Hi everybody,
thank you for the quick reply and your valuable advice!
To be honest – I am deeply impressed by your knowledge. Especially recognizing the Kiel Proof House mark shows expertise on the highest level.
I do only know little about the history of this revolver. I think it was manufactured in 1981. The “93”-mark next to the Kiel Proof House mark indicates that the gun passed the check of the German National Firing Proof House in 1993 - this is mandatory for guns sold legally on the German market.
Guns with barrels shorter than 3” are normally used by hunters (finishing shot for wounded game) and to some extent by private security-agencies (not anymore, as they prefer Glock now). Due to the strict gun laws in Germany target-shooters are not allowed to own this kind of guns. Consequently these guns are normally barely shot.
German Police Departments and the armed forces always preferred 9x19 self-loading pistols (Walther, H&K, SIG-Sauer etc.).
By the way. There is another mark on the revolver: “LSA” (please refer to the attached Photo). I could not get any information about this abbreviation…
I bought this gun from a gundealer located in the northern part of Germany. It was not offered, I proactively wrote some e-Mails to several gun stores all over Germany asking for a M 66-1 in good shape. The dealer told me, that the revolver was part of a mixed lot of arms he bought ages ago. Unfortunately he could not provide any further details.
I did the check according to the clip that Larry Potterfield provides on his Youtube Channel “MidwayUSA”. No issues, perfect surface (no corrosion), perfect barrel and muzzle, perfect trigger, perfect timing…. - nothing that attracts any doubts.
As I served in the army I am more familiar with the function of self-loading guns and judging the condition of pistols, but in this specific case I am convinced that also this revolver was a good buy. Only the toolmarks and the forcing cone gap irritated me.
@BAM-BAM: The gap was indeed pretty tight but the cylinder never dragged on the forcing cone. After inserting endshake bearings the upper gap is 0.9mm and the lower gap measures 1,1mm.
I smoothened the rough surface (only the edges!) at some places in order to remove the toolmarks leaving the revolver as originial as possible. Please have a look at edge near the Proof House mark, photo no. 1 of the foto attached to this post shows the edge before I smoothened ist, photo no. 5 of my initial post shows the edges after I accomplished my work. As I am a perfectionist the revolver now fits my expectations.
Thank you once again for sharing your knowledge. I really appreciate your comments as it confirmed me that I purchased a high valuable revolver in very good condition and not a real lemon.
In Germany your are only allowed to own three handguns - therefore I had to select very intensively to make the right decision. I am sure now I did!
Best Regards from Munich
Fips
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