Gene357
Member
I have a old smith and wesson that is marked as a model 66, but the gun is blued and appears to be a model 19. Anyone ever run into this before?
Smith and Wesson model 66/ 19
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Gene357
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No, the finish appears original. Most of it is worn off, lots of holster wear. Thanks.
The "blued" 66s will appear original and they will look like a blued steel gun. Some PDs and officers had their stainless "blued" thinking the stainless was too reflective. I looked into having a 659 "blued" but traded it for a 3rd gen S&W before I got it done.
Confederate
Member
Smith & Wesson did indeed "blue" some of their 66s and I believe your model is a stainless gun with some sort of a blue finish applied. I've often wondered what they looked like. It the blue highly reflective like Smith's royal blue, or is it matted in any way?
I remember back when gun magazines were still writing about double action revolvers a lot and talking about blue v. stainless (a topic they kept alive for years with banner headers). Pundits griped about stainless as being too reflective. I don't think too many of them took them into a darkened room to actually find out. (I did and my stainless Security-Six was about the same as my blued one.) Still, the argument went on for some time.
Leave your 66/19 on the lawn under a water sprinkler for a weekend. If it rusts, it's a 19. If it doesn't, well, you'll know it's stainless steel. Actually, a better test would be to take a cotton swab and put just a drop of cold blue solution on it. Clean and apply that drop to a hidden part of the gun and if it just beads up and doesn't change color, then you know it's stainless.
I remember back when gun magazines were still writing about double action revolvers a lot and talking about blue v. stainless (a topic they kept alive for years with banner headers). Pundits griped about stainless as being too reflective. I don't think too many of them took them into a darkened room to actually find out. (I did and my stainless Security-Six was about the same as my blued one.) Still, the argument went on for some time.
Leave your 66/19 on the lawn under a water sprinkler for a weekend. If it rusts, it's a 19. If it doesn't, well, you'll know it's stainless steel. Actually, a better test would be to take a cotton swab and put just a drop of cold blue solution on it. Clean and apply that drop to a hidden part of the gun and if it just beads up and doesn't change color, then you know it's stainless.
Gene357
Member
I just learned today that the gun is indeed stainless, a 66. The gun is an old Ct. State Police revolver that was purchased when the State went to Berretta 92's. I just got the Smith and Wesson box for the gun. The finish code is "BSS", blue stainless steel. Thanks for the help.
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