S&W K22 Masterpiece maintenance

nettlle

nettlle

Contributing Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2014
Messages
3,309
Location
Preble County, OH
May late father-in-law gave me this pistol decades ago and I have kept it stored. Being retired now I want bring it out of storage and start shooting it. It needs a good cleaning. I am having a hard time finding any information on disassembly for cleaning and am looking for any books or links that would help.

SzY8RMyl.jpg
 
UncleEd said:
Is the barrel bright and sharp, chambers clean, is the action smooth
with no sluggishness in trigger or the turning of the cylinder? If yes
to those questions, then consider a tiny few drops of RemOil around
the hammer, the yoke. You are done. Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Yes to all. Been researching this and am pretty well coming up with the same answer as yours. I would like to remove the cylinder for easier cleaning of the barrel an cylinder. The cylinder is pretty dirty.
 
Carefully remove the front side plate screw, the one just
forward of the trigger. The cylinder will then easily
slide out. But it is not necessary for normal cleaning.
Use a new copper bristle brush with a decent solvent.
 
The Kunhausen book is the standard reference. If you're going to take the gun apart, you should get it. https://www.amazon.com/Revolver-Shop-Manual-Covers-Actions/dp/B000MRFUWY

I wouldn't take the gun apart, though. The cylinder assembly comes out once you've removed the screw visible in your picture, under the cylinder and above the trigger.

You also can remove the side plate by removing the grips, and the rest of the screws on the side. Don't pry at the side plate, but rather hold the gun loosely in your hand and give the gun a rap with a soft mallet. This should pop the side plate off - hold the gun with that side facing upward, and hopefully none of the lockwork falls out.

I wouldn't disassemble beyond that point. There's just no need. The lockwork can be degreased however you like, then flushed with brake cleaner. A drop of light oil should then be applied to each pivot pin and then blown through the lock with compressed air. Unless there is damage, there isn't any good reason to do more than that.

By the way, that is a fantastic gun, and probably the best teacher a handgunner can have!
 
I got one very much like yours over the holidays. Had it to the range yesterday and couldn't find an ammo that it didn't do well with. CCI Mini-Mags surprised me and were the best of what I had with me anyway, but not by much really.

Before it went to the range, I removed the stocks, flushed it with gunscrubber, then cleaned the bore and cylinder with Hoppes, patches and brushes, then put a few drops of oil here and there, about anyplace I could find that had an opening and worked the action manually a few times. That oil will find it's way to where it's needed. Anything not needed will run out. Wiped it down, put the stocks back on, and called it good.
 
Do not take it apart if everything is functioning smoothly. Clean the barrel, clean the chambers,don't forget to clean under the extractor star. A drop of oil on the ratchet, cylinder lock pin in the middle of the ratchet (that's probably not the right term), the hand and the cylinder stop and you should be good to go. My only other recommendation might be to swap the stocks for something a little bigger if you do much shooting with it, but that's mostly because I find the skinny Magna stocks difficult to get a consistent hold on. Set the originals aside in the safe with the revolver, carefully labeled to where they belong.

Also, very nice looking revolver you have there. Classic 5-screw S&Ws just look right.
 
I bought the Kuhnhausen book decades ago and have used it uncounted times.
Highly recommended if you're working on these guns, but certainly not needed by the casual owner who probably shouldn't ever be removing the sideplate.
 
This thread motivated me to spray my old pre-model 17 down with a little RemOil this morning. It's my best .22 revolver and definitely deserves it.
 
I am a compulsive gun cleaner. For rimfires I do NOT use a cleaning rod of any kind. I use fishing line or string trimmer line. For a, say, 16" barrel I take a length of about 48" and double it. Pass the loop through the muzzle to the camber; put a patch through the loop, put solvent or oil (I generally use Boeshield T9) on the patch and pull it through. I repeat as my OCD dictates.
Necessary? I have no idea.
Harmful? No way.
Palliative? Absolutely! :D
 
You might be surprised at how much crud can accumulate around the ejector rod in a .22 LR. That old Masterpiece has right hand threads securing the ejector rod to the extractor star, and as it gets dirtier the ejector rod may begin unscrewing, which eventually jams the cylinder shut. If/when that old gun becomes hard to open, that's the first thing I would check. S&W went to left hand threads on the ejector rod around 1959 or so, so on my S&Ws older than that I routinely remove the cylinder and ejector rod for cleaning. I would only remove the side plate for cleaning if some other problem shows up.
 
