New-to-me S&W 66-1....Pics

You are NOT supposed to shoot .357 125 grain factory loads in those. Too hot for that frame. That's why S&W moved up to the 586/686 .357s.

There are some knowledgeable folks who say that it isn't the power level of the 125 JHPs so much as the hazards of shooting jacketed bullets through a forcing cone that has built up lead in it. The portion of the barrel protruding into the cylinder window in the 19 is pretty thin-walled, and can't take a whole lot of abuse. Pressures spiked by firing a hard bullet into a wad of lead can cause the forcing cone to split, or so goes the theory.

Brian Pierce did a write-up some years ago where he fired 5000 full-power magnum loads through the gun. IIRC, half were lead and half were jacketed. He said the gun had loosened up a bit at the end of it, but was actually a bit more accurate than it had been when new. So I don't think we have to be super careful with the thing.

Having said that, no, it's not an N-frame. I load mine down a hair, for the most part. 158 SWC at 1200 FPS should be pretty easy on the gun, and of course, 148 lead wadcutters at 800 FPS will allow the gun to live essentially forever.

Have fun!

Oh for heavens sake...Shoot what ever you want in it and have fun. The model 19 and 66 are one of the most fun to shoot of many of the other revolvers. Just don't give it a steady diet of lead then switch to jacketed bullets without cleaning it first as you would do for any firearm...

Nice lookin' kid too. Teach him right...

Nice find. Now you need a 66-1 2.5" version to make you life complete.

Just bought a 66-1 very similar to the one yours, mine just happens to be a police trade (local PD) in that is in very nice shape. Picked up a couple boxes of 158gr SJHP and 125gr JSP, never heard anything about some loads not being recommended for the 66. Is there any place where I can get a quick rundown on what may or may not be good for the gun?

on edit: It sounds like the problem may be more with built up lead? The thing is clean right now and I don't ever plan on shooting anything but jacketed bullets through the thing. I just assumed that any factory loads would be safe?

marktx...They're worried about upper strap cutting just above the cylinder gap and forcing cone cracking when using a steady diet of 125 grain magnum rounds through the mod 19 and 66. I have a 1986 vintage Mod 19-5 that has seen a steady diet of 125 grain SJHP sense I bought it new. The upper strap is cut no worse then any of my .38 Specials (Mod 10's)...

20nickels...I have the mod 19 Combat Magnum with a 2 1/2" barrel in factory Nickel. They just aren't that brutal with magnum ammunition as long as you get rid or store the original grips and replace them with a better grip.

And you are correct. Of all the snubbies the mod 19 and 66 are among the best lookin' and balanced of all the snubbies...My wife's mod 10 with 2" barrel doesn't look as nice...

OMG! Nancy Pelosi just raised another half-a-million from that pic...

20nickles,

I have shot many different 357 rounds with mine and no issue shooting it. The trigger is not as good as my 15-4 but I really like my "snubby" 66.