K-22 Masterpiece

Otherwise known as the Smith & Wesson Model 17.

I was in a local gun shop awhile back. They had a K-22 in their used gun case for $600. I swallowed hard and walked away.

See, I bought a K-22 over thirty years ago, new, for about $200. I shot that gun a lot. For I was a member of a local indoor range, which meant that all it cost me to shoot at any given time was cartridges and targets. I'd stop at the range on the way home from work, maybe three times a week, and shoot for a half-hour or so.[1]

Later, when I was back home on my folk's farm,[2] I kept that K-22 handy. Between plinking and pest-control shooting, that revolver worked well. Then I moved to the PRMA[3] for a few years, where they also frowned on handgun ownership. I loaned the K-22 to a college kid who was serious about becoming a better shooter, but he didn't have a decent gun to work with.

A few years after that, someone broke into his place and swiped the K-22, among other stuff. I've thought about replacing it, but then I recently looked at the MSRP for a new one and gasped. The online gun auctions aren't significantly cheaper for used ones.

Replacing that K-22 is an itch that I'm not going to scratch.

UPDATED: Three years later, I scratched the itch.
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[1] Of course, if the base cops had ever searched my car, I'd have been screwed. The Navy positively frowned on having weapons on the base.
[2] The farm was Dad's retirement project. The difference between my father and a real farmer, like Frank James, was like the difference between me and a 25,000 hr airline pilot.
[3] Aka the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.