Last edited:
What I do isn't what everyone should do.

As long as the action doesn't feel sluggish, leave the sideplate where it is. Once removed, the learning curve gets steeper in a hurry, and at that point Kuhnhausen is your friend.

If the front of the cylinder looks grungy, carefully remove the forwardmost sideplate screw (use a hollow-ground gunsmith screwdriver or bit to avoid buggering the slot), open the cylinder and pull the assembly forward. Go after the gunge with a nylon toothbrush and Flitz metal polish, follow up with a good swab and scrub using powder solvent (I like Hoppes #9) then dry with a towel and apply a thin coat of CLP to exterior surfaces and the ejector rod before reinstalling. When using Flitz, I apply some of the paste with a Q-tip and let it sit for a minute before scrubbing, repeating as necessary.

You can also give the same treatment to the inside of the frame opening and the bore while the cylinder is removed, though I only use Flitz on the front of the cylinder.
 
The only challenge I have faced with my similar example was after shooting extensive quantities of Aguila Colibri loads. Even though these use a standard LR case, the bullets have a shorter driving band, allowing fouling to build-up in front of the normal chamber step.This made chambering of normal LR ammo very difficult without a good focused cleaning.
 
There is nothing wrong with taking a revolver sideplate off, if done properly with the right tools, but is it really needed in most cases? First, flush it good with brake cleaner (grips removed, of course!) followed with scrubbing and light, but adequate lubrication. Only if the problem persists, you may disassemble your revolver, but it will be better left to your friendly local gunsmith, as I have seen way more revolvers butchered from incompetent owners, than from dried up lubricant.
 
Kunnhausen S&W shop manual should be a good start.
As mentioned above though I would flush it really good with 50% Kerosene, 50% Mineral spirits mixed with ATF @32:1 like chain saw mix! It's rarely necessary to completely disassemble a revolver. Even though I can do it blindfolded! :)
 
Last edited:
UncleEd said:
Carefully remove the front side plate screw, the one just
forward of the trigger. The cylinder will then easily
slide out. But it is not necessary for normal cleaning.
Use a new copper bristle brush with a decent solvent.
Click to expand...
I can't get the screw in front of the trigger guard to budge. I was able to get the cylinder yoke and cylinder of without removing this screw. What is the screw in front of the trigger guard for?
 
Last edited:
That was not the screw they were talking about… On your 5 screw gun, the one in front of the trigger guard not what holds the yoke in place. Looking at the gun with muzzle facing right, it is the screw facing you furthest to the right. But I assume you figured that out since you got it off.… In 1958 or their abouts they eliminated the 5th screw which is up closest to the hammer on the side plate. All guns after that were 4 screw until about 1962 when they elimintated the screw in front of the trigger screw making all future S&W’s 3 screws.
 
This gun, although mechanically in great shape and shoots well, wasn't cared for very well. It has stuff caked on it everywhere. I did get the side plate off tonight with no harm done. The yoke and cylinder is out. The lube on all the moving parts under the side plate has turned to varnish and for all practical purposes are dry. I am as far as I am willing to go until I get the Knuhausen and/or watch some videos.
Mike C2 said:
That was not the screw they were talking about… On your 5 screw gun, the one in front of the trigger guard not what holds the yoke in place. Looking at the gun with muzzle facing right, it is the screw facing you furthest to the right. But I assume you figured that out since you got it off.… In 1958 or their abouts they eliminated the 5th screw which is up closest to the hammer on the side plate. All guns after that were 4 screw until about 1962 when they elimintated the screw in front of the trigger screw making all future S&W’s 3 screws.
Click to expand...
I got the yoke and cylinder off before I removed the screws and side plate.
 
Mizar said:
There is nothing wrong with taking a revolver sideplate off, if done properly with the right tools, but is it really needed in most cases? First, flush it good with brake cleaner (grips removed, of course!) followed with scrubbing and light, but adequate lubrication. Only if the problem persists, you may disassemble your revolver, but it will be better left to your friendly local gunsmith, as I have seen way more revolvers butchered from incompetent owners, than from dried up lubricant.
Click to expand...
I'm not gunsmith but have never taken any of my guns to a gunsmith. I work on them and/or fix them by doing exactly what I am doing now. Researching and asking questions. I have the proper tools for working on guns.
 
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