[hendricks]

PRE WAR
bright blue finish
sharp cornered borders to checkering
patent dates on barrel
front sight pined to barrel
MADE IN USA on right side of frame
knob on end of extractor rod
flat faced hammer no internal hammer block
1935 gun

TRANSITIOAL
matte blue finish hammer & reboundslide pins polished to frame
rounded corners to checkering borders some will have magna grips
no patent dates on barrel
front sight forged with barrel
4 line adress on right side of frame
no knob on extractor rod
modern type hammer face hammer block working off rebound slide
1952 gun

 

[azmick]

very nice pair, great photography too

 

[Hunter]

Holy cow!! Awesome!!

 

[xtimberman]

A really fine pair of Kit Guns!

Do you ever shoot 'em? If so, how would you compare and contrast the DA trigger pulls?

xtm

 

[hendricks]

A really fine pair of Kit Guns!

Do you ever shoot 'em? If so, how would you compare and contrast the DA trigger pulls?

xtm

XTM
I have never shot them

 

[carl418_resigned]

Very nice!

 

[bmcgilvray]

Those are so cute! And in such good condition! It's also nice to see the red box. I had to begin hanging around forums before I learned that they once came in red boxes.

I too was wondering if you ever give them any range time.

 

[DCW]

Let me bring this thread back from retirement so I can show pictures of a Prewar KG from June of 1940 that I stumbled across on the dark bottom shelf of a gun shop in Santa Barbara about two months ago.

Numbers all match, including the stocks. No box, unfortunately. The sideplate had never been off. I opened it up and cleaned out the varnish, which improved the action immensely. I will probably fire this one at some point. There was enough grime around the breech end of the barrel and stuck to the ejector star to show that someone else had, so it is not a completely mint specimen.

This gun, which I would rate at 99% (though a harder grader might put it at 97-98), triggered my interest in .22/32 I-frames in general and Kit Guns in particular. Since then I have bought another Prewar KG, almost as nice as this one, which was shipped two years earlier. The second one has a battered red box and a USRA sight (like the one in the first post on this thread) instead of the more usual Patridge. I will post pictures as soon as I have a chance to take some -- maybe in another five to 10 days.

David Wilson

 

[Quarter Cherokee]

*Sigh*

Between you guys and Doc44, I feel like going into the gun room and hitting my ugly guns with a hammer.

 

[Bob K]

DON'T DO THAT,QC!!!! I'll gladly take that rusting heap of revolvers off your hands. Then.....you won't have to look at them. :roll: :lol: Bob

 

[22MRF]

Am I too late to see the second gun hendricks? Only one picture(the top gun) but it is a beauty! Lower one not pictured. And David your little gun looks new, how do you guys do it? The one I found, few years younger than yours, the owner wants three prices for and will not budge. Oh well. Great find guys, really nice guns. (Thanks hendricks, I am able to see the other little jewel now, really looks good. Edited 06/13/09)

 

[BlackAgnes]

 

[hendricks]

David
Great gun ,I watched the auction on the other one you got it for a bargin an a box to boot.
I don't find the USRA sight to be less common than the patridge it was a catalog item an is the only sight I have seen on a transitional.
James

 

[DCW]

And this is the other Kit Gun I mentioned earlier: 530553 from March of 1938. As James just mentioned in the previous post, this one came with the original box.

The box is numbered to the gun, and the serial number is consistent on all the numbered parts of the gun -- stocks included. The codes on the bottom of the box are RB-W for "Round Butt-Walnut" and a circled "USRA" for the type of sight.

I can't argue with James about which type of front sight is more common. I know the USRA sight was a factory option, but I think I have seen more Patridge sights than the other kind. Sounds like his experience runs the other way.

This gun is almost but not quite as nice as the first one I posted. The bluing is a little thin on the ejector rod, and contact with the end of the ejector rod has worn the bluing off the back of the ejector locking lug under the barrel. The barrel and chambers are sweet. Everything else looks really nice except for a couple of nicks on the thumb latch. Looks like the cylinder might have been inadvertently swung up while the ejector star was extended. I see no evidence the side plate has ever been off. I'm calling the finish on this gun 95-96%, but I think I may be conservative.

David Wilson