Clue and question: Did you see any nickel models in this thread?
Suggestion: Maybe there's a reason for that . . .
Jack
Model 14 - if we do this right it can be an ultimate thread
- Thread starter ISCS Yoda
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Clue and question: Did you see any nickel models in this thread?
Suggestion: Maybe there's a reason for that . . .
Jack
Okay. I'm coming a bit late to the party, but here are a few I pulled from the safe today. I am rather partial to the K-38 Masterpiece in all its iterations up to 1982. Can you tell?
All but one of these is wearing its original stocks. I rather think no one on this forum will have trouble spotting the exception.
Top to bottom:
K-38 Masterpiece - 1956
Model 14-2 - 1967
Model 14-3 - 1971
Model 14-3 SAO 2T - 1973
Model 14-3 SAO 2T - 1973
Model 14-4 - 1977
Model 14-4 3T - 1980
All but one of these is wearing its original stocks. I rather think no one on this forum will have trouble spotting the exception.
Top to bottom:
K-38 Masterpiece - 1956
Model 14-2 - 1967
Model 14-3 - 1971
Model 14-3 SAO 2T - 1973
Model 14-3 SAO 2T - 1973
Model 14-4 - 1977
Model 14-4 3T - 1980
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Another shot of some relatively late Model 14s (two dash 4s and a dash 3):
Upper gun from the previous photo, this time with its box, docs and tools:
Upper gun from the previous photo, this time with its box, docs and tools:
Was the gun in the top of the picture of 3, and then again at the bottom re-barreled with an earlier vintage gun barrel?Another shot of some relatively late Model 14s (two dash 4s and a dash 3):
Upper gun from the previous photo, this time with its box, docs and tools:
YeshuaIsa53
Member
Factory original nickel guns are out there. Nickel 14s are so rare, nickel was one of abnormalities they used on "The Last Stand" of The Twelve Revolvers. 14-6 special run with laser engraving: could be several hundred out there. Anyone know?
They made a few factory nickels in the newer 14-8 for awhile. Two pics of that:
They made a few factory nickels in the newer 14-8 for awhile. Two pics of that:
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No. I have good reason to believe it has not been tampered with. I bought this gun brand new in a gun store in Oregon more than 30 years ago. I still have the receipt. The revolver has lived in its box ever since. I have fired a total of 6 rounds through it, and that was 30 years or so ago.
Why do you ask?
Jack
Well, okay, Bud Jr.
BUT, if it was made after 1982, it isn't REALLY a Model 14.
Or so says the Ultimate K-38/Model 14 Snob!
Seriously, it's hard for us old guys to admit or get used to the idea that the restart in 1991 was actually the same model line, no matter what S&W called it (with a full underlug, for crying out loud?). So, I usually don't even think about the dash 5 and higher when I'm talking about the K-38/Model 14.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Jack
Alright Jack...Now I'm on a quest.....Nickel 14 or bust.....and I'm with you, what the heck was the whole "full underlug" thing all about...kinda like Cadillac trying to mimic the Lincoln design to pick up a few buyers.....
Rob
Rob
Yes. And like S&W putting the underlug on the Model 629 and calling it "Classic." Like any truly "classic" Model 29 ever had such a thing! It almost seemed like they wanted to turn everything into an L frame lookalike. Maybe it's me, but I can't imagine anything like this happening while the Wesson family still owned the company . . . (which they did not after 1965).
Jack
Yes. Great eye! Thanks (I think) for pointing this out.
It is weird. I just took that gun, along with another 98% Model 14-4, out into the backyard sunshine and looked at them side-by-side. There is no question the blue is different on the frame and the barrel of the subject gun. The other example did not exhibit this characteristic. The blue matches on everything on that one. The frame bluing on the subject gun almost looks like the matt satin blue on the HP. So I took an ANIB Model 28 out of the safe and put it side-by-side with the 14-4. The finish is not quite the same, but it is actually closer to the 28 than it is to the comparison 14-4. It is darker, less shiny and tending toward a matt finish, while the barrel is the normal bright blue. Very strange!
As I mentioned previously, I am the first and only owner of this revolver. So it must have come from the factory like this. I wonder if this was in any sense common in 1980. That is the year this gun letters to (July, 1980, to be more precise). I'm at a loss as to what to think.
Jack
So in 10 minutes I find a nickel one on an auction site....then I see the ugly hole in the side...Ok, Jack....maybe it isn't a "REAL" Model 14...I'll keep looking..I thought about "poordevil's" idea of buying an ugly one and havbing the factory plate it....
civil1977
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I can understand some folks not liking the full lug versions since I felt the same way until I shot one. A sign of their increasing popularity is the rising prices with the full lug prices outpacing the older guns. A 14-6 sold for $1,037 on one of the online auction sites earlier today. No box, just the gun wearing factory rubber. That may be on the high side but they are definately on the rise.
Very strange indeed. Maybe the barrel was one they found in a parts bin somewhere. That, or maybe the frame and cylinder missed the final polishing stage before bluing.
Jack, I can't believe you'd keep something like that in such a fine collection as yours....send it over here it'll be one of the nicest in my meager bunch....
That is kinda what I think. Or something.
Mostly it just bugs me that I never noticed this before. For 30+ freaking years . . .
Jack
I know what you mean.
Sometimes though, you're just too close to the subject at hand (pun sorta intended) and it takes another person to see something. It's certainly happened to me.
It's kinda cool though. Sort of a (blued) pinto.
What you are saying - and I agree with it - is that aesthetics and function are quite different things. All you have to do is spend some time shooting an L frame to see why people like the lug.
Okay, fine. But I still think it ruins the lines of the "classic" S&W look. Let's face it - I think it's ugly. But opinions are like armpits. Everybody has two of them, and most of them stink. Maybe even mine.
Jack
Well, I think the explanation (or part of it) lies here:
It's hard to see how Bowen could have made the charge holes satisfy these specs if they were already full bored .38 Special holes. It is akin to why he needed a .22 caliber barrel to bore and rifle to a different twist than that found in S&W .38 barrels. What I don't get is why he couldn't have simply bored out the .32 barrel. Why back all the way up to the Model 17 barrel? Maybe he just couldn't bring himself to bore out that Model 16 barrel. Maybe he had another use for it. Model 17 barrels would have been a lot more plentiful.
Jack
