My first 66

[willroute]

I had an old family friend that bought this for his wife around 1982 he thinks. She never shot it that much and he rarely shot it. Been collecting dust on his workbench. Paid 425 with holster and 2 speed loaders.


All the chambers lock up tight, the gap space seems good and the forcing cone is good to go. The only issues was cleaning. I don't think it has been cleaned since 1982! I am working on removing some old residue on the ends of the cylinder.


Will feed it a steady diet of 38 and 38 +p and save the 158grains 357 for occasions when I have the cash to shoot them Lots of valuable info on the forum dealing with the K frames. Thanks to all who post, but wondering how many people shoot 38 special 158g lead bullets (like Prvi and S&b) and have they had any issues in 66-1 K frames? (Understanding it should be cleaned with lead remover)





Plan on keeping this baby and passing down to my son (with all my other guns, he will be happy)

66-1 Gun porn attached.

 

[18DAI]

Congrats! Thats a beauty!

The pre lock 66's are my favorite revolvers.

 

[T Bran]

Beautiful you'll love it. I bought one for my wife in 1992 it has been fed a diet of 38 and 38 special loads from whoever had it on sale also a couple boxes of 357 mag. She loves it so I dont get to shoot it much. We have had zero issues with it regardless of what it's been fed. It is still nice and tite and easy to clean but I dont envy you your task but it is worth your labor. Her gun will probably out live both or us being fed 38 sp primarily but I am not sure about lifespan feeding it a steady diet of +p loads or full house 357 mag.
Enjoy your new toy.

 

[rcmodel]

+P 38 Spl will not hurt it in the least.
It's a .357 Magnum.

SAAMI Pressure ratings:
.38 Spl = 17,000 PSI
+P = 18,500 PSI
.357 = 35,000 PSI

The only thing you need to do is make sure you clean the leading out of the forcing cone and chambers after shooting .38 Spl in it.

IMO: Leading in the forcing cone followed by hot .357 ammo is what cracked all those forcing cones you hear about.

rc

 

[357 Terms]

I love those 4in 66's.

It will shoot 357's, all day.

425$..........I hate you

 

[MrBorland]

Nice gun. Congrats. It's tough to beat a 4" 66.

I've shot some of the Privi 158gr LRN and liked it. It's about the softest shooting .38spl ammo I've ever shot.

Understanding it should be cleaned with lead remover

eh...don't go too crazy trying to keep it pristine with a LeadAway cloth. For one thing, the front of the cylinder will get discolored as soon as you shoot it again, and for another, those LeadAway cloths are mildly abrasive. They work well, but if you use it routinely until it's time to hand the gun down, you may have taken some measurable metal off the gun. Just wipe the grunge off the front of the cylinder face with solvent, and leave the rest of the darkness be.

As far as lead in the barrel & forcing cone, the best cleaner is a Lewis Lead Remover, though you shouldn't need to use it routinely. The budget version is a few strands of copper ChoreBoy wrapped around a patch.

 

[Mauser lover]

Shooter's Choice lead remover is pretty good too.

Do not, under any circumstance, use steel wool in or on the cylinder, or anywhere else on the gun. Copper is fine, but DO NOT USE STEEL!!!!!! At least I wouldn't. Just my $0.02

 

[DTesch357]

That's odd... recessed cylinders, but no pinned barrel.

 

[gamestalker]

The primary issue with shooting non jacketed ammo is build up on the forcing cone. S&W has said that those that have experienced fractured forcing cones were primarily caused by lead build up on the forcing cone, not from shooting 125 gr. jacketd .357 mag rounds as has been an on going debate. I have two 66's, a 66-2 and a 66-5. Both get a steady diet of 125 gr. JHP H110 reloads through them, and both are still as tight and sound as the day I bought them.

 

[willroute]

Did I mention Hillary Holes Suck!

 

[Olympus]

Nicely done! I have a collection of old 66s as well. Now you can start collecting all the different barrel lengths!

 

[Stainz]

My first 66 was this 66-6:



Did I mention that it is a 6"? So, that's a 6" 66-6. My first .357M - and the hottest ammo it has seen since S&W tested it new has been the Remington R38S12 +P .38 Spcl 158gr LHPSWC's in the speedloader! Oh, sure, I load .357M cases - with .38 loads. It balances great. I put the HiViz and Ahrends on it the day I bought it. Fun shooter. I 'need' a 4"...

