The S&W Model 14-3 K-38 Masterpiece

Being a child of the 1950s, I have more of an affinity to the guns of that era than the new plastic frame DA autos, .40 calibers, AR15 clones and so on. I'm drawn to wood-stocked rifles, single action revolvers and classic autos like the 1911 and my own PPK.

One of my favorite guns has always been the Smith & Wesson Masterpiece. (It's often called the "Target Masterpiece", to distinguish it from the Model 15 Combat Masterpiece, but S&W just called it the Masterpiece.) This is a real target pistol, with a target hammer, target trigger, checkered backstrap and grip, and a matte sight rib. Even without custom tuning this is a very accurate, easy to shoot gun. No one shoots revolvers in serious bullseye competition anymore (everyone's gone over to .32 autos) but I don't plan on doing any serious competitions with it- just paper punching at my own pace.

The basic K-Frame is probably the most successful revolver S&W ever made. It may be the most successful revolver in US history. Introduced as the  38 Hand Ejector in 1899 and renamed the Military and Police in the 1920, it became the most popular police gun in America, with perhaps 80% of all police departments having been armed with K-frame M&Ps at one time. It was a standard sidearm for US and Commonwealth forces in WWII, and with the USAF through Vietnam and beyond. There were eventually target versions in 38spl, .32 and .22, and .357 combat versions.

The Model 14 K-38 dates from 1949, and went out of production around 1999 when S&W modernized their product line. But the people at S&W noticed that the prices of a lot of these discontinued models kept rising, and so they brought back the Model 14 and many other guns in somewhat modified form as "Classics Revolvers," with (for instance) frame mounted firing pins in place of fixed hammer-mounted pins.  You can buy a new K-38 for $909 (list price) although a lot of shooters still prefer the older guns.

I hadn't actually been looking for a new gun, but my friend Ric and I dropped into a a local gun shop on the way to his sporting club and this one- a 1970 14-3- caught my eye immediately. Classic lines, checkered walnut grips, S&W quality, and money in the toy account from the recent sale of other toys. Plenty of bluing wear, but then it's a 40 year old gun. Cylinder and bore were clean and shiny and the cylinder locked up nice and tight.  Ric, who knows a thing or two about S&W revolvers, gave it his approval.  I obviously had to buy it. At the club, I test fired it with Ric's  .38spl wadcutters and found it easy to shoot and very accurate- more so than my Blackhawk. It pointed more naturally, too.

Ric suggests I do a tuneup on it to smooth out the double-action firing behavior, which would turn it into a pretty decent entry level PPC gun. But I don't expect I'll do any PPC competition. As fun as it looks, I have too many other hobbies that take up my time. I think I'll just enjoy casual bullseye shooting, plinking, and maybe even some small game hunting with it.  And maybe the Blackhawk will go up for sale.