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Barkoff Offline OP
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I have a S&W model 48-2, with box and papers in my safe, I don't believe it has ever been shot, picked it up for what I believe had to be a good price, even though I don't know their worth.

That being said, what kind of shooter was S&W targeting with a .22mag with an 8" barrel, target shooters, trappers? Feels very out of balance to me with the long heavy barrel. Can't help thinking about those gator hunters on TV, this would probablly work great for their line of work, but other than that?

Anyone have an idea what the value of the revolver would be in real world, not blue book? My father bought a group of guns at $200 each, this was one of them.







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Being a -2 gun does it have the pinned barrel?

That aside, the m-48s don't bring quite what the 22LR Smiths doe but any rimfire k-frame Smith in like new condition is a solid $600+ gun in today's market.

The long barreled K frames are an acquired taste. Some folks love them.

I knew an equine veterinarian in OK who kept an 8" Smith 48 in his truck to put horses down with 40g FMJ slugs.

Last edited by jim62; 01/23/11.

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Originally Posted by Barkoff
I have a S&W model 48-2, with box and papers in my safe, I don't believe it has ever been shot, picked it up for what I believe had to be a good price, even though I don't know their worth.

That being said, what kind of shooter was S&W targeting with a .22mag with an 8" barrel, target shooters, trappers? Feels very out of balance to me with the long heavy barrel. Can't help thinking about those gator hunters on TV, this would probablly work great for their line of work, but other than that?

Anyone have an idea what the value of the revolver would be in real world, not blue book? My father bought a group of guns at $200 each, this was one of them.









Hello Barkoff

The Model 48-2 was made from 1962-1967 time span and it's dash series engineering change was the elimination of the trigger guard screw making it a Three screw variation. These started life in 1959 as a Four screw variation and I have a Four screw First year Model 48 that shipped in December 1959. As shown, mine has the 6" Barrel and Optional .22 LR cylinder with it. These Optional .22 LR cylinder's could have either been ordered with the gun from the factory Post-1961 time frame or a customer could have sent their earlier model 48 back to the factory for a sitted .22 LR cylinder as mine was. The model 48-1's had an engineering change of cylinder threads from their previous right hand threads, to the left hand threads still used today, and that change came in 1960 time span.


They Offered the Model 48 in Three barrel lengths of 4"-6" and the 8-3/8" length that you have. The Early 4" examples are scarce, The 6" examples are common and the Longer 8-3/8" barrels fall in between the two fore mentioned. These 8-3/8" barrel models were made for serious Bulls-eye work on target. The reason they are of 8-3/8" length is way back S&W used to Offer a 8-3/4" barrel length but it was Deemed not useable by the U.S.R.S.A. Ruling as a revolver barrel could not exceed a 10" sight Plane and if you Measure your 8-3/4" Barrel length gun you will see it is exactly 10" in sight plane if measured from the end of the barrel to the rear of the rear sight blade on the frame.



Later on they developed the United States Pistol shooting association which now included semi auto pistols, not just revolver's. And so it Goes your gun was made for Serious Target Bulls-eye work and this Cartridge really screams out of an 8-3/4" Barrel length...The General.






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Barkoof: I currently own a couple Model 48's - one has an 8 3/8" barrel and the other is a 4" model.
I just polish them every now and then.
I have not fired either of these pistols to date.
I have owned other Model 48's in the past and they shoot rather well off of sandbags as I recall.
The 8 3/8" Model 48 is a tad muzzle heavy but that is the price one pays for the additional sighting radius and ballistic performance.
The noise level of 22 Magnum revolvers is "noticeable" and I highly advise use of ear muffs when shooting them.
I use my Model 651 (stainless 4" revolver) a lot for packing along while Varmint Hunting in Rattlesnake country - you should not walk-about in Rattlesnake country with ear muffs on!
About 3 shots into dispatching a Rattlesnake with no ear muffs and the 22 Magnum WILL have your ears ringing for about two hours.
What price range will the Model 48 be in if you are intending on selling it?
Hold into the wind
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An 8 3/8� model 48 is a very specialized pistol. The .22 mag really suffers greatly in a handgun and it�s really not a very effective cartridge for anything larger than say a fox inside of 50 yards. By stretching the barrel to 8 3/8� now you have both the sight radius and the ballistic authority to truly anchor a fox or smaller animal out to 50 yards. The 8 3/8� barrel makes the model 48 a 75 yard or possibly 100 yard prairie dog handgun. As for smaller game like squirrels and bunnies, it simply allows the shooter to do what they would do with a .22lr handgun, but 50% farther.

