This past Saturday I was rooting around a vendors table at a local gunshow and saw this is covered up in the back of one of his glass display cases and figured I’d have a look:
The way it was positioned in his glass case the gun was mostly covered with large price tags and holsters, all I could see was the left side of the barrel marked 38 special and noticed the ejector rod shroud and thought “that ain’t right”.
I had the vendor show it to me and I went over it with a flashlight and magnifying glass and it all looked “right” but wanting to be sure about what it was I hauled out the smartphone and googled it up.
Sure enough there is a such thing as a S&W Model 68 and from what my Google fu was able to discern the California Highway Patrol and LAPD ordered these up (the bulk going to the CHP).
Here’s a link to an article that covers the history behind the S&W Model 68:
https://revolverguy.com/missing-link-smith-wesson-model-68/
Looks like around 6055 were produced and this one is one of the few that were sold by the LAPD Atheletic Club that has not had its single action capability disabled.
The vendor had the gun marked at $400.00 and try as I might I couldn’t get him to move on the price so I peeled out twenty 20 dollar bills and remitted his asking price.
The gun has some handling marks and appears to have been carried some and shot a little but for its condition I feel I didn’t get beat up too bad on the price.
In my world, its not every day you run across what is (for all intents and purposes) a S&W Model 66 with a 6” barrel for $400.00 out the door.
Granted, it’s chambered for 38 special (a 357 Magnum round will not chamber) but it’ll do for a shooter for sure (I can’t remember the last time I handloaded true 357 magnum loads).
It’s true what they say, even a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while.
The way it was positioned in his glass case the gun was mostly covered with large price tags and holsters, all I could see was the left side of the barrel marked 38 special and noticed the ejector rod shroud and thought “that ain’t right”.
I had the vendor show it to me and I went over it with a flashlight and magnifying glass and it all looked “right” but wanting to be sure about what it was I hauled out the smartphone and googled it up.
Sure enough there is a such thing as a S&W Model 68 and from what my Google fu was able to discern the California Highway Patrol and LAPD ordered these up (the bulk going to the CHP).
Here’s a link to an article that covers the history behind the S&W Model 68:
https://revolverguy.com/missing-link-smith-wesson-model-68/
Looks like around 6055 were produced and this one is one of the few that were sold by the LAPD Atheletic Club that has not had its single action capability disabled.
The vendor had the gun marked at $400.00 and try as I might I couldn’t get him to move on the price so I peeled out twenty 20 dollar bills and remitted his asking price.
The gun has some handling marks and appears to have been carried some and shot a little but for its condition I feel I didn’t get beat up too bad on the price.
In my world, its not every day you run across what is (for all intents and purposes) a S&W Model 66 with a 6” barrel for $400.00 out the door.
Granted, it’s chambered for 38 special (a 357 Magnum round will not chamber) but it’ll do for a shooter for sure (I can’t remember the last time I handloaded true 357 magnum loads).
It’s true what they say, even a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while.
