I have, I think, a 1948 Model 17 Target Masterpiece serial number 60716 Second Model. Did Smith start a new batch of serial numbers for the Second Model?
Terry
As you know now, yes. A new serial sequence was started after the war, and those serial numbers begin with the letter K. The K is part of the serial number.
Actually, several things:
1. Your revolver is not a Model 17. It is a K-22 Masterpiece. The K-22 didn't start getting model numbers until 1958, a full 10 years after your revolver was made.
2. The factory never called it a Target Masterpiece. Yes, a lot of books call it that, but they are dead wrong. It is simply a K-22 Masterpiece.
3. It is not a K-22 Second Model. The K-22 Second Model was the first K-22 Masterpiece, made in 1940. Only about 1,000 units were produced before the war shut down the production. The postwar K-22 Masterpiece (
Third Model) is noticeably different in that it has a ribbed barrel. Incidentally, the Second Model was serialized in the same sequence as the First Model (the K-22 Outdoorsman's). It had no K in the serial number.
Finally, I will note that your serial number is among those that started shipping in December, 1948. Quite a few in the K60000 range didn't ship until later. I show one about 500 numbers lower than yours that didn't ship until December, 1949! Another one 1,000 numbers higher than yours shipped in May, 1949.
