Pair of Pre-18's

[sjstill]

I picked up the lower revolver off Gunbroker. It was nasty. Had goopy GunKote all over it,and nasty Pachmayr grips. Sent it to a buddy, and he reblued it for me. It appears it had been in a fire, lot of discoloration on the frame and barrel. It took my buddy several dips in the bluing tank to get it where it is now. S&W says it was built in 1952.

Revolver on top came into the shop a couple weeks ago, looked like the family dog had buried it in the yard. Dust and dirt all over it. Had the original,serial #'d Magnas, though. Some pitting here and there, but the action is tight, and the bore is good. S/N is K1819xx

Scored the checkered grips from a buddy, the smooth grips came from ebay.

Enough talk, on with the pics!

 

[Camster]

Reckon you're the only guy with a pair of 1952 4 inchers.;-)
Gotta find a nice one for myself one of these days.as a birthyear gun.

 

[linde]

. . . the lower revolver . . . was nasty . . . appears it had been in a fire . . . lot of discoloration on the frame and barrel.

Didn't see the "before" picture but . . . if it had been in a fire . . . the heat treating may be compromised. Being a .22 LR isn't a big concern, but I'd still stay with standard velocity target loads.

Russ

 

[woodsltc]

Those are great finds. I love the Pre-18's.........thanks for sharing.

Reckon you're the only guy with a pair of 1952 4 inchers.;-)
Gotta find a nice one for myself one of these days.as a birthyear gun.

Maybe not......I have K146946 & K171254 (both DOB in 1952). The earlier one was a trappers gun up in Maine and shows a lot of blue loss, but was well-maintained. It's very accurate and is one of my favorites to shoot and to carry squirrel hunting and woods-walking.

Don

 

[sjstill]

Couldn't find any before pics, sorry. Yep, used standard velocity ammo when I shot the "fire" one. It'll likely reside in the safe now that I have the "new" one.

 

[sceva]

Reckon you're the only guy with a pair of 1952 4 inchers.;-)
Gotta find a nice one for myself one of these days.as a birthyear gun.

Isn't K1819xx a 1953 Number?

 

[DCWilson]

.38s with adjustable sights and ribbed barrels are inherently cool, but when the barrels are four inches long the cool factor soars. Those are very nice revolvers.

 

[tekarra]

Fine looking pair, well done sir.

 

[Camster]

Isn't K1819xx a 1953 Number?

You're correct.I was thinking the cutoff number was 195,000,not 175,000.

 

[sjstill]

What's a year between friends ;-)

 

[H Richard]

I note the two different hammer styles. Can anyone state the time frame when the change took place? Of course, I realize S&W would have phased it in to use up all the remaining older hammers.

 

[linde]

I note the two different hammer styles. Can anyone state the time frame when the change took place? Of course, I realize S&W would have phased it in to use up all the remaining older hammers.

Great question . . . and perhaps the subject a new thread so we can bring in more folks.

Of the early post-war High-Speed hammer with the fishhook or sculpted spur profile . . .

the latest one I own is:
K-22 pre-17 with s/n K2543XX that shipped in March 1956

and the latest one I've seen posted here on the forum is:
K-22 pre-17 with s/n K2660XX . . . est ship June/July 1956.

Both of the above K-22s are late five-screws . . . and every 4-screw I've seen had the newer hammer profile . . . but don't believe the change to 4-screw had anything to do with the hammer change.

It would be interesting to learn if the fixed sighted M&Ps produce the similar results . . . don't have any later than April 1953.

Russ