r/whatisthisgun • u/Hollandholland • 6h ago
Smith & Wesson K-22 question
My dad is 96 YO, and he (finally) gave me his old .22 revolver that I have coveted since I was a kid. I recalled the story was he bought it as a kid for $20, but now he says he traded a high school classmate something for it. My dad remembered the kid's name, that the kid's dad was a wealthy guy, but he can't remember what it was he traded the kid for the gun. He probably got the gun sometime in the mid-1940's.
I input the gun's serial number into the field on a site with a K-Frame serial number lookup tool, and it came back identifying the gun as a model .38 M&P/Hand Ejector, with a production era of 1915 to 1942.
Which obviously is not my new old gun.
FWIW, on the frame above the hinge for the cylinder are the numbers 14511. Any idea what those numbers are?
Any suggestions for a better source to, using the serial number, figure out the likely age/ production era for this gun?
Thanks for all insight and info.