Model 66

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It's new to me, a S&W Model 66-3, I know how everyone likes pictures:

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I added the grips you see myself, but it came with the original box, wood S&W grips, & pachmyer rubber ones, too.

It's probably going to eat a steady diet of .38 Special, other than that any tips from the revolver fans out there? It's my first wheel gun and I waited a while to find the right one, I really think this is it.
 
Very nice revolver - if you feed it a steady diet of 38's it will last forever. Also the trigger will smooth out on it's own, or you can have someone (preferably a specialist) give it an action tuning. You'll be amazed at how accurate an out-of-the-box revolver can be.
 
The S&W Model 66/19 .357 Magnums are the quintessential revolvers. Beautiful fit and finish, impeccable aesthetics, fine trigger, sized to fit most hands, durable build, adequately powerful cartridge...looks exactly how a revolver should look:)

Still wondering why I sold my 66 to buy a 4.2 inch GP100. One of the worst decisions I ever made:mad:
 
easyrider604 said:
The S&W Model 66/19 .357 Magnums are the quintessential revolvers. Beautiful fit and finish, impeccable aesthetics, fine trigger, sized to fit most hands, durable build, adequately powerful cartridge...looks exactly how a revolver should look:)

Still wondering why I sold my 66 to buy a 4.2 inch GP100. One of the worst decisions I ever made:mad:
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hey man, I understand your pain...I sold my S&W 66 too and still regret it...looks like you punished yourself buying a GP !?
cheers!
 
Wolfstrack said:
hey man, I understand your pain...I sold my S&W 66 too and still regret it...looks like you punished yourself buying a GP !?
cheers!
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You got that right, bro. That GP was quickly traded for a mint 6 inch S&W 27-3 which I have nicknamed "Her Highness" (because she is my safe queen).

N-frame is too big for my hands, but every wheelgunner must have an N-frame, JMHO:)
 
I LOVE my K frame guns. And your new 66 is a beaut that I'd be proud to own as well. Treat 'er right and she'll be a tack driver of the finest sort.

The grips dress her up nicely. They look like the sort that will fit most folk's hands better than the the Magnas or stock S&W target grips.

Don't be afraid to shoot some 158gn magnums now and then. These guns can take it. The use of the 158gn bullets and the fact that it's stainless instead of the carbon steel means that there's no risk of the split forcing cone issue that can occur with some blued K frame guns.

A little game I play now and then is load 5 .38's and one .357Mag. This works out fine since the 38's come in nice rows of 5... :D Not knowing where the Mag round is really shows you if you have a flinch... :D After loading the last Mag round I give the cylinder a spin and then stop it and close it while looking forward so I don't know where the Mag round is located. Needless to say I call this "Revolver Roulette" :D
 
Avoid 125 grain .357 Magnum ammo at all costs. S&W stopped making K frame magnums because of what those loads do to the revolvers.
 
The 66 is just a stainless model 19 ,and the cly bore and forcing cone issue were

worked out. If you want to fire full power 357 mag then get a registered mag,model 27,

or mod 28 and don't look back .

Ruger also makes some strong revolvers.

Bob
 
Due to having a Model 19 I looked into this cracked forcing cone issue. The findings were;

  • It's only a significant risk on the blued versions. The stainless K frames had very little occurace of this problem.
  • It happens more with the lighter high velocity rounds. Certainly stay away from 110gn for sure. And 125's, while they should be OK, are likely best avoided.
  • With 158gn jacketed or cast boolits you can shoot magnum loads from any of the K frame .357Mag models pretty much steadily with no harm to the forcing cone.

That's what I found reported by the owners and users of these guns. At least as much as I could find after I tried to filter out the internet babble.

For myself I find that I prefer something a touch off the top when shooting Magnums from my K frames. I reload so I'm able to run charges that are about 10% down from peak pressure. It's amazing how this tames the Magnum smack and makes these fun to shoot. Yet they are still well over .38Spl+P or +P+ power levels. And as a bonus I'm even further ensuring I won't have any issues with the forcing cone.
 
A lot of shooters say 158 grain 357 Magnum will not hurt a K-frame 66/19 and they are, in all probability, correct.

But for peace of mind, I only shot 38 spl +P 158 grain LSWC (own cast/reloads) through the 66 I had.

The 66 seemed a little small in stature for full-on 357 Magnum 158 grain JHPs, so I use the 686/GP100/SecuritySix for Magnum duty. These guns were designed and built for a 100% steady diet of Magnums although I rarely shoot full load Mags. The Ruger Security Six is quite similar in size and weight to a K-frame, but was designed from a blank sheet of paper to shoot magnums. The K frame was an older design that Smith and Wesson upgraded to handle magnum loads.

Regular diet of my 357 wheelguns is 158 LSWC loaded in 38 spl brass to +P (980-1010 fps) and +P+ (haven't chrono'd yet but estimate around 1,100 fps, recoil becing satisfyingly just shy of Magnums, BTW) out of the 6 inch GP100. I think a K-frame will be happy with such loads.
 
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