S&W 3" mod 65 or 13

B

Brian Williams

New member
I am in the market for either a S&W Mod 65 3" round butt or a S&W Mod 13 3" round butt, but I want it to be P & R'd with the firing pin on the hammer. What Dash numbers would I have to look for to fit the specs I have laid out.

And what Dash numbers should I ignore, ie -2 because that was when Bangor Punta owned it and they ...

I want to use this to combine what I bought for IDPA (Mod 65 -1 4" with square butt magna grips) and my S&W mod 60-4 3" carry piece

I hate it when I drool over Tamara's mod 13 pc when it comes up as a background wallpaper on my pc
 
Greeting's Fess,

The Smith & Wesson 3" round butt model 65 .357 magnum
was produced from 1984-2000. 65-4 or 65-5 is the -
designations you are looking for; as the -6 began the era
of the floating firing pin. As far as the Bangor Punta era
at Smith & Wesson, those years were far better than
those of Tompkins, LTD.

* Source- Standard Catalog Of Smith & Wesson 2nd edition

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
Last edited:
Fess,

Here is the infomation on the S&W model 13, .357 magnum
3" RB revolver:

a) 3" HB Blue Steel RB 1984-1995 at 31 ozs.
b) 3" HB Nickel RB 1984-1986

Jeff is correct that the 65-2 was the last issue for pinned
and recessed weapons. The same holds true for the model
13; with the introduction of the -3, counterbore's and
pinned barrels were deleted. Hope this helps.:D :cool: :)

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
Other than bragging rights, is there any practical difference between a smith revolver that has recessed cylinders over non recessed? Same for pinned barrels.

Given the low numbers produced in 3" RB K frames .357s, grab the first one that come along. It will be a long dry spell before you see another one at a decent price. I have a matched pair, a 65 and a 13 that a local smith worked over. I had a trigger and action job and the hammer spur bobbed on both. It took me five years to put the two together because I set a limit of $600 for the pair. However, the 13 has such a pretty and delicate finish, I do not carry it much any more. The 65 gets shot on a weekly basis and carried daily.
 
You're right Jay, 3" round butt S&W 13's and 65's don't come
around often; and when one finds one in pristine condition,
they had best jump on it.:cool: :) I failed to do that myself,
as during that time frame I was in a phase of switching from
revolver's to self loader's.:( :D Shame on me, but I won't
make that mistake again; cuz the next one I find I'm going
to pick up for my use!:cool: :eek: :(

But the wife say's: "What about me"? or "The next one is
mine".

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
Opinion only: For a serious carry gun I have a slight preferrence for the non-recessed cylinders. I own both Pinned and Recessed guns and the non-pinned and non-counterbored guns. My experience is that the barrel pin is a non-factor one way or the other. It looks kind of neat, and it came about when the care in assembly of the guns was super, but it has virtually zero practical value. The counterbored charge holes are a different animal. As much as I admire the nice symmetrical extractor star and the appearance of the recessed cylinder, cases are more likely to slide under the star during extraction than with one of the current "Square" extractors without the counterbore cuts. If you had the benefit of using perfect technique with the muzzle pointed at the sky during extraction, it wouldn't matter. Unfortunately, life is not perfect. On the non-counterbored cylinder it is easy to determine loaded-unloaded status, too.;)

Clemson
 
Ala Dan right.....Models13 and 65, dash 2 last of the recessed and pinned.

Pinned barrel allows minimal torque to retain barrel in frame. Non pinned requires more torque, commonly stretching barrel and showing a ring in the bore adjacent to the frame/barrel interface. Commonly evident in the softer stainless barrels.

Bangor Punta owned the company from 65 to 83, when it came under the ownership of Lear Siegler untill it was sold to Tompkins in 87.

Sooo, not gonna get a post Bangor gun with either pinned barrel or recessed cylinder unless it is a rimfire.

Sam
 
I'm always on the lookout for the P/R'd SW's as well but agree with Clemson 100%. It's really just showing that the gun was produced in a time frame when quality control was genereally better, not that those two features are really necessary or even desireable.

I consider the counterboring especially to actually be less than desireable on my "serious" guns. Not only do due to the greater likely hood of getting a case stuckk under the extractor as Clemson mentioned but also due to the fact I find I can reload faster and smoother on a chamfered cylinder non-recessed gun than I can on a recessed model. My P/R model 19 is my favorite revolver-but my non-PR model 65 is my "real" carry gun.

JMHO, Good luck!
 
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