger would not have come on a K-38 of that age. K172000 probably shipped in late 1952 or early 1953. I show one in the K171400 range that left Springfield in February 1953.
The target hammer is also possible, but I cannot remember exactly when those showed up.
The target stocks are possible, but they would be without the extractor cut (AKA football cut).
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I believe the K target hammer arrived in 1951.
Richard
Richard
I believe you are right, Richard. Thanks.
Northwest of the big city
The flat finish is known as Satin Blue. It came to be right after WWII, and continued into the mid 1950's.
The tale told to explain its use goes like so: Skilled labor was in very short supply following WWII, and polishers were in VERY short supply. I bought my very first brand new in the box S&W in 1956---a K-22 in Satin Blue. Customers were told they could have the Bright Blue finish via a special order --------and that delivery would be in SIX MONTHS!! Conventional wisdom has it the preparation for Satin Blue was media blasting of some sort. I put up with it for four years, and then sent the gun back for refinishing in Bright Blue. It came back in short order---a thing of beauty--absolutely flawless!
Always wise information from you Ralph, but then you are in Pikeville, a good 80 miles or so Northwest of Ducktown, and you northerners always was smarter.
Ralph Tremaine[/QUOTE]
The flat finish is known as Satin Blue. It came to be right after WWII, and continued into the mid 1950's.
The tale told to explain its use goes like so: Skilled labor was in very short supply following WWII, and polishers were in VERY short supply. I bought my very first brand new in the box S&W in 1956---a K-22 in Satin Blue. Customers were told they could have the Bright Blue finish via a special order --------and that delivery would be in SIX MONTHS!! Conventional wisdom has it the preparation for Satin Blue was media blasting of some sort. I put up with it for four years, and then sent the gun back for refinishing in Bright Blue. It came back in short order---a thing of beauty--absolutely flawless!
Always wise information from you Ralph, but then you are in Pikeville, a good 80 miles or so Northwest of Ducktown, and you northerners always was smarter.
Ralph Tremaine[/QUOTE]
hkcavalier
US Veteran
Possibly helpful. K-38, satin blue, shipped March 1953, S/N K1724xx, with target hammer and magnas. I added the shoe and the targets.
Jack, for what it's worth, this one shipped a year or so later (Oct 1954) and was fitted with both a target hammer and stocks. The stocks are relieved, but I can't state they are original as I purchased used.
Mike
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To be honest, I kind of freaked out when I bought my first early-1950s Smith & Wesson and discovered it was satin blue upon arrival. It's grown on me though so I haven't resorted to Ralph's "solution".
1954 K-38 Heavy Masterpiece
1952(?) 38/44 Outdoorsman
Model of 1950 .44 Target (this is the one that surprised me)
By the way, I much prefer S&W's satin blue option over those awful plastic "Colt wood" stocks Colt used to cut costs in the late 1940s and very early 1950s.
1954 K-38 Heavy Masterpiece
1952(?) 38/44 Outdoorsman
Model of 1950 .44 Target (this is the one that surprised me)
By the way, I much prefer S&W's satin blue option over those awful plastic "Colt wood" stocks Colt used to cut costs in the late 1940s and very early 1950s.
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I had these dates in my notes for K frames. I see that the note on target triggers state "available for purchase"??
• Target hammer and stocks that were first introduced in January 1950
• Target triggers were first made available for purchase in Jan, 1956.
• Target hammer and stocks that were first introduced in January 1950
• Target triggers were first made available for purchase in Jan, 1956.
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A lot of your hardcore bullseye shooters would order their guns in the satin finish (less glare), target hammer (easier to grab in SA), standard trigger (better fingertip sensitivity than a wide trigger), and Magna grips (fit in your hand better than the Target Stocks).
The target stock, to me, was never very ergonomic. It was definitely cosmetically appealing though. If you make a fist, the bottom of your hand tapers down into a cone shape and not wider.
I think that is why the combat grips with the finger grooves were so comfortable to shoot with. They tended to taper at the bottom.
My two cents....an old Bullseye shooter told me about those details when he was competing in the 50's and 60's.
The target stock, to me, was never very ergonomic. It was definitely cosmetically appealing though. If you make a fist, the bottom of your hand tapers down into a cone shape and not wider.
I think that is why the combat grips with the finger grooves were so comfortable to shoot with. They tended to taper at the bottom.
My two cents....an old Bullseye shooter told me about those details when he was competing in the 50's and 60's.
There's a lot of difference in shape and feel between the 50's Target stocks and the post-68 Targets, with the earlier ones feeling much better, to me. The Combat stocks look groovy, but when shooting heavier loads whack my middle finger right into the trigger guard - no bueno.
Mistake or not, it's a very nice and popular hand gun. I have a K22 shipped in 1950 with that flat finish. It doesn't bother me much, but next to the 1973 M15-3, it's downright ugly. But I never really checked into why, as it seems their finishing processes seemed to have changed so many times through the years. I just chalked it up to manufacturing changes, whether for cost-cutting, environmental-friendly, or whatever reasons. I have a very nice low shot-count model 57, 6", that is as beautiful as it is a great caliber for playing with at the range. No fingerprints on that matte blue finish on those that came that way.
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