BoCash
Member
Howdy to the board.
I received my first Smith and Wesson from my grandfather in 1958 when I was 9 years old. Needless to say, he started a fire. That first Smith was a "pre" model 34, 22/32 kit gun with "I" frame, serial # 3222x and I still have it.
Have developed a terrible lust for K frames and have many examples of many models, barrel lengths, and calibers. They are all my favorites, but I sometimes end up doing a lot of my plinking with a 1951 "pre" Model 18.
Pictured below is a trio of Combat Masterpiece .22's that I presently own and some details about their oddities. The most questions I have about one is the 18 (no dash) that has the orange insert in the front sight. It would seem to me that this was possibly a premature option for this model?? At any rate, I would welcome tips and comments on anything you see or read here.
TOP: "pre" Model 18, 1951, Smooth combat K frame grips, has old factory Target Hammer and standard trigger that I applied a Tyler Trigger Shoe to.............. This is the gun I qualified for my CCW permit with. It is the most accurate 4 inch barrel gun I have in the stable.
MIDDLE: 18-4, Smooth Target grips, factory Target Trigger and Target Hammer. Oddly, this one came to me with a .22 magnum cylinder!!!! I replaced it with a .22 LR cylinder but it actually shot very accurately with .22 magnum ammo (before I replaced the cylinder)!! In fact, I believe I shot a dime sized group at 20 yards with .22 magnums and using a sandbag.
When I wrote the Smith factory about it, they said "Do not shoot .22 magnum in it." They are covering their butts here. While I know there is a 2/1000ths" difference in the bullets, the magnum round should not cause enough "squeeze factor" to hurt anything. I would not hesitate to shoot magnums in it again.
Bottom: 18 (no dash), with factory Target Grips, Target Hammer, Target Trigger. NOTE FRONT SIGHT !! Oddly, I have never seen a "Orange front sight insert" on a model 18 of this age. I do not know if it was a special option, or someone might have sent it back to Smith for installation. Maybe the company never stamped a dash number on this particular one because there is no room to the right of the number 18 in the yoke. Nonetheless, this is a 99.9% gun that came to me without a box. For reference, the serial # is: K43435x
Thanks, take care, and y'all have a great week. "Bo"
I received my first Smith and Wesson from my grandfather in 1958 when I was 9 years old. Needless to say, he started a fire. That first Smith was a "pre" model 34, 22/32 kit gun with "I" frame, serial # 3222x and I still have it.
Have developed a terrible lust for K frames and have many examples of many models, barrel lengths, and calibers. They are all my favorites, but I sometimes end up doing a lot of my plinking with a 1951 "pre" Model 18.
Pictured below is a trio of Combat Masterpiece .22's that I presently own and some details about their oddities. The most questions I have about one is the 18 (no dash) that has the orange insert in the front sight. It would seem to me that this was possibly a premature option for this model?? At any rate, I would welcome tips and comments on anything you see or read here.
TOP: "pre" Model 18, 1951, Smooth combat K frame grips, has old factory Target Hammer and standard trigger that I applied a Tyler Trigger Shoe to.............. This is the gun I qualified for my CCW permit with. It is the most accurate 4 inch barrel gun I have in the stable.
MIDDLE: 18-4, Smooth Target grips, factory Target Trigger and Target Hammer. Oddly, this one came to me with a .22 magnum cylinder!!!! I replaced it with a .22 LR cylinder but it actually shot very accurately with .22 magnum ammo (before I replaced the cylinder)!! In fact, I believe I shot a dime sized group at 20 yards with .22 magnums and using a sandbag.
When I wrote the Smith factory about it, they said "Do not shoot .22 magnum in it." They are covering their butts here. While I know there is a 2/1000ths" difference in the bullets, the magnum round should not cause enough "squeeze factor" to hurt anything. I would not hesitate to shoot magnums in it again.
Bottom: 18 (no dash), with factory Target Grips, Target Hammer, Target Trigger. NOTE FRONT SIGHT !! Oddly, I have never seen a "Orange front sight insert" on a model 18 of this age. I do not know if it was a special option, or someone might have sent it back to Smith for installation. Maybe the company never stamped a dash number on this particular one because there is no room to the right of the number 18 in the yoke. Nonetheless, this is a 99.9% gun that came to me without a box. For reference, the serial # is: K43435x
Thanks, take care, and y'all have a great week. "Bo"
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