Dont Give up on Quality .22 Revolvers Yet..
It was a double action .22lr revolver.
It felt unbalanced in my hand and the action itself felt cumbersome. Seemed to take forever for the hammer to cock and the cylinder to rotate and the gun to go off. This can only contribute to detrimental accuracy. Which was the result when I shot it compared to a semi-auto that I also shot.
Hello Jesse James
I take it, this was your first attempt at revolver shooting? Unfortunately The caliber you had is known for lead build up and filthy Powder residue, which I am sure you are well aware of. I also see where another responder said that the Rental K-22 he fired had cycling issues, and I have seen but Not fired rental revolver's at local ranges where I live, and ALL have looked horrid and very neglected as far as cleaning and up keep. This will make any revolver suffer if the cleaning gets ignored no matter what brand it is. Another thing is, Most that fire this . 22 ammo also buy in quantity, or grab the Local Walmart specials in Bulk pack that are often Lead bullets as well, and I have found that cheaper ammo, and lead bullets add up to quick leading and cycling problem's along with sticky extraction in the K-22's along with other revolver's. Having a half dozen S&W K-22's I can say that they are without a doubt one of the best built durable revolvers Bar None. 30 Years ago, I started out with my first revolver being a H&R 922. This was a double action . 22 Revolver, and back then I hadn't learned to appreciate top quality, and was buying on a budget that limited my Purchase power to this functional but Cheap made revolver. I had it for a couple of years, until I got the opportunity to fire a friends K-22 Smith & Wesson. That was the turning point in my selection of quality from there forward as well. I swapped out that H&R for a Smith & Wesson K-22, and never looked back. I also found the Old Adage often said, "You get What You Pay For" to ring very true once I stepped up, and Paid the price to own a revolver of this quality and durability, and when I swapped off that H&R quickly learned it was a Low resale revolver, that I Lost money on. Smith & Wesson put many years of research and development into their K-22 Line, to make certain their revolver was one of the best out there. I Slipped once, from the Smith & Wesson line, and Bought a Colt Official Police in a . 22 as well, Although This is a collectible often sought after revolver, I found myself again to only return back to the K-22 as they seem to be temperamental on ammo selection, at least the one I had was, and timing was an issue on some of the early Official Police revolvers so I swapped it off Before I had any issues with it, that could prove costly. Again a purchase of a high demand quality revolver like that Colt netted me the funds to add replacement K-22 to my collection without having to pay any more out of pocket. I have never had a K-22 that did not shoot well, Either in double or single action. The Key to any revolver shooting . 22 Ammo, is owners responsibility of making sure it is cleaned and cleaned good after all shooting. 22 Ammo is perhaps the worse ammo for lead build up and powder residue that I know of. It does not take long to have sticky chambers or cycling problems even with a well built K-22 if Maintenance is neglected and lead starts to build up. This is the reason I shoot Only CCI Brand Mini mags in all my K-22's as well. This Ammo is a little more expensive, but burns as clean as the early Winchester yellow box ammo that is collector status today, hard to find and pricey when found. I shoot only copper plated bullets as well, as this cuts way back on the lead build up in the cylinder, forcing cone, Top strap, and face of the cylinder. I always clean all my K-22's after shooting them, and have no problems with extraction or cycling because of this, much required effort, that often gets over looked. I hope that first attempt with a revolver will not set the pace for you in the future and I would suggest that you shoot a K-22 in place of the one you fired and encountered problems with. If you ask any K-22 owner out there I have not heard any complain, and I believe Smith & Wesson named their revolver the appropriate name as the K-22 Masterpiece. I own a multitude of years in the K-22 line as well, Since the first issue was 1931 and there are plenty of them out there used, and have to say without a doubt they seem to have the smoothest action, fit and function, but the Winner of overall quality would have to go to the Original First edition K-22 fondly named the Outdoorsman. This revolver I have is a Prewar, and they hand fitted the parts back in this era, which makes the world of difference in quality. Today's revolver's all have drop in parts, and although I have the Modern versions of the K-22, None of which are new enough to have M. I. M. part's Yet, they are not as smooth as the Early Prewar editions that were the Start of later K-22 Masterpiece series to follow. I would defiantly shoot a K-22 before making a purchase, as I too was intrigued by Price one time to buy a Ruger Single Six and later replaced that with an SP-101. The Single Six, was a great trail companion, but did not hold a candle to the K-22 revolver on target shooting. The SP-101 was a heavy built revolver, and the action had a lot of creep and was not at all as smooth as any K-22 I have owned. Both Ruger revolver's functioned fine, but did not have the Target appeal or smooth actions of the K-22 Smith & Wesson's I replaced them with. Sadly, I also took a beating on resale of both Ruger's when I swapped them off and this was a learning experience as well. If fit, function, durability eye appeal, and smooth actions are of importance to you, then a K-22 will live up to it's expectations, and Grow in resale value as well. If you Think You Paid Too Much for a used K-22, a few years will Prove they are going up at an alarming rate due to consumer demands.Below are some of my K-22s for your viewing pleasure, that I have kept and updated to over the years, along with the Only Colt revolver I had for a short time. Best regards, Hammerdown
