My First Revolver

Rack&Roll said:

Fortunately, I already own the correct unBubba-Ed grips for this 66, courtesy of another member here who put up an absolutely pristine pair on the classifieds here awhile back.

But we can take a vote..... who thinks the turquoise grips should stay?

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Lose them ugly mother ****ers and PRONTO.

Rack&Roll said:

Fortunately, I already own the correct unBubba-Ed grips for this 66, courtesy of another member here who put up an absolutely pristine pair on the classifieds here awhile back.

But we can take a vote..... who thinks the turquoise grips should stay?

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Threeband said:

Put the turquoise grips on Gunbroker with a big puffed-up description and a "buy it now" price of $475.

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Rack&Roll said:

Recessed cylinders, and pinned barrel, both of which were discontinued back in 1982.

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Rack&Roll said:

My latest pick-up-- a "no dash" Smith & Wesson model 66 in .357 with pinned barrel, recessed cylinder, hammernose and STAINLESS STEEL rear sight blade. For folks not familiar with it, "no dash" means it was the first generation of the model. Later model changes came out as 66–1, 66–2, etc.

The K-frame model 66 was discontinued in 2005, then was re-issued as a "classic" last year--but with the Hillary Hole internal lock, yuck. It was a popular service weapon because it handles .357, but without the L frame weight of a 686.

It is that Stainless Steel rear sight on my revolver that makes this highly collectible because this SS sight was only put on the model 66 during part of the first year of production. Shooters complained that the light color of stainless steel caused glare so Smith & Wesson switched to the blued rear sight blade. However, the short run of Model 66 No Dash with SS sights in 1974 boosted its collector value.

Below you can see why it sat on a consignment shelf in Montgomery county for more than a week even though the price tag was only $450--and with the box. Small turquoise stones have been roughly glued into the channel around the checkering. My assumption it was that it was done in the 70s by the original owner who probably lived in the Southwest region of the US where turquoise is very popular for belt buckles, keychains, cufflinks etc.

Biggfoot44 agrees with my turquoise guess about an Arizona or New Mexico original owner, but he expands the region that the owner might have also lived to Montana and the Rockies region.

It is a pretty good guess that I am only the second owner because this gun and a number of others were inherited by somebody who lives in Montgomery county and had no use for them and put them up for sale. The only thing Moco is good for is as a repository of firearm heirs ("eeewww, a gun!") who know nothing about them.

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lsw said:

I'm not a revolver collecter (yet, anyway) but curious about those features. I have a K frame with a pinned barrel but the cylinder is not recessed. Don't have it handy at the moment but I believe it's a 10-6. Would the pinned barrel alone mean it was produced in 1982 or earlier?

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