Smith & Wesson Model 48-4 Engraved K-22 Masterpiece M.R.F.

Most Model 48 rimfires never got dressed up like this one. It's a 48-4, the K-22 Masterpiece M.R.F. chambered for the .22 Magnum, and someone took it well past its working roots with full-coverage scroll engraving that runs the length of the gun. Frame, barrel, cylinder, trigger guard, and topstrap all carry deep cut scrollwork against the bright blue. The leaf-and-scroll pattern wraps the barrel rib right up to and around the SMITH & WESSON address roll mark, and the engraver carried it across the case-colored hammer flats and into the recoil shield area.

The real talking point sits right there on the muzzle end. This 48 comes with a second cylinder, also fully engraved to match the gun, with a knurled ejector rod on its own crane assembly. A matched extra cylinder is uncommon on any engraved Smith. Finding both units cut by the same hand, with the scroll flowing the same way across both, is rarer still.

The 6 inch pinned barrel and the micrometer-click adjustable rear sight mark it as a target gun first. The hammer wears its color case finish, the wide serrated trigger shows polished sides, and the K-frame retains its deep commercial blue under all that cutting. Grips are smooth Goncalo or rosewood target stocks with the gold S&W medallions, warm reddish brown with strong figure that plays against the dark steel. There's light handling wear on the high edges and a few honest marks, nothing that pulls from the work.

The set is complete. It comes in the correct blue S&W box with the K-22 Masterpiece M.R.F. Model No. 48 instruction sheet. For a collector who wants factory-style engraving on a .22 Magnum K-frame, with a matching spare cylinder to boot, this is a hard combination to find twice.