S & W revolver Model I.D. Help?

W

wizrd

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S & W .22 LR revolver. SN. K22854X - SN appears under barrel, on rear cylinder face & under star, and bottom of grip frame. There is no model number under the yoke - only numbers there are a 1 followed by 70345 underneath it - under that possibly a 10 - or maybe 3- or 13. this last number is almost unreadable on frame at cylinder yoke, and on the yoke. 4" bbl.- 5 screw with a pinned bbl.
Front sight configuration does not match any pictures I've seen of the Model 17 / K 22 Masterpiece. What model is this? - Any input would be greatly appreciated - and I promise, no more stupid questions - I WILL go buy the S & W General Catalog book, I promise. Meantime, I'm just here, studying at the feet of the Masters. ( PS. For $200, I think this was a really good deal.)
 

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Your pistol was made before 1955 (probably 1953) and prior to model numbers being stamped on them. The series was known as Combat Masterpiece and then the caliber (.22, 38 or 32) when referring to them. Your gun looks to be reblued but still in nice shape and worth many times $200.
 
The Combat Masterpiece was put out in response to requests by police officers for a quality .38 revolver with adjustable sights; it is essentially a short barrel K-38 Masterpiece. The .22 version was intended as a trainer for officers whose duty gun was a Combat Masterpiece or a Combat Magnum (Model 19).

BTW, the numbers on the crane and on the frame under the crane are assembly numbers. They had no meaning outside the factory; S&W has changed their system so those numbers are not used any more.

Jim
 
Thanks for all the info guys. Gun came from a traveling salesman, sight unseen.
He handles hospital supply sales to a hospital my son works at. They got talking shooting & he had a couple handguns to sell, (all legal & registered here in NY) -my son bought a brand new Taurus .17HMR revolver from him, too - same price.
My son knew I was looking for a double action .22 LR -so he called me about it -didn't have to look at it, my son vouched for it's condition. One of my best buys ever. Thanks again for all the help here. May all your shots be in the X-ring.
 
I have to say I feel a little sorry for you wiz...getting that gun for $200 means you've already had your 'deal of a lifetime' and now you don't have that to look forward to anymore. :D

Seriously, that is going to be a fun gun to own and shoot (when we get some .22 ammo) and to pass on to your kids when the time comes.
 
That's a great deal on a great gun.
It won't stop a grizzly bear or repel the Sudanese pirates or stir up your adrenaline with blast and kick, but it will teach you more about shooting than any other gun on the market.
 
( PS. For $200, I think this was a really good deal.)
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A master of understatement wizrd, you have a very nice .22 in your possession sir. Might want to put some stocks on it tho... ;)

Diamond magna stocks IIRC are what you want if going old school.

Very nice. Very.

Now... how does it shoot? (I hope you have some .22lr stashed somewhere)
 
Gun came with some Pachmayr grips, I took them off for the pictures, thought it may help identifying the piece. Pachmayrs are gonna go though, gonna have to get some pretty wood on there. It's been shot a lot, but bore looks great and it still shoots well. Thanks again for all the info guys.
 
Replaced those black ugly Pachmayr grips with some nice rosewood from Altamont. Really dresses this one up. I'll be shopping at Altamont again.
 

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S & W .22 LR revolver. SN. K22854X - SN appears under barrel, on rear cylinder face & under star, and bottom of grip frame. There is no model number under the yoke - only numbers there are a 1 followed by 70345 underneath it - under that possibly a 10 - or maybe 3- or 13. this last number is almost unreadable on frame at cylinder yoke, and on the yoke. 4" bbl.- 5 screw with a pinned bbl.
Front sight configuration does not match any pictures I've seen of the Model 17 / K 22 Masterpiece. What model is this? - Any input would be greatly appreciated - and I promise, no more stupid questions - I WILL go buy the S & W General Catalog book, I promise. Meantime, I'm just here, studying at the feet of the Masters. ( PS. For $200, I think this was a really good deal.)
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All the answers are correct, obviously, but nobody looked up the serial number in the SCSW. So I did... and it dates to 1954.

Bout a year and a half ago, I helped my buddy find a very similar gun in pawn shop just out of town. The one he ended up getting was a Model 18 no-dash, 4-screw, 1958 build, so a couple years after yours. Functionally, it is perfect and he's run thousands of rounds through it. Externally, it is not as nice as yours and has a lot of wear, but it's not ugly. His did not come with it's original S&W wood either, but it was wearing a pair of target goncalo alves with the "football" cut... which I believe are from the 70s. In any case, he gave me those wood grips as a thank-you for negotiating the deal.

The pawn shop had the revolver tagged at $559 but we got it out the door at $450, tax included. I'm still quite satisfied with the deal on that one. Obviously, your deal was fantastic.
Your gun looks to be reblued but still in nice shape and worth many times $200.
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I don't agree that there's any outward evidence that this revolver has been reblued, I'm curious as to why this was suggested. The pictures are the likely culprit for the lack of gloss that we see. The hammer and trigger are still color case hardened, which is the easiest identifier of a (poor) re-finish.
 
Recently a Master Gunsmith / collector had the opportunity to inspect this piece. He said this has never been reblued, just shows some wear from normal use. I did see a similar piece in an upstsate NY shop a week ago, excellent condition - asking price $ 799.00 - I feel real good about my deal.
 
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