Restoration Complete on my Smith & Wesson 1948 K-22

[Hammerdown]

Hello
I recently Picked up a Post War K-22 Third series revolver. They had the soft Matte finish Bluing which I am not a fan of. I found it was deadly accurate and wanted a Custom Finish Look, so sent it off To Ford's refinishing in Florida for their Master Re-bluing Job. In the mean time while it was getting a Face Lift I refinished the Original Non Relieved target diamond Over sized grip's, and Located an original Factory Gold Bead front sight for it. The revolver returned today, and Later this week I Hope to have the sight blade installed by my Local Gun Smith. Here is some before and after Pictures of my Newest Project. Regards, Hammerdown

                                        "BEFORE REFINISHING"



                                       "GRIP'S RESTORED"


   
                                          "ORIGINAL GOLD BEAD NON INSTALLED SIGHT"




                                        "AFTER IT WAS REFINISHED"

[StrawHat]

Very nice addition to your collection!

[Keith L]

it would be a beautiful addition to any ones collection!

[Hammerdown]

Hello
I appreciate your Kind words. I always wanted a Nice Blued K-22 Older model so decided to have one done. Regards, Hammerdown

[twentytwoAK]

Very impressed - it looks better than before, but also better than the new .22 revolvers you can get these days.  Classy!

[S.B.]

You've got a honey there, Curt.

[OLDHandgunner]

NICE PIECE.  Looks great. 

[haroldclark]

Hey, Hammerdown
How long did it take to have your K22 refinished?   And how much did it cost?

Harold Clark

[Hammerdown]

How long did it take to have your K22 refinished?   And how much did it cost?

Hello Harold
It Takes about Four Months to get one done, but the wait is well worth it. Here is a direct link to Ford's and their Price List. Hammerdown

http://www.fordsguns.com/

[Hammerdown]

Hello All
I have been swamped the past couple of months and have not had time to Test the Full accuracy Potential of my 1948 K-22 until Yesterday. I will add that many forget that the K-22 was The Standard range handgun for many years of Competitive shooting long before the model 41 came into existence. Properly cared for and carefully shot I feel a K-22 will do everything a model 41 will do on target Practice and results. I had been buying Target ammo since this gun came back from Ford's refinishing to evaluate what worked best in it as far as tight consistent groups. My Pre-War K-22 does not Like the New faster High velocity ammo. so I figured this early Post-War model would act much the same, but I stood to be corrected at the close of my Target testing efforts. I took to the range the following Target style ammo, Winchester, Remington, Anquilla, and CCI Standard velocity ammo. All had Lead solid Bullet construction and were of the slower target velocity. I used a standard Leupold Scope in Target that has four small Ten ring Targets in each corner and One center target making it Perfect to conduct the testing of all Five Different Brands of ammo I had selected. Between each Six shot string of the testing of different ammo, I cleaned the cylinder and Bore with a Bore brush to give a fair evaluation of all the different types of ammo Tested by starting out with a clean bore and cylinder each time I changed Brands of ammo tested, as all target ammo is Usually Filthy and leaves behind Lead deposits which could Hinder group size. Out of all the target Ammo Tested the Winchester brand seemed to be the most Consistent in Groups at the 17 Yard Line from a sand bag rest it showed an average group of 1". I had also brought along a box of CCI Mini-Mags being the ones that have a solid Copper Bullet design weighing 40 Grains and are High velocity but not considered Hyper Velocity rounds. I changed out my Original Target with the One shown to see if these bullets worked better in my gun. I was very surprised to see that the CCI Mini-Mags shot better, Meaning a Tighter Group than any target ammo I had tried previously. Here is the results of the CCI Mini-Mag ammo I shot last and this Orange circle is the size of a Nickel and when I Placed a dime on the Group shown it covered all Six shots. I made my decision that the CCI Min-Mag ammo worked best in this revolver so will stick with it as the standard ammo of choice for this revolver. This type ammo also Groups tight in all My later Post war K-22's of which I have been using it all along and will continue. one nice thing when Testing with all the different brands of .22 Ammo is that it is the cheapest ammo to buy, so you can conduct a test comparison without Breaking the bank. If you have been just shooting sub standard Bulk ammo in your K-22 I would suggest you try as good range testing to se what works best in your revolver as I did. The newly added McGivern Gold Bead sight was the best choice I ever made on this revolver, as it Gathers all light and simply Glows on the target. These McGivern Gold beads are sighted in a little different than the standard Patridge sights in the fact that you set the Gold bead at Point of Impact rather than the standard 6-OClock hold used with a Black Patridge sight, which gives my older failing Eye sight a New edge on performance. Regards, Hammerdown

[Ken ONeill]

I also like the McGivern / Call gold bead front sights, and use them on a pair of 629 Classics. Wonderful and versatile sights.
On the topic of .22 LR ammo, I have also found High (not Hyper) Velocity ammo to frequently group the best in many handguns. It will generally not achieve the velocity attainable in rifles, and may not reach supersonic speed. This is a good thing, as it is that transition back down to subsonic from supersonic speeds at longer distances that destroys the longer range accuracy of much .22 LR ammo.
You have a beautiful K-22. Mine has been gone for many years, and not even my FA's have replaced it.

[S.B.]

"It will generally not achieve the velocity attainable in rifles, and may not reach supersonic speed. This is a good thing, as it is that transition back down to subsonic from supersonic speeds at longer distances that destroys the longer range accuracy of much .22 LR ammo".

How do you explain the success of bench rest shooter at 50 yards with Eley ammo? And, yes, I know they are shooting rifles.

[Hammerdown]

I also like the McGivern / Call gold bead front sights, and use them on a pair of 629 Classics. Wonderful and versatile sights.You have a beautiful K-22. Mine has been gone for many years, and not even my FA's have replaced it.

