Every now and then, we firearms folk walk into a gun shop and find something that just grabs us by the eyeballs. That was my experience in early March when I visited Ernie Traugh’s Cedar Valley Outfitters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The gun in question was a Smith & Wesson Model 17, the classic K-22, with the uncommon 8 3/8” barrel.
I got my first K-22 before I got my driver’s license, the early model that S&W called the Outdoorsman when they introduced it in the early 1930s. (Didn’t get it then, though; I just LOOK that old. Would’ve been early 1960s when it came into my eager, then-young hands.)
I already had a few of the six-inch barrel versions of this six-shot .22 Long Rifle revolver, and one of the four-inch barrel versions, the Model 18. I’ve owned the “long Tom” 8 3/8” barrel S&Ws in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum, but never one chambered for .22 rimfire, the most popular cartridge in the country.
Ernie gave me a good deal, as he typically does; I wrote him a check, and he set the K-22 aside until a dealer in my state could get a copy of my Federal Firearms License to him. I spent most of the month on the road, and didn’t get to pick it up at my local gun shop and shoot it until now.
The .22 Long Rifle round has been one of the most useful for rural Americans since its introduction in the year 1887. Ridding the farm of predators, vermin, and uninvited produce consumers, and feeding the family with rabbit, squirrel, head-shot grouse and more for about as long, the .22 LR has earned its place as the most popular American cartridge. The overwhelming majority of that ammo has been fired through rifles, but over the decades, target-grade .22 handguns have proven that within their range, they can do the same job. And for every .22 round that ever bagged meat, there were probably hundreds if not thousands just fired at inanimate targets for fun.
I didn’t buy the long-barreled K-22 for blasting bunnies to create hasenpfeffer, though. Truth to tell, I bought it for…fun.
Beautifully crafted, it is a song in steel, sung to celebrate American workmanship. This one, “pre-owned,” was fitted by its previous custodian with a pair of Hogue grips. It shot a bit left for me at 25 yards. Well, that’s why they came with adjustable sights. The gentle kiss of the screwdriver will fix that.
With that extra-long barrel, you’d think it would be more accurate than a standard-length K-22. It wasn’t. Balanced nice in the hand, though.
I bought it because it was…cool.
And, in the end, that’s reason enough.
Bet some of you out there have guns you didn’t really need, but bought for similar reasons. Share with the rest of us. The folks who come here understand.
