K 22 outa the blue

[velocette]

Good friend brought an old S&W revolver to me for examination and evaluation.
It's a 5 screw K22 in absolutely immaculate condition. No holster wear, minimal turn line, no chips gouges, dings etc. Just like it left the factory. 6" barrel original grips, appears to have been fired VERY little or virtually not at all. No box unfortunately. This S&W really is "Pinned & Recessed". Made in 1953.

 

[airfoil]

Jeebus...that's a find. I wouldn't have it myself as the grip screws are dirty...err...wanna sell it?

 

[J-Bar]

Lovely! I wouldn’t let it leave my house if it had been brought to me.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Excellent!

Once I got my similar vintage shooting grade K-22, my need for "other" nice .22 revolvers seemed to fade away.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Looks just like the one I brought home from the LGS yesterday. Mine ended up costing $840 out the door -- what kind of deal did you get?

 

[Walkalong]

I'll have to admit, I don't have a S&W .22 LR revolver, I know, I'm a slacker. Those are two beautiful samples.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Very Nice.

This K-22 Masterpiece shipped in 1950. Notice the large screw for windage adjustment for the microclick rear sight and the rib on top of the barrel.





The K-22 Masterpiece, such as Velocette and Dave DeLaurant posted was the Post War version of the K-22. The Prewar version was known as the K-22 Outdoorsman. Notice the tiny screw for adjusting windage on the rear sight, and the tapered barrel without a barrel rib. This K-22 Outdoorsman shipped in 1935.



In 1957 the K-22 became the Model 17. I bought this Model 17-3 brand-spanky new in 1975. I still have the box and all the goodies.




[Edit by Mal H - admin]
The last two images did not show up from imageshack. I changed the IMG tags to URL tags. Click on the links to view the revolvers.

I removed the links - they go directly to my imageshack account. Driftwood

 

[tubeshooter]

Those are all outstanding.


I got a fixer-upper made in 1947; makes me look like I can shoot lights-out. I can't get over how clean that one looks in the OP. Somebody has a mighty fine .22 revolver, indeed. Mine looks like it has been in the creek compared to that.

 

[Cornhusker77]

I have what I think is a 1953 example.
The only picture I could find is with the broken spring.

 

[Tall]

Looks really nice. You need to shoot it and do a range report for us. Mine is a lights out tack driver, but it was made 25 years after yours. .

 

[243winxb]

My 2nd one, bought in 1968 for $98 New. First used one had a gold bead in the front sight.

 

[Riomouse911]

Very cool, that is a really sweet K frame you have.

Mine is a 6” 17-2 that allegedly belonged to a female bullseye shooter of some renown ( I forgot her name ) and it was buttery smooth from use when I bought it. (I added the grips.) It shoots extremely well with just about anything I feed it.



I have mine paired with a 4” model 18, as .22 LR understudies to my 6” 14-3 and 4” model 15 .38 Specials.

Let us know how your masterpiece shoots for you when you get a chance to take it out.

Stay safe.

 

[TheFrontRange]

Love it!

Mine is a 1948-vintage that came with the original Magna stocks but shown here with a set of period-correct (I think!) non-relieved Target stocks.

When the centerfire revolvers go the the range, this one almost always accompanies them.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Great score Velocette!
They are true jewels of the firearms world-

 

[P5 Guy]

1959 Missed the Masterpiece name by a few years, 17 no dash.

 

[Tallball]

Congratulations to the owner! They are amazing. Mine is my most frequently-fired handgun by a large margin. I was able to afford it due to the worn finish and incorrect grips. It's my most accurate revolver.

 

[SwampWolf]

It's a 5 screw K22 in absolutely immaculate condition.

Scrumptious for sure. They'll never make affordable revolvers like it ever again.

 

[airfoil]

Shooter grade K22 from late 40's is my favorite .22 revolver...I don't neeed a better one...and a new one is near a grand. Guess I'll just wait for a vintage K frame to come down the pike.