Hello ken
I appreciate your Kind words about my K-22. I have several but I adore the Older Five screw models for their smooth actions and superior fit & Finish. My later modern Dash series models ones are nice if viewed alone, But placed next to this one or my Pre-War First series they lack fit & Finish. On the subject of McGivern gold bead sights I in the past learned the difference between a McGivern & Call Gold bead, and found many others may not be aware of this. The McGivern gold Bead front sight is a round Ball style Bead, which attracts Light from all angles and it's sight in requirement's are to be set at Point of Impact. The Call bead gold bead sight is a flat disc style bead and attracts light mostly from behind the shooter. This style sight is to be sighted in at the standards Patridge front sight requirments of the 6-O Clock hold on the Ten ring. I Favor the McGivern do to the fact it is a lot easier to Place the Round gold Bead of it directly in the center of the Ten ring circle which is much easier to me. My pre-war K-22 revolver has the Later Call bead in it, that the Factory changed after the Introduction of them the first Year in 1931 from Gold to Stainless, and it does not do as well on target as my Gold McGivern style on this revolver. I have Noticed that the Modern Gold bead the factory supplies in the Past few years is a Call Bead because it is flat in nature, and they are getting them from SDM out of Ohio. I have Purchased his Gold Bead sights in the Past and Scott makes all the gold bead Modern sights for S&W. Here is a link to his site should you want to buy direct from him when replacing any standard front sight blades. I Hope this helps, Regards, Hammerdown

http://www.sdmfabricating.com/

[Ken ONeill]

Hammerdown,
Yes. I personally prefer the Call gold bead, as the round bead, for me, tends to reflect light toward the side the sun is on and my shots drift accordingly. With the square topped Smith Call gold bead front sights, I personally sight in for the bullet to impact at the top of the front blade at 25 yds., using the bead mostly to catch my eye better than a plain patridge.
 However, with FA flat bead front sights, the top of the blade is not square, but round. These I sight in as you apparently do, by centering the bead in the center of the square notch rear then zeroing to place the bullet in the center of the bead @ 25 yds. This seems like an odd concept for an old target shooter to adapt to, but it has worked well for me for years out to iron sight distances where the bead begins to cover too much of the target. The "V" express rear blade is too imprecise to satisfy me.
Interestingly to me, although I've shown this technique to several other shooters and although I know it is not unique, you are the only other shooter to ever mention it to me. We must both be awful old...or else " great minds think alike."
S.B.
50 yds. is not what I would call  "longer distance". Handgun Silhouette shooters began to see the potentially disruptive transition down from supersonic back to subsonic closer to 100 yds., depending upon the ammo and barrel length. At 50 yds. a great shooter, rifle, and ammo should stack 'em in a hole, whether the ammo is super or subsonic.

[S.B.]

My point was, .22 Bench Rest shooters who shoot at 50 yards get their best scores from rounds that start out at subsonic velocities. Don't know about sihouette shooters. Sorry for the confusion.

[Hammerdown]

Hammerdown,
Yes. I personally prefer the Call gold bead, as the round bead, for me, tends to reflect light toward the side the sun is on and my shots drift accordingly. With the square topped Smith Call gold bead front sights, I personally sight in for the bullet to impact at the top of the front blade at 25 yds., using the bead mostly to catch my eye better than a plain patridge.
 However, with FA flat bead front sights, the top of the blade is not square, but round. These I sight in as you apparently do, by centering the bead in the center of the square notch rear then zeroing to place the bullet in the center of the bead @ 25 yds. This seems like an odd concept for an old target shooter to adapt to, but it has worked well for me for years out to iron sight distances where the bead begins to cover too much of the target. The "V" express rear blade is too imprecise to satisfy me.
Interestingly to me, although I've shown this technique to several other shooters and although I know it is not unique, you are the only other shooter to ever mention it to me. We must both be awful old...or else " great minds think alike."

Hello
I found the Mcgivern round Gold bead to work well for me. Some Profess to be selling or marketing a Call Bead sight but from the current models available from S&W at best they appear to be a Mixed bag of Both sights with the Flat Call Bead being Lower in the blade like a McGivern is. . See the Link Below to the Guy that sells all of the Modern beads available to S&W now. Truth be Known since the death of the King Gun sight Corp. In California no one has been able to come out with a good front sight for a replacement. One sight that should be mentioned as well is the Paine sight. It was a gold bead desigh which had it's bead placed at the top of a Gracefull Post rounded around the gold Bead. This sight was Named after revolver shooter Ira Paine. or in the Kings Gun sight Corp. Placement of them,They  used a U shaped Rear sight blade or transformed revolvers to have this U shape rear sight Blade or on fixed guns cut them in to allow a quick sight Transition that took the Guess work out of it and named them Super Police Night sights. My 1948 K-22 has the correct front bead for that Period but the rear Sight Blade is still a patridge style with a square notch rather than the U Shape it should have for this style of sight. Here is a direct Link to the SDM Corp. which is Loacted in Ohio. Scott is the owners name and he is a nice guy to speak with. He also supplied S&W the Past few years with his SDM Gold Bead sight of which he Offer's the Newer Pinned style or the Classic Dove Tail design, But sadly he does not offer any sight blades for the Older Vintage revolvers like I have. He will sell  one of his Call style gold Beads that I have in the Past set into my standard Patridge sight blades,  but I have one like that in stainless that is in my Original 1936 K-22 Outdoorsman First series K-22 and do not Like it as well as I do the round ball type McGivern I just had installed on this 1948 K-22.  Regards, Hammerdown

http://www.sdmfabricating.com/Gold%20Bead.htm