222-inch one used in .22 LR. The first Model 48-serial number K 348746-came off the line on May 11, 1959 and appeared in the Smith & Wesson catalog by August of that year, according to Roy Jinks ...

The first Smith & Wesson Model 48 came out of the factory in 1959 chambered in .22 WMR—a rimfire with added punch that Winchester introduced earlier that year. It didn’t take long for ...