Hello, I have a Model 66-1, S/N: 89-K2872, that I acquired in the early 1990's from a law enforcement supply house that was selling LEO trade in revolvers when most departments were moving towards autoloaders. This revolver has a 2 1/2" pinned barrel, a round butt, and a non-recessed cylinder. My question is this: could it be possible that this revolver was produced on the cusp of the 66-2 introduction, thus the non-recessed cylinder but with a pinned barrel? Or could it be as simple as some had changed out the cylinder? Also, would it be possible to determine the date of production? Thank You for any information. MartyK

When the cylinder is open how much fore and aft movement does it have? A non recessed cylinder would have quite a bit if used on a gun that originally had a recessed cylinder unless the frame lug was changed to..

Prefix 89K would have been from 1980 (well before the deletion of the pinned barrel) and these sold rather quickly at the time, so the cylinder change theory sounds plausible. A letter of authenticity would tell you the exact ship date but it would not mention the cylinder type.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

During the transition from -1 to -2, you could expect to see some -1s with pinned barrel and non-recessed cylinder, as yours is. You could also expect to sometimes find some -1s without the pinned barrel, but WITH a recessed cylinder. These configurations have been noted with other S&W models as well.

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An 89Kxxxx serial would date the 66-1 to the fall of 1980 well before the 1982 change to the 66-2 but with Smith nothing is certain.The gun could have lingered in the factory and not shipped until the transition time.

A 66-1 that is fully to the specs for that model would have a pinned barrel,recessed cylinder holes and a cylinder length of 1.67"

A full spec 66-2 would have an unpinned barrel and non recessed cylinder holes and a cylinder length of 1.62"

Guns shipped by Smith close to the transition time to a new dash can and usually do have a mix of parts as the factory runs out of the older parts.

If your gun needed to have the cylinder changed during it's police service life a 1.62" cylinder would be fitted.

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66-1, S/N 96K86XX, pinned barrel and recessed cylinder.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

I looked at a 4" -1 at the Tanner show in the Denver area on Saturday, no barrel pin but has the recessed cylinder. I passed on a decent price as I'm searching for a specific year gun. Those versions are out there, I know of another one online right now that can be found with just a little searching.