All the 'K22' talk reminded me that Smith & Wesson also made at least one N-Frame revolver in .22 Long Rifle.

It was one of a custom-ordered pair of 'Magnums' that was described in the article The First Magnum by Roy Jinks.

I no longer have my copy, but as I recall, they were a matched pair, one in .357, the other in .22, both with 8¾" (not 8⅜") barrels.

This pair of 'Registered' Magnums was ordered, I think, by some Potash company somewhere out West.

At the time the article was published, which I believe was in the early 1990s, the pair had yet to be 'found' by the collector community.

On a related note, the first 'K22' was also a custom order, placed, as I recall, somewhere around 1912 by a man serving in the US Navy.

The factory didn't think it would work very well with the bullet having to make such a long jump to the barrel, so they actually rifled the cylinder throats, presumably to exactly match the rifling in the barrel.

Because of the complexity of this task, the first K22 was not made a production item, and when the 'next' K22 finally appeared on the scene in the 1930s, it lacked this feature.

FYI

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....and I have seen one N-frame .32 S&W Long (at the Walla Walla gun show back in the mid-90s). OK, it was not a factory gun, it was a M1917 that somebody had sleeved the cylinders and installed a barrel liner, chopped the barrel to 2 1/2" and nickel plated the whole kit-n-kaboodle.

But that one sounds like a regular Prize Wiener.

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I suppose it's been done before, but I was just thinking of sub-caliber sleeves for large-caliber revolvers.

Say, .38 Special in .44 Special. Stainless steel. Ejectable. Reusable.

Loaded with ordinary HBWC target ammunition, that might have certain uses.

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If whichever one of my kids that ends up getting it discombobulated it, I'll come back from the dead and discombobulated them! ;)

I think a well done Fitz Special would be pretty neat, but I have to agree: It should really be in .45 Long Colt.

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That one would have to have an awfull short barrel as the sleeve would have to be inserted through the cylinder window to be able to install and remove it at will.

Any bullet thus propelled into a larger bore wouldn't be accurate, but at conversational distances it wouldn't matter.

If it tumbled, that might even be better.

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I have seen a number of old French and Italian military revolvers people have brought back at the end of WWII. These were remade with chamber and barrel liners into 22LR caliber revolvers. They were very accurate shooters. I don't know who did the work, but it was first class stuff. I imagine this was common to a number of revolvers brought back or sold in the U.S. after the wars. They can be interesting revolvers. Most are black powder guns. Have a good day.