I picked up a Model 60 (no dash) this evening that's in pretty good condition, paid a fair price for it. Assuming the grips (no diamond) are original, this one dates to 1968.

The thing that has me wondering if I've got something unusual is that it is "mostly" a square butt. It certainly has the square butt profile, but the heel appears to have been very professionally rounded off.

Looking at the Standard Catalog (3rd Edition, pages 221-223), there is no mention of this model having been made in a square butt.

2 questions...are square butt 60's common and is it likely that the heel was rounded off at the factory or by some talented bubba?

Thanks y'all!

More pics here: Model 60 Square Butt pictures by WNCSeabee - Photobucket

That's odd, because book says that sq butt started with 60-1 and was a 3" HB.
In regards to the rounded butt - it looks proper to me in your pics. Do the square butt grips that came on it fit properly?

Looks right to me , do the grips look to be altered? IIRC the No dash SB don't have a pinned bbl either. but I could be wrong

Heres from GB to compair

Smith & Wesson Model 60 .38 spl 2? Low Reserve : Revolvers at GunBroker.com

Yes, the grips fit properly. Thanks for that GB post autoguns, you can clearly see the box label is a 60 no dash with "SB" stock. Guess this isn't a rarity after all!

I didn't buy it that in mind, I just got curious after reading the Standard Catalog.

Edit: Looking at the box in that GB ad, it shows a "Special Order" code...so that may explain it. Probably not quite worthy of a letter from Roy, just a curiosity.

I think S&W possiblly rounded the SB on ND Model 60 just a bit because of the small j frame grips they originally installed.

Are the stocks numbered to this 60?

Well, this gun gets more interesting (to me anyway)...it is marked, and was presented as a "60 no dash". I just noticed that the barrel is not pinned. And the SN AECxxxx puts it ~1984 built, so a -1. A couple quick google searches teaches me that J-frames didn't always have their dash #'s stamped due to size constraints where they stamp.

Glad I wasn't picking this up as a "collector's" piece, 'cause I obviously didn't do my homework before hand!

still looks like you got a nice shooter/carry gun though. mind me asking what you gave for it?

Is the trigger face groved or smooth?

I don't see any numbers on the stocks, but they look correct to me.

Smooth trigger, .240" hammer (steel). I gave somewhere between $399 and $401 for it. Not a steal, but a decent price.

I plan on this being my secondary carry (primary is an XD 45c).

For the price I think you did good . I kinda like the smooth triggers because they have enough meat on em to do a nice contour trigger reshape on , I also like the SB because my hands are chubby and with fingers like sausages the SB just feels better to me.

JW

S&W made some M60 with 1 7/8" barrel and SB, and you have one of them. They show up on this forum from time to time. Another was sold on the classifieds about two years ago. Your gun is worth a premium over the much more common RB version.

John Jovino had a run of these and 3 inch square butts also in the 80s. They were advertised in Shotgun News at the time. It could be one of those. I purchased one of the 3 inch at the time but traded it to a M25-2 with a fellow worker.

Do you think there's really much of a premium associated with it?

I got this for carry, and prefer the square to the round butt (big hands). But if it's worth double what I paid, I wouldn't want to abuse it like I tend to with my carry pieces.

Your gun is a perfectly normal square-butt J-frame, that's how they look. Many believe the myth that all 2" J's are round-butt and all square-butt guns are 3", simply isn't true. While the 2's are possibly predominantly round and 3's square both are common and there is no premium for a square 2"

Not a huge premium, I'd say about $50, not a factor of purchase price. I'd give you $50, plus a RB Model 60, and a box of ammo if you want to do a FTF trade in NC, assuming the SB gun is in nice condition.

I'll pass, thanks though. I'm really liking the square butt J frame. It really fits my hand well.

It should be a great carry gun, congrats on a nice find!