S&W 66 safety question

R

rmocarsky

New member
Gunners,
I have a S&W model 66 that I bought in the late '70s.

My question is, if fully loaded with hammer down the revolver were to be accidentally dropped and its hammer struck the floor with full, hard contact, can the weapon discharge?

Thanks,

Rmocarsky
 
There are two safetys that hold the hammer away from the cartage when the trigger is not pulled. First is the trigger return block, this is what forces the hammer back .25" or so when you release the trigger. Then there is a sliding hammer block that goes between the hammer and frame when you release the trigger. The hammer block is visible if you watch when you cock the hammer you can see it drop out of the way. So yes it is safe to carry a S&W 66 fully loaded. :)
 
Nearly all S&W revolvers produced since the end of WWII are safe to carry fully loaded as that was when the sliding hammer block was introduced. Older S&W's also had a hammer block, but it was of a different type and carried a slight chance of breakage in the gun was dropped directly on its hammer.
 
That M66 was the most desirable Police handgun on the market in the late 70s. I carried a M28 but nearly all my friends carried the M66. It's a great medium framed S&W.
 
Walklightly said:
When did the Semi-auto come more into play? I was thinking that was kind of a transitional period.
Click to expand...
During the eighties, mainly. I started as a street cop in 1980 and everyone carried a revolver. This in Louisiana, and the universal police revolver was the Model 66. Everybody wanted one. During the mid '80s (1984 come to mind for some reason), the wondernines came out and uniformed cops started transitioning. I carried a revolver until my retirement in 2000, then went with another agency and carried a 1911 for two years, until the Sheriff issued us M&Ps. I may be the only cop in the United States that's never pulled the trigger on a Glock.
 
The gun has a hammer block that prevents the hammer from going forward enough to strike the firing pin. The hammer block retracts when the rebound slide is pushed to the rear. The rebound slide is to the rear when the trigger is depressed. So in short, the answer to the question is No.

Provided nothing is broken and everything works as designed. The best safety is between the ears. We should use it always.

Happy Easter one and all.

Law enforcement always had semi automatic pistols. Revolvers began falling out of favor in the early '90s. The Wondernines made their appearance and Glocks, Berettas, Sigs, S&W seem to dominate the market. The 40 S&W then ushered in the complete dominance of semiautomatics in police weaponry.
 
Last edited:
I believe they started using a hammer block safety to prevent a discharge when dropped because a navy sailor during WW2 dropped his S&W revolver on the deck and it landed on the hammer discharging and killing him.
 
When did the Semi-auto come more into play? I was thinking that was kind of a transitional period.
Click to expand...

While semi-autos had been in limited use by LE since the 1930's (the FBI did have Colt Gov't Models in .38 Super that far back), the first major LE agency to adopt a semi-auto as its standard-issue handgun was the Illinois State Police in the late 1960's (S&W M39). Even so, revolvers continued to dominate the police market until the 1980's and early 1990's.
 
As long as the M66's hammer block is functional you can throw that gun out of a helicopter 10,000 feet up and it won't fire if it hit's the hammer.

Now my father won't keep his Colt Official Police .38 with a round under the hammer. He didn't with his S&W M10 he had before that even though both are quite safe. That was his decision even though I explained to him it's quite safe.

But the M66, which I dearly love in 2 1/2 barrel format, is very safe.

Dedaf
 
During the eighties, mainly. I started as a street cop in 1980 and everyone carried a revolver. This in Louisiana, and the universal police revolver was the Model 66. Everybody wanted one. During the mid '80s (1984 come to mind for some reason), the wondernines came out and uniformed cops started transitioning.
Click to expand...

PawPaw

I knew that was kind of an open ended question, depending on were we're talking about, I'm figured mid 80s, like I said it depends.

I just remember Serpico the movie 1973, and him getting a Browning Highpower. I'm sure they must have been very pricey back then. Been awhile sense I've seen it. That must have been the Model T, I mean 10 day's, right?:D
 
The part that rebounds the hammer is called the rebound slide. Its purpose is to pull the firing pin back out of the primer of the fired round; if that is not done, the cylinder will be difficult or impossible to open. It can serve to prevent the firing pin from hitting the primer if the gun is dropped on the hammer, but it is hollow and can be crushed. Also the hammer pin can shear off or the top part of the hammer itself can break off, allowing a round under the hammer to fire.

S&W soon found that out and installed a separate hammer block fitted into the side plate. There were two versions, but they were springs which could break or be held back by grease or dirt. That is why Colt was so successful in promoting its own "positive" safety which was mechanical and did not depend on springs.

The new S&W hammer block was, as noted above, introduced during WWII and is positive, operated off the rebound slide. Anything that will prevent the hammer block from operating will also prevent trigger return so the gun can't fire. Some people think it is a transfer bar; it is not and S&W has never used a transfer bar. The flaw in the transfer bar is that it takes a beating, being struck every time the gun is fired. A hammer block is never touched by the hammer in normal firing and won't be struck unless the hammer suffers a heavy blow.

Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top