Stainz

 

[Hondo 60]

That's odd... recessed cylinders, but no pinned barrel.

That was my thought too.

willroute - is that barrel not pinned?
I've seen a number of pinned but not recessed. - like my 66-2
Never seen one recessed & not pinned.

 

[DTesch357]

1982 would be about the time that they stopped pinning and recessing the non-rimfire Smith revolvers. Maybe it's a 66-2, and they just used a leftover recessed cylinder?

 

[gamestalker]

Lead and K frame are not real good combination according to S&W. A good while back S&W was seeing a number of K frames with fractured forcing cones, and the rumor going around was the full house (H10) 125 gr. jacketed loads were the primary cause. S&W was very interested to test this rumor and as well make some determinations regarding the strength of their K's. In doing so they put some 250,000 full house 125 gr. jacketed rounds through a model 66 without cleaning it. At the end of the test they found absolutely integrity issues what so ever.

A short lived test however with lead 158's was a different story. I don't recall the number of rounds before the forcing cone fractured, but it was not very many, I think it was less than 1% of the jacketed 125 gr. test. According to S&W, lead builds up rather quickly at the forcing cones and increases the pressures, which in turn causes more than double the stress on the forcing cones and failure follows. At the least, if shooting lead be very attentitive to build up in, or at, the forcing cone. Even a slight wiping of lead can dramatically increase forcing cone stress enough to fracture it.

I don't remember where I read this, but I would be certain that if you google K frame fractures with 125 gr. jacketed bullets, you'll find their write up.

I own two 66's, one a 66-2 and the other a 66-5 and both have had thousands of H110 125 gr. jacketed put through them and are still as tight and sound as when new.

 

[Olympus]

First time I've heard that about lead. People have been shooting lead in revolvers for many, many years. Revolvers were designed to shoot lead bullets even. I've shot several thousand lead bullets through my S &W revolvers and have no plans on changing.

 

[oldfool]

Count me in with Olympus (and many thousands of other S&W k revolver shooters)
Never had any such issues with lead, but I don't run 2,500 rounds in-between cleanings, never knew a gun owner (of any gun) that did that. Go figure.

Congratulations OP, I do believe you just bought yourself the pert-near perfect 38+P revolver !
I own a pair of 66s, run lots and lots of 38sp and 38+P thru 'em, and some 158 grain 357s every now and then. Mine never were the least little bit picky about the ammo they shoot, any fodder will do.

Clean 'em every now and then.

 

[willroute]

That was my thought too.

willroute - is that barrel not pinned?
I've seen a number of pinned but not recessed. - like my 66-2
Never seen one recessed & not pinned.

Oddly, it is not pinned. The guys said he bought it around 1982. It is marked 66-1 but maybe they had spare cylinder left over. I would have liked for it be pinned, but sweet gun nonetheless.

It was owned by his ex-wife and he only shot it a couple of times, so I would dare say it has had less than 1000 rounds through it all these years.

 

[Olympus]

Pinned barrel is nice just to say you have it or when you sell it. Makes very little practical difference. I say don't sweat the petty stuff and just shoot it and enjoy a beautiful K-frame. I bet that after you shoot it, you'll start wanting more. Then you can be on the lookout for another model that is pinned and recessed.

 

[OldCavSoldier]

Out of my M66-1, I shoot 125 grain plated bullets in most of my "range work" reloads because I push the slugs at about 1000 fps and I don't want to have to worry about any potential leading issues (like I had years ago with swaged lead bullets). Service work is JHP bullets of mostly 158 grain (in .357) and 125 grain (in .38SPL).

 

[willroute]

Pinned barrel is nice just to say you have it or when you sell it. Makes very little practical difference. I say don't sweat the petty stuff and just shoot it and enjoy a beautiful K-frame. I bet that after you shoot it, you'll start wanting more. Then you can be on the lookout for another model that is pinned and recessed.

True. I do enjoy the beauty of the K frame. I never plan on selling, but do plan on shooting the hell out of it ...good reply Olympus.