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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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  #1  
Old 05-15-2010, 04:19 PM
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Are these rare? Anyone have any info or pictures of one? I am looking at one with a 69K SN and the barrel is quite different from a 66-2, it has a pinned on blued front sight base and uses a 2 1/2" length ejector rod.

m.

Last edited by Mack; 05-16-2010 at 12:42 AM.
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Old 05-15-2010, 04:29 PM
TNDave TNDave is offline
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That gun sounds suspicious.
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Old 05-15-2010, 04:38 PM
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The first factory 3" 66 was the -2. If the one you see has a 2 1/2" barrel with a short ejector rod shroud, that was specific for the short barrel; the 3" has a standard-length shroud. Hard to imagine someone shortening a 4 or 6" barrel and the shroud to make a 3" with the short ejector rod...a photo would help here.
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Old 05-15-2010, 05:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murphydog View Post
The first factory 3" 66 was the -2. If the one you see has a 2 1/2" barrel with a short ejector rod shroud, that was specific for the short barrel; the 3" has a standard-length shroud. Hard to imagine someone shortening a 4 or 6" barrel and the shroud to make a 3" with the short ejector rod...a photo would help here.
My camera is out of town at the moment, as soon as it gets home I will post some photos. I am looking at a 2 1/2" 66-1, a 3" 66-2, a 4" 66-2, a 3 1/4" 66-5 and the mystery 3" 66-1. The two 3" barrels are the same length and the markings are centered the same, both start about 1/2" back from the muzzle, the 4" markings would be at the muzzle and I don't see how you could shorten the ejector rod shroud on the -2 to fit a short rod. This looks like a dept. gun and is stamped on the left side under the cylinder S.M.CO. 8x. The front sight base does not extend all the way to the rear sight and the rear sight does not extend all the way to the front of the frame. The rear sight stops about 1/4" from the front of the frame and that 1/4" of the frame and 3/4" of the barrel between the front and rear sight is grooved. Also the frame kind of dips down in front of the rear sight like on the 66-5 but not quite the same. If someone put this thing together they went to a lot of trouble doing so.



m.

Last edited by Mack; 05-16-2010 at 12:28 AM.
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Old 05-16-2010, 12:38 AM
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I doubt it is factory. It may be a stretch, but one could arrive at that by removing 1/2" off of each end of a 4" barrel. That would account for both the short ejector rod and the centered roll marks. The gun, if originally a 4 inch, would have originally had a square butt frame. What do the grooves on the front and rear grip straps look like under the grips?

It could have been done because the 4" barrel had a damaged forcing cone, or the original owner just wanted a 3" gun really really badly.

Whatever the origin, it looks nicely done.

Last edited by BUFF; 05-16-2010 at 12:41 AM.
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Old 05-16-2010, 12:51 AM
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I agree with Buff, most likely someone took 1/2" off both ends of a 4" barrel, installed a new front sight base and ramp, shortened and then recut new threads on the forcing cone/barrel shank...a lot of time and effort went into this.
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Old 05-16-2010, 01:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BUFF View Post
I doubt it is factory. It may be a stretch, but one could arrive at that by removing 1/2" off of each end of a 4" barrel. That would account for both the short ejector rod and the centered roll marks. The gun, if originally a 4 inch, would have originally had a square butt frame. What do the grooves on the front and rear grip straps look like under the grips?

It could have been done because the 4" barrel had a damaged forcing cone, or the original owner just wanted a 3" gun really really badly.

Whatever the origin, it looks nicely done.
Buff,
I think you got it, no grooves on the grip straps both front and rear are smooth. Whoever must have taken 1/2" off both ends of a 4" barrel, it does look like a nice job, I will have to see how she shoots.

Next question is who is S.M.CO.
m.

Last edited by Mack; 05-16-2010 at 01:15 AM.
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  #8  
Old 05-16-2010, 09:26 AM
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according to a factory letter, the first 3" 66s had the serial prefix AER
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Old 05-16-2010, 10:16 AM
eich eich is offline
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Here is a couple, 3 - AHA's and 1 ANA.
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Old 05-16-2010, 11:40 AM
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Looks cool, though!
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Old 05-16-2010, 12:25 PM
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Quote:
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Here is a couple, 3 - AHA's and 1 ANA.
Where on Earth did you find FOUR of them?? It took me ten years to find ONE!!
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Old 05-16-2010, 12:43 PM
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Quote:
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Next question is who is S.M.CO.

...
Smith Modifying Company????
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  #13  
Old 05-16-2010, 01:09 PM
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That looks like the 3" 66-5 barrel.

There were a bunch of those type 3" barrels made up for the 3" 66-5's made by S&W for Walther. Walther sold them as the R99 La Chasse.

Nice 66 in any case. Congrats! Regards 18DAI.
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Old 05-17-2010, 05:49 PM
Chili Vega Chili Vega is offline
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I think the key is in the "S.M. CO." It may have been part of a batch ordered in that configuration for a particular agency.
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ejector, grooved, shroud, walther

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