[Spencer Stewart]

Hello all,

This is my first post on The High Road. I used to be lightly active in the early days of TFL, but had to tend to school for a while. I'm still in school working towards a MS and things are beginning to slow down again for me. I've been lurking on the forums for a little while now, but I finally have a few questions built up that I couldn't figure out through searches.

I have no idea what J-, K-, L-, or any other type of frame designations mean. If there are published references out there (or threads that I missed by searching) that would help me out with this, I'll gladly look them up. Otherwise, I'm sure just a brief explanation would set me straight.

Thanks

Spencer

[Hal]

Hey Spence long time (and I mean really long time,,, 5 years or so maybe since the knife chats w/ Spark, Kelly(senator) Todd, Pontifer, Tim F and etc) no see/no talk! Welcome to THR.

[Tamara]

Here you go, complete with illustrations (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9357). :)

Postwar Smith frames are (smallest to largest) I, J, K, L, N, and now X. Mike Irwin will be along shortly to discuss the esoterica of "Improved I", "Magnum J", and the old M frame. ;)

[Mike Irwin]

This is something I posted over at TFL some time ago...


" Someone in another thread asked about S&W's frame sizes, so I thought I would give this rundown. It's in order of
size, from smallest to largest. Hope you all find it useful...

M frame -- The smallest Hand Ejectors ever made, and only for .22 LR. These were 7-shot revolvers, and were also
the original LadySmith revolvers. Three separate models. The 1st Model had the standard push-button cylinder
latch, which was an absolute bear to make and put into such a small gun. In the 2nd and 3rd models, the
pushbutton was done away with for a locking pin mounted on the front of the cylinder rod locking lug.

Very highly sought after by collectors.


I frame -- This was the original Hand Ejector frame size (not the K-frame), introduced in 1896. It was originally
introduced for .32 Long, but later chambered .22 LR and .38 S&W. A few were also reportedly made chambered in
.32 S&W, which would them among the rarest of the rare.

I frame improved -- A larger I frame, which also introduced the coil spring instead of the leaf spring in the
small handguns.

J frame -- Replacement for the I frame, which couldn't chamber the .38 Spl. cartridge.

K frame -- Like this needs any introduction/narrative, but... The "Classic" S&W Hand Ejector. The standard .38 &
.357 revolver for many years with many hundreds of police forces. A very few were also made in .30 Carbine during
WW II in hopes of getting a government contract. VERY rare. (Can you say BIG muzzle blast? )

L frame -- Introduced in the 1980s as a beefed up K frame. The K frame .357s were just a little too light to handle
a steady diet of full-bore .357 Mag. loads, so this is the result.

N frame -- The largest S&W frame, originally chambered for the .44 Spl., and .45 S&W cartridges. In 1935 it
became the first home of the new .357 Magnum cartridge in the revolver later known as the Model 27. It was also
the origial home of the .44 Magnum. A few were also made in .30 Carbine, during WW II. As with the K frame
variant, very rare."


Tamara mentions the "magnum J frame," but I really don't consider that to be a distinct variation of the frame in the way that the improved I-frame was.

All of the frame sizes listed above, with the exception of the M-frame, have had some variations in dimensions over the years to take into account variations in manufacturing processes and materials, caliber variations, the necessity to beef up some frames for magnums (such as the K-frame Models 13 and 19), etc.

The improved I-frame, on the other hand, was distinctly larger than the I frame and employed a different main spring assembly.

[Dr.Who]

Mike,
Thanks for the great re-cap.... :)

[Dr.Who]

Mike,
Thanks for the great re-cap.... :)

[Spencer Stewart]

Thanks Tamara and Mike, that's exactly what I needed. I don't know how I missed over that previous illustrated thread before.

Tamara, re: the models PC13 and the 57, are those hammers simply a reduced snag version for concealment purposes? What are some of the disadvantages (and are they significant) associated with the hammerless or "reduced" hammer (I'm not surewhat you call it) designs?

Hal, a long time indeed!! Thanks for rememberin' and thanks for the welcome!
:)

Spencer

[Mike Irwin]

Dr. Who,

Thanks for recapping your thanks message. :D

[Tamara]

For real esoterica, don't forget the "C-frame". :D

[Mike Irwin]

Given that the chances of actually seeing a C-frame on the open market, much less seeing one anywhere, are probably several orders of magnitude less than being struck by lightning...

[Jim March]

One more thing: if somebody ELSE'S revolver takes the same speedloader and is roughly the same size as a given S&W frame type, we'll sometimes refer to it as, say, a "J-class" or "K-class".

"J-class" types: any Taurus 5-shot 38/357, the Ruger SP101, Charter Arms/Charter2000 38s, etc.

"K-class": Taurus 6-shot 357s, the Ruger Security/Service series, etc.

"L-class": Ruger GP100, 7-shot Taurus 357s.

"N-class": Ruger Redhawk. The Ruger SuperRedhawk is perhaps "N-Class" in that it eats out of the same speedloaders, but is otherwise a LOT bigger and tougher (454/480 esp.).