MCgunner
Member
Typical gun show, tables full of used guns going for MSRP...
Forget the Smiths. There was a table with nothing, but old Colt DAs and I guess he thought they had some collector value or something, cause I coulda bought a new Smith for what some of those old worn out POSs were going for.
Anyway, I looked everything over twice or three times and there was one gun, a 3" Taurus M66 blued, older gun because it has the hammer block instead of the transfer bar. It had a bit of holster wear, but was reasonably tight. I cycled it and it has a slight timing issue on one cylinder that won't affect function, but doesn't quite hit the latch when you cycle it slow. It should shoot fine, though, and if it don't, I might try that Taurus lifetime warranty out, but normal dry firing, it goes into battery just fine.
So, I asked the guy how much? He looked at it, says $200 plus tax. I showed him the timing issue, mentioned the holster wear, and a tiny little bit of end shake in the cylinder and said I'd go $180. He thought a minute, said okay. That little end shake ain't enough to be able to tighten, actually. It's less than .001" and they don't sell shims that small, so I'm not worried about it, but it made for a good bargaining point, LOL!
I bought a 4" nickeled M66 at a gun show some time back for $197, so this isn't the killer deal that one was. That gun is amazingly accurate, perfectly timed, tight, like new, and of recent enough manufacture that it has the transfer bar system. I'm thinking the timing probably was the way it is on this 3" from the factory.
The gun has a smooth DA trigger, but no better than my newer M66. I'd say it's not quite as smooth as my old Smith M10. I like the balance and it's fairly light with that 3" tube. It fits my IWB I made for my M85UL and feels lighter than my Ruger P90 on the hip and also tucks in better under just a loose T shirt. I think I can tote this thing IWB in the summer pretty easily.
I mean, I'd rather have a M19, but the older Smiths they had there must have been made out of Platinum or something because they all had new gun prices on 'em. Taurus isn't as popular, but hey, they work and I like the two I have already, so I went for it. It fit my budget anyway, if nothing else. I'd been thinking a lot about getting a 3" K frame .357 for a carry option. I have the P90, but it's chunky for summertime. My other carry options are pocket sized, the 9mm Kel Tec, my Grendel P12 .380, and my little M85UL .38 snubby. So, this gun sort of fills one of my few empty niches. I'd been thinking about another M971 Rossi due to their smaller size. They're about half way between J and K frame in size. But, this Taurus ain't as heavy as my 4" gun and seems to ride well on the hip. It's a good alternative in my mind to the 3" SP101 I was thinking about, too, due to the adjustable sights I prefer.
Forget the Smiths. There was a table with nothing, but old Colt DAs and I guess he thought they had some collector value or something, cause I coulda bought a new Smith for what some of those old worn out POSs were going for.Anyway, I looked everything over twice or three times and there was one gun, a 3" Taurus M66 blued, older gun because it has the hammer block instead of the transfer bar. It had a bit of holster wear, but was reasonably tight. I cycled it and it has a slight timing issue on one cylinder that won't affect function, but doesn't quite hit the latch when you cycle it slow. It should shoot fine, though, and if it don't, I might try that Taurus lifetime warranty out, but normal dry firing, it goes into battery just fine.
So, I asked the guy how much? He looked at it, says $200 plus tax. I showed him the timing issue, mentioned the holster wear, and a tiny little bit of end shake in the cylinder and said I'd go $180. He thought a minute, said okay. That little end shake ain't enough to be able to tighten, actually. It's less than .001" and they don't sell shims that small, so I'm not worried about it, but it made for a good bargaining point, LOL!
I bought a 4" nickeled M66 at a gun show some time back for $197, so this isn't the killer deal that one was. That gun is amazingly accurate, perfectly timed, tight, like new, and of recent enough manufacture that it has the transfer bar system. I'm thinking the timing probably was the way it is on this 3" from the factory.
The gun has a smooth DA trigger, but no better than my newer M66. I'd say it's not quite as smooth as my old Smith M10. I like the balance and it's fairly light with that 3" tube. It fits my IWB I made for my M85UL and feels lighter than my Ruger P90 on the hip and also tucks in better under just a loose T shirt. I think I can tote this thing IWB in the summer pretty easily.
I mean, I'd rather have a M19, but the older Smiths they had there must have been made out of Platinum or something because they all had new gun prices on 'em. Taurus isn't as popular, but hey, they work and I like the two I have already, so I went for it. It fit my budget anyway, if nothing else. I'd been thinking a lot about getting a 3" K frame .357 for a carry option. I have the P90, but it's chunky for summertime. My other carry options are pocket sized, the 9mm Kel Tec, my Grendel P12 .380, and my little M85UL .38 snubby. So, this gun sort of fills one of my few empty niches. I'd been thinking about another M971 Rossi due to their smaller size. They're about half way between J and K frame in size. But, this Taurus ain't as heavy as my 4" gun and seems to ride well on the hip. It's a good alternative in my mind to the 3" SP101 I was thinking about, too, due to the adjustable sights I prefer.
It was like "Look, a gun show!" "OH NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!" We were there for a concert. Bummer.