MAGNUM MAGNUM - Jeffersonian

BETTERSHOOTING Dave Anderson
S&W’s K22
Still Timeless
In the early decades of the 20th century, .22 revolvers
were mostly made on small frames — “small
cartridge, small gun” seemed to be the rule. Target
shooters wanted bigger and heavier revolvers, similar
to their target .38 models. The new .22 models from Colt
and S&W would prove to be very popular.
S&W had been offering .38 Special target revolvers on the medium
K-frame for many years. A similar revolver in .22 cal. was a logical
development. By late 1930 production was underway, with the
first completed revolver presented to Douglas B. Wesson on
January 3, 1931. The new model was called, oddly enough, the
K22 Target Model. When the last revolver of the series was made on December 28,
1939 a total of 17,117 had been made.
Perhaps S&W was also getting requests from hunters and campers. Maybe
they were concerned the competition market might not be big enough, or they
may have been impressed with the success of Colt’s .22 auto pistol, “The
Woodsman.” At any rate S&W touted the K22 as the “Outdoorsman’s” revolver.
Revolver fans adopted the term.
Charles Call, a well-known competitive shooter, had developed a front sight
with a round bead insert. The first 500 or so K22s feature this “Call bead” made of
gold. Some sources say the bead was brass; I’ve never located an example, and if I
did the owner would likely not let me pry the bead out to check. At any rate S&W
soon changed to a silver-colored bead which appears to be of stainless steel.
The adjustable rear sight was beautifully fitted into the topstrap. Evidently polishing
was done after the sight was fitted, as the fit is so close it’s hard to feel where
the parts join. Single action pull was carefully tuned to a nominal three pounds. The
revolver shown here has an outstanding, crisp 2.5-pound, single-action pull, and a
very smooth 9-pound, double-action pull.
Craftsmanship
Introducing new target revolvers just
as the Great Depression was taking
hold was bad luck for S&W, good
luck for those who could afford them
(and for collectors in later years).
Good luck because, with sales at a
slow pace, there was no pressure to
take shortcuts or rush production.
Workers quite naturally wanted
to keep their jobs; S&W naturally
didn’t want to lose these highly
trained and skilled workers.
S&W (along with most other
firearms manufacturers) didn’t make a
lot of guns during the 1930s, but those
manufactured were very well made
indeed. Lockwork components were
carefully selected and fitted to provide
virtually flawless operation. The
walnut stocks were installed before
metal polishing, then numbered to the
gun so they could be reinstalled after
When S&W introduced the K22 in1930
they used the same adjustable sight as
on their .38 cal. target models.
the metal parts had been blued.
Metal polishing was beautifully
done by experts who were as much
artists as craftsmen. Around 1944
Bob Brownell (founder of Brownells)
interviewed David Murray of S&W.
He quotes Murray, “Here at the factory
we estimate it takes about 15
years to make a really good polisher,
and until he is good, he is incapable of
handling the more difficult operations
no matter how hard he tries …” (Gunsmith
Kinks, 1969, F.R. Brownell).
Relatively cheap, highly skilled
labor and tough economic times
resulted, for a brief period, in custom
quality at production prices. It’s a
combination of circumstance we’re
unlikely to see again (and most of us
wouldn’t want to see again).
This K22
Target Model
was made in 1937
and weighs 35½ ounces
because competition shooters
began asking for a bit more
weight for a steadier hold.
Looking like
a twin to its
.38 Special brother,
the K22 soon made a name for itself
among target shooters and outdoorsmen
of all kinds. It was a near perfect trail gun.
An Outdoor Success
Target shooters wanted a “short action”
so the revolver could be cocked
without altering the shooter’s grip,
and a more precise adjustable sight.
S&W introduced these changes in
the short-lived (and very collectible)
Second Model K22, with production
ending when the US entered WWII.
After the war, under the leadership of
C.R. Hellstrom, S&W spared no expense
to build the perfect target revolver. A
barrel rib was added, its width calculated
so the .22., .32 and .38 cal. models all
weighed exactly 38½ ounces.
Alas, the reign of target .22
revolvers was a short one. Competitors
liked the idea of a pistol which cocked
itself, leaving more time to refine sight
picture in timed and rapid fire. Varous
semiautos, the Colt Match Target, the
High Standards and eventually S&W’s
own Model 41 came to dominate bull’seye
competition.
The K22s great success was with
campers, hunters, plinkers, anglers.
Whoever at S&W came up with the
“Outdoorsman” label nailed it. In
various forms the K22 has been in
production continuously since 1930.
Currently available is the Model 617
in stainless steel with 10-shot cylinder,
and the Classic K22 in blued carbon
steel with 6-shot cylinder.
I’ve owned K22s from every era and
never owned one which wasn’t a good
gun. For a video featuring the revolver
shown here, see www.davesgunpages.
com and click on the “Timewarp” page.
S&W came up with a winner when they
combined their K-frame with
the .22 rimfire cartridge.
*
For more info: Smith & Wesson (800)
331-0852, www.americanhandgunner.
com/smithwesson
38 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2011