Yesterday one of the guys at work asked me “Hey, you're into revolvers right?” Naturally I said yeah, and he asked if I had any interest in buying one. Seems he had his heart set on a new hunting rifle and was looking to raise some quick cash. He showed me a picture of a nice pre-lock Smith Model 67, and immediately had my attention.

Now I'm not made of money, so gun purchases are typically thoroughly researched and designed to fill a specific role, and while I don't really have a use for a 4” .38 Special, I’m a sucker for a nice S&W wheelgun, especially if it’s sans the stupid lock. I figured I'd hear him out, and asked him what he wanted for it. He said he’d had it on Armslist with no takers, but was looking to get between $300-$400. I told him with the right buyer he could probably get more than that, but I could do $350 cash today. Not wanting to rip him off, I encouraged him to at least run it by a shop and see what he could get for it before he decided.

On lunch break he stopped by a local place, and those scrooges offered him $215 cash or $240 trade. I know they’ve gotta make a profit…but damn. So I came home with a new gun, a cheap holster, and a box of ammo.



I've already got a 4” model 66-4 so I figured this new gun would be entirely redundant, but the 67 is a slightly different critter. The thinner barrel profile and lack of an underlug make for a noticeably lighter gun with a more rearward balance. It shares the adjustable rear sight (which I like) and stainless red-ramp front (which my eyes have always struggled to focus on). It's a no-dash, so it's got the older style gas ring on the yoke, and it spins like a top. It's also got a trigger overtravel stop, stainless serrated trigger, and stainless hammer. There was some brown freckling in the serrations of the back strap and front strap that I was afraid were rust but turned out to just be crud that came right off with a brush. No rust under the grips, either.



The trigger pull felt awesome…smooth all the way through and extremely light. It did look like somebody had backed the strain screw out a bit, though, so I had my doubts from the get-go that it would stay that way. I took it to the range today, and the first two trigger pulls resulted in clicks, not bangs. I put two full turns into the strain screw to bottom it out and after that it fired every time. The trigger is heavier now, but still very smooth, and the SA break is very clean. It's noticeably better than my 66 for sure.

Accuracy was good. I didn't touch the sights and this was my first six shots standing unsupported at 7 yards.



I played around with it for a bit trying to get a feel for the proper hold, put a few different types of ammo through it, and tried a target at 25 yards, standing unsupported. I'm sure my shooting is not an accurate representation of what this gun is capable of since I know I pushed a few and really had trouble finding a consistent defined edge on that shiny front sight, but at least they were all in the circle.



I used my last target for the postal match drill…10 rounds slow fire at 10 yards. 100-7x, all shot double-action. Not quite what I did with my P226 (and the fliers were definitely me, not the gun), but I'll take it.



Overall I'm pretty happy with the gun. It's it's own unique thing and not just a .38 version of my 66, which was a pleasant surprise. I felt a little bad about paying so little for it, but he said it had no sentimental value, he got more than the shop would have given for it, and he was happy with the deal. I think this is the first time that a shop being cheapskates on a trade has ever worked out in my favor, lol.

I'll give you $375 for it and I want the targets too because I'll tell everyone I shot them !

I don't care about revolvers, and don't like .38 Special. But I'd do that deal all day long. Congratulations on your roscoe!

Great find 92FS...and I think you'll really like it for carry: lighter weight than the M66, better balance (IMHO), and the .38 Spl offers a variety of target, or CC ammunition. Mine, a 67-1 built in '76, will hold sub-2" groups at 25 yds with 148 gr wadcutters, 158 gr LSWC that I cast, as well as Speer's justly famous 135 gr Gold Dot .38 Spl +P.

I've never been a fan of Smith's Magna grips unless they're wearing a grip adjuster like the T-grip or one of the older Pachmayr types. I've got Altamont's version of the old Roper target grip on mine which work well at .38 Spl levels of recoil. Hope your's works out as well...Mine's my favorite Smith of the 14 I currently own. It's a Louisville Police turn-in with a butter smooth DA and SA trigger. Here it is with the Altamont stocks installed. Best Regards, Rod 2nd Pic: 10 shots, 10 yds DA with the 158 gr LSWC load

[IMG:left] [/IMG]

Nice. First gun I ever owned was/is a Model 67. Still have the box and the price tag. It wears Pachmyrs now but the 67 will always have a sweet spot in my collection. I got mine in 84 I believe and I paid a little less. I was also 16. lol. Great pickup.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
So I came home with a new gun, a cheap holster, and a box of ammo.

Great find, great deal! Just FYI, those are factory grips, but not the original ones to that specific gun.

quote:

Originally posted by stiab:

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
So I came home with a new gun, a cheap holster, and a box of ammo.

Great find, great deal! Just FYI, those are factory grips, but not the original ones to that specific gun.

Thanks for the info. I'm not a serious collector so that doesn't really bother me, but what grips would it have had on it from the factory? I tend to agree with rodfac above...I have big hands and the Magnas are best paired with a grip adapter, otherwise my grip tends to shift a bit under recoil. I wouldn't mind a nice set of targets, even if they're knockoffs like the Thai ones on my 66.

Actually the 66 is the 357 version of the 67. The Combat Masterpiece predates the Combat Magnum by about 5-6 years.

I’d take either these days. Used to be I was a believer in the 357 only and thought the Combat Masterpiece was inferior.

Boy was I wrong.

Now, find yourself a K-22 for real fun.

quote:

Now, find yourself a K-22 for real fun.

Don't have one of those yet, but I do have a 63. Absolutely love that thing.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

Thanks for the info. I'm not a serious collector so that doesn't really bother me, but what grips would it have had on it from the factory?

Your grips are very nice, and valuable, and called "diamond grips" because of the small diamond cut into the checkering around the screw head. S&W quit putting diamond grips on K frames in 1968, several years before your gun was made.

If you are going to replace them anyway, and want to make your original deal even better, you could sell them on Ebay describing them as "factory original K frame diamond grips made of walnut with original screw" and get $85 to $100.

The grips that came on it would be the same except not diamonds and not walnut. Hope this helps some.

Great gun, great deal. While I don’t care for stainless I would have jumped on it

One thing I Have found with private purchase deals, is sometimes you really win big with the accessories- I have made fair to good deals on guns that then came with the oh by the way here are a few boxes of ammo a holster and a couple speedloaders or spare mags. These extras make a good deal often great

That’s excellent - congratulations!

Mine has the original grips which are as described above. The diamond grips just no diamond. lol. I prefer the look of your but I agree that as is they kind of suck. I either add the polymer copy of the Tyler T grip which isn’t as cool but works just as well, is cheaper significantly, and you will get it in a week or pachmyrs. I prefer the T grip look and it works well but the pachmyrs are hard to beat functionally.

I always wished I had gotten the 66 back then. I prefer it over the 67 but I was a kid, what did I know?

Thanks guys, and thanks stiab for the info. They are nice looking grips, and maybe the best solution is to just get a BK grip adapter like I have on my 19 and 31 and call it good. I actually think I have a spare J-frame adapter lying around here somewhere, but I doubt it will fit this gun.

Beautiful gun. Great deal.

Thats a great deal for a great gun! Congrats!

Good for you!! Sweet looking quality revolvers.

Great git on that 67! If you ever run into one of these it would make a super safe mate of yours:

Model 63 .22lr - shipped 4/81

Very nice Z06, what model is that? I do love a .22 revolver.

What a great score. It cleaned up real well.

Looks like it shoots as good as it looks.

Congratulations.