Yankee gun. Smith and Wesson K22 from Vermont.
Somewhere in the late 50s or early 60s Dad bought a Smith and Wesson K22 revolver. I remember it had stag grips and a nickel finish. He always talked about what a great shooter it was but I didn't shoot it much. Just too heavy for me back then as a gradeschooler going through the BB rifle stage. When I was in high school I had my own Ruger Mk1 which I still have in my Bullseye pistol box. When I was in college I didn't have a firearm with me. Dad died in '76 and it was stolen from the lakehouse in the late 70s or early 80s. I hope it has a happy home somewhere.
I've been watching K22s go by on Gunbroker for a couple of years. If you have 700.00 you can buy one, rfn, with box, but I had time and was looking for a better deal. A couple weeks back one was listed by a seller in Vermont. He said it had some wear and rust but looked good inside. He speculated that it had been in storage for a long time. I got in at the 355.00 level but was out-autobid. Out of curiosity I went looking for the upper limit of the autobid and ended up buying the pistol.
I shopped for the best deal among the local gunshops to have it shipped down. 25.00 was the low bid, 40 bucks the high. I sent the FFL license from the 25.00 shop, (Mac's, downtown across from the jail) and sent the money order. Came in a couple day ago. Its rough, lots of use, doesn't look like its had a day of storage in 50 years but seems to be OK inside. You would think a gun seller would wipe a firearm off before listing it, just for the photos sake but it arrived with gunk, adhesive, dirt, et all over it. I gave it the Hoppes treatment and tomorrow I'll have a chance to shoot it on the range.
412.00 for the pistol. 20 bucks for shipping. 25 for the FFL here. 457. I'm sure Dad had his for 50 bucks or less from Reynolds Gun Shop here in Tyler. He might have bought it at Mac's Guns, the same shop I had this one shipped to.
Update: I'm going to shoot it at a standard 25 yard pistol target, offhand, and see where the group is using Wolf Match Target .22 LR. Pretty quickly I'll know if the pistol will shoot a group or not, which cylinder holes fire the best and how the trigger breaks.
Update II: So many stocks for sale on Ebay that you would think there isn't a pistol with wood still on it left anywhere. Need a pair of old, beat-up diamond pattern target stocks for it, if it shoots.
Update III: for 50 bucks S&W will trace the pistol and see where it was originally sold.
5 comments:
My dad a was a police office in Plainview, TX. He carried a SW 41 Mag. He was recruited by the Lubbock PD, and we moved in '65. He traded his .41 for a 38 Chief's special after he went to the plainclothes division.
I always wished I'd had the chance to shoot the old .41 Mag. I'm glad you found a decent K22. The firearms of our fathers seem to hold a certain mystique for me. Not sure why.
When I would show up with something he remembered using in the Army, he'd smile, disappear behind his eyes for a while, and then remark what he remembered about his time with it. Found out how to do a "Queen Anne salute" with the M1.
He didn't like the 1911. Seems a bud at the LPD self-inflicted a hole in the glut max with one after a long day. Dad said the bullet bounced around the tile shower room for half an hour!
Congrats on the K22. Got an extra .41 Mag??
Agree on the mystique of our Dad's pistols... Guess that's why I'm a Colt guy and not a S&W guy...
ST: No, but I bet there is one on Gunbroker!
Wouldn't it be wild if you ended up with your dad's actual pistol? Unlikely, I know, but it would be poetic.
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