Hello
I attended a small Local guns how yesterday and did Not expect to find what I came out of there with a short time later. I know most of the Vendors at these gun shows as I attend them all within a 150 Mile radius. I have Seen the vendor that had this K-22 before but for the most part he often has
Well Worn Revolvers of which I have no interest. A Year ago I came across a 1948 K-22 that had a very tight action but was well worn. I had not been able to find any Early Post War K-22's after an Exhaustive search & out of desperation I bought it and sent it off to Ford's for a refinish with their Famous Master Bluing. It came back as all my Other guns had in the past much more than I expected, and for the most part it was a real eye catcher at the range, and brought much attention from other Fellow shooters with it's Deep Black shinny finish. I Really Liked the Looks of it, But I have recently taken a new approach to my collection of S&W revolvers in the aspect they will be all original. Slowly I have swapped out or sold all my revolvers in my collection that had been refinished other than my Daily Carry Piece that is a Pre-30 J frame in .32 S&W Long that I had Ford's Place a High Polished Chrome finish on to take the daily chore of Wear & Tear showing Little wear to it's finish,& The last refinished revolver I had in my collection was this
1948 K-22 that Ford's did, and I have been on the serious Hunt for one that would be an Early Post-War example in Original condition in 95% or better condition, and alas I had Found it, But after Buying Three Last weekend I had More Guns than Cash to work with. I had with me $450.00 to buy a gun should I see one but the seller of this K-22 Knew what he had and with a
Four Digit Serial number of K 366X, this one was a very Early Post war model as S&W started their K-Prefix begining in 1947 which as The first year of Civilian production since they ceased all Civilain Produced guns for The World War II effort.I looked at this K-22 Early Post war revolver Three times and tried to feel out the seller on price, as to what it really would take to buy this Piece. He had it marked at $600.00 which is not out of Reason for a gun of this Nature, Given the Grade of Condition and low serial number, But I knew I was about $150.00 Light in my Wallet of making this deal transpire. I took a small Break outside as the show was rather slow and noticed a Gun show pal of mine making his way to the door from the Parking Lot with Three Long Guns under his arm. I stopped him Breifly and asked if he was still interested in buying my Refinished 1948 K-22 and he said Sure, let me sell one of my Long guns here and we can take care of that right quick. He was stopped by a guy just before he Entered the door of the show and sold off his most expensive piece so that allowed him the funds to buy my K-22 and gave me the extra to Haggle price with the seller That seemed Firm on his earlier price of the early Post-War K-22 I wanted so Badly. I told my Buddy I would have his 1948 K-22 Ready to go for him later in the day and he seemed content with that. I walked back and asked what the Rock Bottom price of this K-22 would be, and the seller quoted me a Price of $500.00 Out the door.I asked if he had looked to see if the grips matched the gun's serail number, and he told me they did not. I was not going to let grips Hinder my sale, But I sure considered it to be reason for the guy to take a little less for it and used it to haggle with him on the final Price. I was Pleased to get this revolver, and Upon reaching home with it took off the grips to lok at them. The guy that sold it to me was dead wrong as these grips were Indeed srail numbered to this revolver and perhaps he was Mistaken by the fact that they had the number part of the serail stamped on them, but were lacking the K-Prefix before the numbers. Here is that Early Post War K-22 with it's Matching Diamond Magna service grips and my refinished revolver that I sold off to buy it. You will Notice this revolver has The new Then Upswept Speed Hammer on it, Yet it has the Older Pre-War style extractor, and the Newer Barrel has been Notched out to accept the Older Mushroom Extractor Head. It was not uncommon for S&W to use up existing supplied of Parts that were of Older Nature even in a new revolver design as we all Know they sure did not throw anything away they could use Later on.I will Miss the Super High Polished Bluing Ford's did on the Upper revolver above, But when you start getting serious about your collection anything other than factory original is just another refinished gun to me any ways.. Regards, Hammerdown
1948 K-22 Refinished by Ford's Refinishing 
1947 K-22 Early Post-War Four Digit Serial 
Well, The
sun is finally shinning here in East Tennessee this morning so I am off to the range to fire this old Classic. I felt it needed a new set of
Sneakers so had this pair laying around waiting for a gun worthy of them so they now rest on it. I hope to return with some very tight group results from this old Girl Later. Regards, Hammerdown
A Very early Post-War Four digit serial number K-22 Found 
Hammerdown
..............................HOWDY
