Picked it up this morning. It is a 66-2, so made between 82-86. No box or papers.

I took the advice above and just started with oil and Hoppe's with a Q tip and a brass brush. That cleaned up almost everything. There was a speck of black-ish surface rust on the trigger guard that I had to hit with a stainless steel brush and it went away. There are use marks, some scratches, but overall it looks and feels pretty good. I am happy with the purchase. I might even keep it as is although though VZ grips look nice.

I have a “custom” 65 3” that I bought as a young man at a Florida gun show. It has the nicest DA stroke I have ever personally felt and they added adjustable rear sights and built up a ramp front. Maybe I will go back and look at that 65 but it doesn’t sing to me like a 66. Didn’t know the 3” 65’s were sought after. Huh.

That is a really nice one. Enjoy.

I wrestled with changing out the grips for YEARS because the stock ones look so damn good. You’ve got a nice grain in yours as well.

My S&W wheel. Only one internal lock gun in there, the 627 Pro. When I did a trigger job on it I removed the parts and plugged it though.

Pedro, you did good. That's a beauty! I like the wood target grips, too. My 66-4 came with Uncle Mikes rubber grips, which I still have, but I sourced some knockoff targets off of ebay from a guy in Thailand. They're a little orange but the fit is good.





So while we're talking K frames, I did a bad thing today. Remember how I was saying I passed on that Model 28 yesterday? Well, everything happens for a reason, apparently. I was in a different shop today, and stumbled upon a 19-4 (pinned an recessed) with a 2.5" barrel. There's some damage to the bluing on the cylinder, but otherwise it's gorgeous...just enough wear to make one not feel bad about carrying it. I was able to talk myself out of that Model 28, but I've wanted a 19 since I first handled one about 15 years ago, and that fact that it's a snubby was just icing on the cake. Every single one of these I've seen in the past 5 years has been priced so far out of my reach that I had given up on ever owning one...but for $699, I couldn't say no. I'm normally not willing to dip into the savings account for gun purchases, but I was willing to do it for this one if I have to, and can probably even avoid that by working some OT.







My son and I took both the 19 and the 66 out and shot them this evening, and it's a darn good shooter with both 148gr wadcutters and 158 Semi-wads. My son is after me for the 66 now .

I think you did good. Enjoy it. Watch the screw at the front of the rear sight, it can loosen up on you.

Good tip, thanks.

I would have had trouble passing up that 19. Nice pickup. Are you going to rebuke the cylinder?

quote:

I would have had trouble passing up that 19. Nice pickup. Are you going to rebuke the cylinder?

Not really planning to at this point. I would have to send it out as I don't have a means of matching it to the frame and barrel, and those are in really good shape so I'm not wanting to mess with them. I planning to carry it some, so it'll get some wear anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:


My S&W wheel. Only one internal lock gun in there, the 627 Pro. When I did a trigger job on it I removed the parts and plugged it though.

That's a nice wheel! I'm trying to identify the 3" J-Frames. Is that a 317 at 10 o'clock and a 36 at 5 o'clock? Also, is that 3" at 2 o'clock the custom 65 you were talking about above? That looks pretty interesting...care to share any more about that one?

Which shop in pcola was this ?

From the J frame at top clockwise
649
65
340
66
36
627 Pro
640 Pro
17
686+
43c
317
67

So the J’s are 649, 340, 36, 640 Pro, 43c, and 317 kitgun. The 317 is one of the early ones, 3” barrel and adjustable sights.

The shop was actually in Daytona Beach. Last time I was in Pcola I was disappointed in the local gun shops variety. They even closed the one over by Gulf Power (forget the name). I got my first 45 modded by that guy.

When I was young and dumb and in Pensacola for flight school I went to a gun show at a Shriners (?) Convention Hall. This old guy had a table full of used guns from his collection. The 65 was interesting because he had had adjustable sights built onto his fixed sight 65. Standard S&W rears and a very nicely built up ramp front with a “patridge” blade. I figure it was brazed on and one day it had to fall off but it is rock solid. Good old school work. The money shot though is the trigger. If I knew who did his I would send every revolver I own to that guy because it is PERFECT. There isn’t even a hint of anything as you pull through the DA. No stacking no wall nothing. It is just a fairly light perfectly smooth stroke. It is what every Smith wants to be. I put in a lot of work on my 627 Pro because it was my match gun and it is pretty good. It is nowhere near this one. I will add some pictures later today. (Loving imgbb, I finally found a free site that seems to work)

That 3” 36 has faux ivory and faux Tyler T grips (BK grips). It is my 1950’s detective tv show gun. Lol. It’s a neat little thing.

That 66 is great - and that wheel of guns, man! Love it! I’m a 627 Pro fan; had one once and may need to grab another at some point!

That's awesome. I'd love to see more pics of that 65. Stuff like that intrigues me...functional improvements that collectors hate, but quality work that guys used to do to guns back in the day to make them better suited to their specific need or desire. It sounds like yours was worked over by somebody who really knew what he was about!

I like that 36, too. It's definitely the quintessential old-school tv detective gun. I'm a sucker for a 3", too. I've been amassing a little J-Frame collection, and one of those and a 340 are still on my list.

The BKs are also a great substitute for the T-Grip. I have a set on my 31, and now I need to order another for that Model 19.

Very nice! If you were inclined to carry a revolver, that would make an excellent choice right there.

It is a sweet shooter. When he was alive I loaned this one out to my FIL for years until he bought his own gun. I was very happy when I got it back. I had forgotten how smooth it was.

It seems like a reasonable price for a nice Model 66. Revolver prices were nuts just a year or two ago but appear to be coming down or at least leveling off.

FYI - 125 grain .357 Magnum ammo is not recommended for your 66 or other K frame .357 Magnum guns. It could crack the forcing cone. It is a rare event but it does happen.


Just for giggles, Here is my 3" 65:

Ooh, I like that.

Odds are that 66 might never see a magnum loading. 38 specials are the more likely diet. Shooting magnums at the range just seems like an expensive waste of energy.

I hope prices are coming down because all these pictures of pre lock Smiths has got me hungry for more.

Your picture makes it clear I need better looking grips on some of mine. The rubber makes sense but is kind of fugly on the pretty ones. Lol

That 65 is super nice.

Pachmayr Compacs may not look as nice as wood, but they feel great.