picked up a Model 66, did I find something unique here?

J

JRiggs

New member
Hi,

Yesterday I picked up an unfired, 100% NIB 4 inch S&W model 66. It's a 66 with no dash after the model number, manufactured in 1973. It's pinned and recessed, and has the all stainless sights, hammer and trigger. The revolver came in its original box with all papers, and the cleaning tools which were still sealed. Is this revolver a unique find?

Second question, Im very tempted to fire it. Would that be a bad idea? I hate to ruin any value. Thanks for your help.
 
I hear that the earliest Model 66's had some durability problems until S&W got the metallurgy worked out.

Collectors prefer unfired specimens.

You could probably sell this one to a collector and get a later, slightly used Model 19 or 66 and come out ahead.

-Mk.IV
 
The dash number simply means the number of modifications or minor changes. Nothing really unique about it.
Unsafe to fire it? I suspect you checked over the gun well for defects and damage. If none was found, it should be o.k.
I dought if it has alot of collectors value to it at this time. You bought it to fire. Enjoy it. Shoot away.
 
I've seen people looking for early pinned and recessed stainless S&W's. Most any early model gun that's 100%, in the box with all papers etc. will have some collector value, sooner rather than later. Look at some of the online gun sales sites, and you'll find that almost ANY older gun that's new in the box with all, goes for a higher price.

As to durability, any problems with early stainless models would only show up after many, many rounds. I remember Jeff Cooper had an early S&W M-60 Chief's Special. He was told by the factory that they didn't have much knowlege about stainless, and the first couple of hundred M-60's were made with a tool-grade stainless. It literally ate their tooling up, so they went to a lesser grade metal. Cooper said that his 60 was so strong that it could have handled the .357 Mag without trouble.

If you want a shooter-buy it. If you want a future collectable buy it and don't shoot it. In any event a gun thats almost 30 years old and is 100% in the box is worth something now, and will be worth more later.
 
Hello Mr. Riggs,

I have an early .38 Special, Model 67, with the stainless steel sights, hammer and trigger. It was made at around the same time as yours and it is in the same condition as yours. Later stainless models went to black sights, and chromed, case-hardened, carbon steel hammers and triggers.

I have a modern Model 66 that I shoot. While I'm not a collector, I see no reason to shoot this nice NIB revolver.

A recent thread talked about the durability of stainless steel guns. A couple of posters wore out their stainless S&W's. You can read through the thread to see their experiences.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=66624

Early on, I remember several police departments that went to the model 66 had durability problems with them. (Police train with hot, full-powered ammunition)

I would say you could shoot it as long as you want to if you are using .38 Specials.

If it were me, I would buy another one to shoot, and save this one for my kids.

-Mk.IV
 
Wow, this is a tough choice to make. To shoot or not to shoot! Taking everyones advice into careful consideration, I may just hold off on firing it for a little while. Although I'll more than likely give in at some point.

This may sound a little weird, but Im not certain if my hammer and trigger are made from stainless steel. I know for a fact they are not of the newer case hardened type, but they are definitely a different shade and texture than the rest of the gun. They seem to be more of a matte finish. Is this just a slightly different type of S.S.? This has been a very informative thread. Thanks to everyone for the great replies!
 
Second question, Im very tempted to fire it. Would that be a bad idea? I hate to ruin any value.
Click to expand...

The question is why did you buy it? If you bought a gun to shoot then shoot it. It is a collectible so if you bought it for the collector value don't shoot it. If you bought it as a shooter to keep the collectors from freaking out sell the one you have to one of them and buy a used mod 66, there are a lot of the out there. Any gun is going to be worth less the more you shoot it, ie. your mod 66 NIB will be worth more as is than if you put 200 rounds through it and it will be worth more after 200 rounds than after 10,000 rounds.
 
The stated metallurgical problems are not about the safety of the gun, but rather the feel of the action.

Stainless parts will "gall" against each other.

I know this was a problem on the Model 60, but not sure if it affected the 66 as well.

Anyway, with the K-frame S&W .357's, it is a good idea to limit the number of full-house 125gr jacketed loads.

Up until Saturday, I had never seen a cracked forcing cone on a S&W, but then I saw two on a buddy's guns.
A M13, and a M19. Both had seen limited use of the 125's, but both had started to crack.
This is only a minor annoyance, since the guns are warranteed, but hey, who want's to deal with that?

I still shoot 357's in my K-frames, but will stick to the hard-cast lead bullets in the full-house loads; or medium-velocity jacketed loads.

FWIW, -Kframe
 
Following Jeff's question, Would you have bought the gun if you had no intension of shooting it, only putting it in the safe and looking at it once in a while? Jeff's question was to the point, What was your intial intention?
I have a Colt SAA I got as a gift from my family. Can't shoot it, the value will go down immediately. So there it sits, in the safe, comes out once in a while to get oiled and then it put up again for another six months. UHMMMM? Do I really own a gun? If I really want to see a Colt SAA, wouldn't I be better of going to a museum and looking at one that a famous outlaw or law officer once owned? I have never shot my Colt SAA, but often wondered what it would be like. My family would have a cow if i fired it, so....
Just think, the stainless steel gun you own may not even have to come out but to get oiled once every year......UHMMMM.
Tough call though. We'll respect you in the morning what ever you decide.
 
The plated finish on the stainless S&W hammer and triggers has a grayish color not a bright chrome color. Underneath they are carbon steel.

Other than cost, does anyone know why S&W went to the plain case-hardened hammers and triggers?.
 
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