Help identify two S&W revolvers?

[freakazoid]

Step-dad has two .22 cal revolvers that he is trying to identify. Any help would be appreciated.
First one:








Second one:




Thanks

[K Frame]

First on appears to be a K 22 Masterpiece. Second one appears to be a Model 18.

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[Devonai]

Those are big money on Gunbroker, FWIW.

[mtnbkr]

Agree with Mike.  However, why aren't the chambers on the first one countersunk?  Could it be a Bekaert.  The grips are reminiscent and I think the Bekaerts didn't have countersunk chambers.

The overtravel screw in the triggerguard is different.  I haven't seen that on a factory gun, probably a post-production mod.

Chris

[K Frame]

OK, looking at it on my computer, instead of my phone.

The first gun is a Beakeart style, but the serial number is too late for it to be a true Beakeart. Original Beakearts also had the mushroom head ejector rod. That one has the later "fat sleeve" ejector rod, which means that it's most likely from the 1920s.

It's also not a K frame gun (same frame size as the Model 10), but the smaller I frame, generally known as the Heavy Frame Target, and later known as the Kit gun.


"The overtravel screw in the triggerguard is different." Good eye, I missed that on my phone... You're correct. I don't believe that any of the Heavy Duty Target revolvers had overtravel mechanisms. A screw in that general location seems to have been a fairly common modification.


The second gun appears to be a 5 screw K-22 Combat Masterpiece, the predecessor of the Model 18.

Both are desirable guns.

[mtnbkr]

What about the non-countersunk chambers on the first on?  I thought all S&W 22s had countersunk chambers (have not eyeballed newer ones though).

Chris

[K Frame]

"I thought all S&W 22s had countersunk chambers (have not eyeballed newer ones though)."

No.

That actually didn't start until the late 1920s/early 1930s with the introduction of the K-22 Masterpiece, and all because Remington brought out a line of brass-cased, high velocity .22 ammunition. Even with the stronger brass case, the rounds were blowing at the rims, which is what led S&W to introduce countersunk .22s.

Prior to that the low-pressure .22 rounds available in either black or semi-smokeless powder didn't need countersunk chambers.

[230RN]

Wow.  I learned stuff.  Thanks, everyone !  I wondered what that little blip on the back of the trigger guard was.  Showed up on the guard, but not in the shadow, so I thought it was something on the paper.

I did guess a .22 Kit Gun, but that was as far as my knowledge went.

Wow.

Terry

[K Frame]

I'll send you a bill.

[freakazoid]

Interesting. Thanks all! Kind of gives a starting place to do more research.
So that 592 on the yoke of the second one isn't a model number? Tried searching for that but wasn't coming up with anything.

[K Frame]

No. That's an assembly number, used only at the factory and had no meaning otherwise.

Normally it is 5 numbers, though.

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[Hutch]

Damn, miss a day here, and lose the chance to pontificate about S&W revolvers.

Sigh.  What Mike said.  The K22 Combat Masterpiece was made the same year I was, 1955, if my squinting and ciphering is correct.  Ain't ciphered out that I-frame.

[freakazoid]

So the first one is an early 20s K22 combat masterpiece, and the second is a model 18?

[K Frame]

No.

Read the whole thread.

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[freakazoid]

No.

Read the whole thread.

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I did. That's when the confusion set in. lol

First one is a K22 Masterpiece, and the second on K22 Combat Masterpiece? What about the issue with the non-countersunk chambers???

[mtnbkr]

First one is an i-frame 22 kit gun.  Countersunk chambers weren't offered till later.

Chris

[K Frame]

Actually, the first one, with the double grip screws, is most properly known as a.22/.32 Heavy Frame Target, IF it was, as I suspect, manufactured in the 1920s. It was built on the I frame, the predecessor to the J frame. S&W box instruction labels for these guns were marked .22/.32 Hand Ejector as the label was used for all I frame .22/.32 variants.

It wasn't until 1935 that S&W began advertising the .22/.32 Heavy Frame Target as the Kit Gun.

While built on the minuscule I frame, this particular model was called the Heavy Frame Target to differentiate it from the even smaller framed LadySmith (M frame) Target model.


The second gun is a K-22 Combat Masterpiece, a variant on the K-22 Masterpiece revolver built on the K frame. It became the Model 18 in 1957. As noted below, it appears to have been manufactured around 1955.