Questions about my new (used) S&W 3" M65-6

[November]

I picked up a 3" round-butt Smith Model 65-6 this weekend and noticed that it has the firing pin in the frame, not on the hammer. Does anyone know what other things (upgrades, engineering changes, etc.) this generation of 65s has, or when it was made? Is this generation considered desireable or not and why? I checked the cylinder/barrel gap and it is .008/.009. Is that too excessive? Their is no cylinder play at full cock, so I guess that's good, right? I appreciate any info.

 

[November]

Oh, yeah...is it OK to dry-fire this gun?

 

[Brian Williams]

65-6 started 1998
They dropped the cylinder stop stud, changed to a MIM hammer, and frame mounted firing pin, change internal lock works.


The 3" 65/13 is considered by many here to be one of the ultmate carry guns. enjoy it shoot it and have fun.

 

[Brian Williams]

OBTW Dry fire the snot out of it, use snap caps, but dryfire it and it will smooth up even more.

Check cylinder play at the fired position for a S&W, at full cock for colts.

Gap is a little big but not worth changing yet.



See Jim March's thread at the begining of the revolver section for the best check out procedure.

 

[James Bondrock]

I checked the cylinder/barrel gap and it is .008/.009. Is that too excessive?

It is on the high side of specs, but still within them. Standard is .006", with .010-.011" being the maximum.

 

[Tamara]

At the risk of repeating myself from an earlier post this morning, I think a fixed-sight 3" round-butt K-frame may be closely tied with the 1911 for "Best Serious Carry Gun Of All Time".

I'm getting hoarse...

 

[November]

Thanks all for the info. A couple of other things I noticed last night... The feeler gauge for the cylinder/barrel gap from one side of the gun measures .008/.009, but from the other side goes .004/.005. What's that about? An uneven forcing cone? Does that adversely affect anything? Also, this gun has a strange break in single action mode. I cock the hammer and the cylinder has no play. Then, I gently press the trigger just until the hammer falls, but not all the way to the frame. If I do this, the cylinder still has no play. However, if I continue and pull the trigger back to the frame like I would under normal conditions, then I feel and here a click and the cylinder then has a little play (normal wiggle). Does anyone know what that click is? Thanks again.