So that�s how I see it. If you wanted to get into the rimfire silhouette game, your model 48 would probably be the gun to beat at longer distance. Other than that, it�s really not a very practical pistol. If the barrel was cut down, the performance is only slightly better than the .22lr. Now one thing though, .22 magnum factory snake shot loads is about as good as factory snake shot gets. You�ll find that the .22 magnum snake shots perform every bit as well as a factory .44 special, or .45 Colt. This is because when you get out of the rimfire class, CCI switches from #12 shot, which is absolutely PERFECT, to a #9 shot, which puts too few pellets on target. So the .22 magnum is THE snake shot round if you�re going to use factory snake loads. Using .22 magnum one round will stop a snake cold if hit in the head (and head shots are not tough at all with shot cartridges). A second shot will usually completely stop all squirming with the exception of some tail movement that will happen even if you completely sever the head. With #9 shot in the factory centerfire loads, it generally takes about 3 shots to bring things to a complete stop.

PS�For some reason, CCI uses #12 in their 9mm shot cartridges, making the 9mm the best factory snake shot offering available. Unfortunately, unless it�s a 9mm revolver, the snake loads rarely will cycle a semi-auto pistol.

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Hello Kevin
Most will argue that the .22 W.M.R. Cartridge is not much more Powerful in a handgun than the Milder .22 L.R. Cartridge but I find that is not true. Chuck Hawes has made some recent comments on both caliber's being shot out of revolver's and his finidings are below and show the two cartridge velocites and Muzzle differences to be very different, still making the .22 W.M.R. in the Lead over any .22 L.R. Round. Regards, TheGeneral



From the 6.5" barrel of a revolver the velocity is 1400 fps with an energy of 174 ft. lbs


These hyper-velocity .22 LR cartridges are the best choice for a .22 pistol used for personal defence. From the muzzle of a handgun their velocity is about 1260 fps and their energy is about 115 ft. lbs.


Yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death ,... I Shall Fear no Evil, as I Always have with me Me my Loaded Smith & Wesson "..
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I have the 48 in a six inch barrel. It was bought years ago for 150bucks from a guy that thought he was sticking me. It was a bankor punta smith, and would not eject casings properly.
a quick deburring solved that issue. It is a wonderully accurate pistol, but it does bark. One atvantage it has over .22long rifle is you can get better ammo, such as nosler bullets for it. i think they are much better at dumping jack rabbits and things like that than a .22long rifle pistol.
one of these days i will have to chrony some rounds going through it.
I have quite a few smith revolvers, but have gathered in recent years a number of the six inch versions rather than four inch which comprise most of them. my latest six inch .41magnum is a door ringer at 25yards.
i had the 48 with me last fall while turkey/elk/deer hunting for small game.


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Originally Posted by generalstuart
Hello Kevin
Most will argue that the .22 W.M.R. Cartridge is not much more Powerful in a handgun than the Milder .22 L.R. Cartridge but I find that is not true. Chuck Hawes has made some recent comments on both caliber's being shot out of revolver's and his finidings are below and show the two cartridge velocites and Muzzle differences to be very different, still making the .22 W.M.R. in the Lead over any .22 L.R. Round. Regards, TheGeneral



From the 6.5" barrel of a revolver the velocity is 1400 fps with an energy of 174 ft. lbs


These hyper-velocity .22 LR cartridges are the best choice for a .22 pistol used for personal defence. From the muzzle of a handgun their velocity is about 1260 fps and their energy is about 115 ft. lbs.
General,

Actually, I think those velocities kinda make my point (well to me at least), but in all honestly I was thinking in terms of normal (less than 6�) barrel lengths when I wrote the first time; contrasting against the OP�s 8 3/8� barrel. Yes, that shows a 140fps difference and on paper that�s a real difference. But what that translates to in the field is almost nothing. You�ll have a flatter trajectory with the .22 mag, so if you�re doing long range target shooting, certainly the mag has a usable edge. But if you�re talking about killing game, to me at least, that 140fps doesn�t equate to much. I mean, I�m not going to shoot at something with the .22 mag that I wouldn�t shoot at with the .22lr. When talking 40-50 grain .22 bullets, it takes more than 140fps for a cartridge to really be �different� in my book.

For a .22 rimfire handgun (magnum or LR), a Coyote is probably the largest thing you�re likely to ever shoot at. I wouldn�t shoot at a Yote beyond 25 yards with either. Yeah, I�d have a touch more confidence with the .22 mag, but not so much that I felt like I had a gun in a whole different class. Now give me the OP�s 8 3/8� revolver, over an 8 3/8� .22lr, and I�d start to feel like I have something a little different. I�d shoot that Yote with a bit more confidence, and I�d be willing to even tack on another 10-15 yards.

So, my point is that the difference between the two guns isn�t transformational, like the difference between .38 Special and .357 mag.


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