The Model 648 traces its lineage back to the original Model 48 that debuted in the late 1950s, and it was one of the first wheelguns capable of firing the then-new. 22 WMR there’s an argument the Model 648 can be a defensive gun. While primarily a target/plinking/hunting gun, with eight rounds of. One of its newest additions is the reintroduced Model 648, a stainless steel revolver with a full underlug and a cylinder that holds eight rounds of. Much has changed on the handgun landscape since those early K frames were breaking accuracy records, but Smith & Wesson is still making K-frame guns. Those early Smith & Wesson double-action revolvers were known for their robust build quality and outstanding accuracy, and in the early 20th century, the K frame was the premier target pistol in the world. Though that particular gun was 40 years old when I first fired it, the K-22 Masterpiece was hardly the first of the Smith & Wesson hand-ejector K frames, which date back to 1899.

That gun set the bar pretty high for a kid who had never fired anything more potent than a water pistol, and I still remember the heft of it in my hand and the sleek, precise movement when I cocked the hammer. The first handgun I ever fired was a Smith & Wesson K-22 Masterpiece, an unblemished walnut and blued steel beauty that resided in a Hoppe’s-scented box on a top shelf in my father’s closet.

Smith and wesson model 64 review