The 1948 Smith & Wesson K-22

This article is Part III of the K-22 Masterpiece Series. Part II focused on the historically important 1946 factory showcase gun. This page shifts to the collector’s detective work — price, production numbers, serial-number clues, and the small changes that make these old revolvers so interesting.

1948 Was Not Just Another Year

Smith & Wesson’s K-22 Masterpiece — the Third Model — was produced from 1946 to 1957. The year was 1948, and Humphrey Bogart was filming The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Key Largo was already in theaters. The Berlin Blockade and Airlift helped kick off the Cold War. Israel became a nation. The United States Armed Forces were desegregated. The Summer Olympics returned in London. George Orwell finished 1984 and checked himself into a TB sanatorium.

That was the backdrop when this K-22 Masterpiece rolled out of the Smith & Wesson factory.

The Price I Paid

I paid more for this one than I wanted to admit at the time. The total purchase price came to $1,699:

• Online price: $1,450
• Credit card fee: $51
• Sales tax: $153
• Shipping: $45

At the time, similar Third Model guns could be found online in the $900 to $1,200 range, with the best examples approaching $2,000. For an old codger like me, coming to terms with the extra $250 I paid to get this example was a difficult adjustment.

When I picked this gun up from Benny, my FFL guy, I told him I was going to be embarrassed to write about it and disclose what I had paid. He laughed and quickly changed the subject from the extra cost to the tapered barrel and all of the serial-number locations on the 1948 gun.

The Serial-Number Clue

For some reason, Smith & Wesson stamped the “K” spaced far away from the numbers, although it is part of the serial number. The Third Model serial-number range was K101 to K317822. The K-32 and K-38 companion guns would have been in this same serial-number range.

During my search to buy three of these Third Model K-22 guns for Christmas gifts, I noticed more 1948 guns being offered than I expected. That sent me back to the serial-number table.

Serial Number Locations

• Gun butt
• Bottom of barrel under the extractor rod
• Rear face of yoke
• Backside of extractor star
• Rear face of cylinder
• Backside of right stock grip

What Did I Find?

Sure enough, more Third Model serial numbers were assigned in 1948 than in any other year. Remember, there can be a big difference between manufacture date and ship date. The only way to know for sure is to order a factory letter on your gun.

The fewest serial numbers were assigned in 1949. Other relatively low-output years included 1947, 1950, 1954, and 1956. I started with production numbers, but the deeper I looked, the more I wanted to understand the small production changes across the Third Model period.

The Three T’s

The Three T’s is a term you will run across while searching for one of these guns:

• Target hammer
• Target trigger
• Target stocks

My 1948 gun exhibits none of those traits. It has the tapered barrel with narrow rib and the Diamond Magna style grips, which I love. I would still like to have an example with the target hammer and target trigger.

What Happened in 1949?

From a quick glance at the serial-number table, one would surmise that Smith & Wesson assigned more Third Model K-22 serial numbers in 1948 than in any other year of production. The following year, 1949, appears to be one of the lowest output years after the initial partial year of 1946.

• 1948: K18732–K73121, or 54,390 numbers assigned
• 1949: K73122–K84149, or 11,028 numbers assigned

Serial-number assignment has to represent manufacturing activity, even if it does not always correspond exactly with shipping activity. From the looks of things, Smith & Wesson put the brakes on in 1949. Perhaps they turned attention to other models or lines. Or perhaps the post-war market had simply shifted. In 1949, televisions were being sold at an astonishing pace. Perhaps everyone was home watching TV.

Collector Takeaway: Sometimes the story is not only in the gun — it is in the production pattern. The serial table turned this 1948 K-22 from a nice purchase into a clue about the whole Third Model period.

Changes Across the Third Model Period

There were changes to the gun during this 11-year period, but because they were all made before the Model 17 and dash designations, there was nothing simple to signal those changes.

• Sharp-shoulder to rounded-shoulder grips around 1953
• Narrow-rib to wide-rib barrel, introduced around 1950 and standard by about 1953
• Lighter tapered barrel to heavier straight barrel
• Five-screw to four-screw frame around mid-1955

Changes could have occurred on one date, but guns shipping later might still have older features due to parts, inventory, or backlog. That is what makes the period both confusing and fascinating.

Of the 317,722 serial numbers assigned from 1946 to 1957, it appears likely that 248,605 were assigned to five-screw guns and 69,117 were assigned to four-screw guns. The grips changed in 1953 from sharp-shoulder to rounded-shoulder, but a gun could have been ordered with target grips instead of Magna style grips. If a gun got target grips, they were not numbered to the gun.

In monitoring K-22 sales, I discovered that you cannot determine age or year by satin versus bright finish alone. I have yet to see a nickel-plated version for sale. I have learned never to say never with these guns — and that I still have a lot to learn.

Why This One Stayed With Me

Of the four K-22s I bought during that stretch, I paid the most for this one. It is in excellent condition, has been fired very little, and includes the original numbered box and tools. I love the bright blue high-polish finish on later guns, but when the condition is high, the satin finish on this 1948 gun is creamy beautiful.

The gold box described this revolver with micrometer click sight, short cocking action, ribbed barrel, heavy frame, anti-backlash trigger, and S&W high-speed hammer.

When I lined up the 1948, 1950, 1953, and 1957 guns on the dining-room table, the average person would have noticed no differences. My wife spotted the bright finish on the 1957 gun. But even a trained eye would need a closer inspection to detect narrow-rib and wide-rib variants.

I recently saw serial number 250 from the first year up for sale. Don’t you know I thought about it. Update: After learning that gun was the first of this model to be completed at the factory in 1946, I bought it.

About Greg Cook

Greg Cook writes about firearms collecting, personal history, and the stories behind interesting guns. His Army MOS was 76Y, Unit Armorer, and he brings that practical background to his collector articles.