Picked up this little gem today. A factory blued 66 no dash Combat Magnum. These were made for the Connecticut State Police. Can’t say I know much about them other than what is in the SCSW:

Model 66 in blued stainless, 4” barrel; reported that 750-800 were made, marked “Conn State Police” (or possibly “CSP”, we are uncertain which) with a three-digit number on the frame below the cylinder. Also reported that some have been sold as surplus with the black coloring polished off the stainless steel. Target hammer, .265 trigger, red ramp, white outline rear sight.

Mine is marked CSP 0074 on the left side of the frame below the cylinder. Neat gun, in pretty decent shape considering it was a service revolver. The grips that were on it are correct vintage, but not serial number matching (pretty close though - my guess is from the same batch of guns). Also had a crack in one panel that is currently under repair. Gave me a reason to play dress up anyways, which if you know anything about me you’d know that the factory grips weren’t likely to stay on it regardless. Tried a set of Culina oak grips, then a set of Farrants, but settled on an unknown Roper-esque set I had laying around - they just looked right on it. Anybody seen one of these before?




With my Pre-18 in her new Sanderson maple shoes.

That's a first for me. Great find!

A very nice acquisition. I suspect it will do nothing but appreciate in value and your enjoyment. Congrats.

I never knew such an animal existed. Thanks for sharing.

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Tony

Very nice indeed. I wonder what processes are involved in getting that nice blue on stainless.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Wow...never even heard of them before!! Nice catch!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Yeah I've got one myself - CSP 0561.

I remember those; never saw one, though.
Nice catch!

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John

I


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OK, so now I'm going to ask the "elephant in the room" question:

Why in the heck would the factory blue a stainless revolver?

In this case, why not just sell the Connecticut State Police a Model 19 instead?

I'm glad there's an entry in the SCSW about these because, otherwise, I'd think somebody had gamed the OP on this gun.

And while we're at it: are there other blued stainless S&W models out there that were done at the factory?

I learn something new every day in this place!

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Only thing I can think of is with the NE weather. Stainless a bit more corrosion resistant, but didn't want a bright finish. That's my best guess.


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Dave

It's a rare day when I come to this site and don't learn something new.

IIRC the W Va State Police carry blued/melonite 4566s...... and weren't there some "blackened" 686s or 681 for a Highway Patrol???

Very familiar with that model. In fact, I was issued one the later half of 1980 when I joined the CSP. Department policy was no silver colored handguns for duty carry - had to be blued.

CSP wanted the corrosion resistance of SS, but with a dark finish, so had S&W do a special run of 66's with a blackened finish. It is not traditional blueing, and does not wear as well as blue. Most looked pretty rough after several years of use. I believe this finish was also offered on several other limited production runs of SS revolvers offered to the public in that time frame.

At the time, you could carry your own revolver as long as it met dept. guidelines - four or six inch, blued D/A revolver chambered in .357 magnum, S&W or Colt. I bought one of the first 586's to hit the shelf, as I preferred the balance, and seldom carried my issued 66.

Mine, and I believe all 66's were stamped "CSP." This continued to be the issue revolver for uniform use until the Berretta 92 was adopted in about 1984 or so. Could have purchased my issue 66 for a song and a dance back then, but didn't. Wish I had.

Larry

Nice 66 you have there! It does well playing "Dress-Up"! I do a lot of stock changing myself. Enjoy your 66! Bob

yes, you can darken (it is NOT bluing) of stainless , Dulite Co makes the solution, we used to do it in our shop, BUT very little call for it for obvious reasons...( try selling a stainless gun that is darkened, and promote it as "stainless" something gets lost in the translation)..yes, the PDs and agencies liked the idea of the "not shiny" but having the attributes of stainless but alas gun alloy stainless is NOT medical or surgical grade so can and will still tarnish, stain, and rust ( pit) look under the rubber grips of ANY PD stainless revolver trade-in gun.......hhhhmmmmm
yes it was also done on some L framed guns during that time......does NOT hold up well

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dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

Thanks for all the replies on the "why darken a stainless gun," and to the OP, I hope the bit of thread drift wasn't a problem. I still find your gun quite interesting, and it's also interesting that police agencies would consciously not want shiny guns carried by their officers. I'm thinking maybe it's a combination of being "traditional" and matching the uniform, as well as not being flashy or focusing attention on the weapon, that affected some departments' policies.

When I remember what I've read about how popular the Model 66 Combat Magnum was when it first came out -- and how unobtainable it was for the public due to heavy LE demand -- I guess I can see how a few departments wanted the gun but couldn't quite abide the shiny finish, so they tried to get the better of both worlds with the bluing. Since it apparently didn't hold up very well, I guess it was a trade-off that didn't really work out, except for those collectors now who have been able to find the guns that weren't carried much if at all.

Who knows, maybe if the semi-autos hadn't come into the LE realm as pervasively, perhaps Melonited stainless revolvers would have been the norm for officers to carry....

Anyway, the blued Model 66 is another piece of S&W revolver lore that's good to know!

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

What is this you posted after quoting the OP's photos?

ikarus1 is an android. His data to text translation algorithm had a brain fart.

Gdogs:

Thanks for posting this along with the photos. I'd never heard of a "blued" Model 66 before. My first stainless steel revolver was a Model 66-2 with a 2.5 inch long barrel. In the early 1980s, I decided to buy a Model 686 with a 6.0 inch long barrel. I remember a lot of LEOs I knew telling me that I was being foolish for buying such a "shiny gun" and losing all "tactical advantages" by doing so. As I intended to use the 686 for targets at the range and occasional hunting, I failed to understand what "tactical advantages" I was losing. Other LEOs advised me to either apply black electrician's tape to the piece, or to smear black shoe polish on the piece to hide its shiny surface. Huh? The piece came from the factory with a brushed/matte stainless steel finish. I really enjoyed that 686, but it was a heavy beast compared to a Model 66. Congratulations on your new acquisition.

Regards,

Dave

Haha i have an android phone and it brainfarted. But yeah nice model 66

I saw one listed on GB maybe 2 weeks ago.

That's pretty neat. I always took to the belief that STS guns would not take to bluing. I guess that's sort of true because many say this isn't a "true blue". Regardless, I wonder if they accomplished this finish on the original STS steel used to produce the model 66, or if S&W obtained a different STS steel with slightly different properties and composition in order to 'take' a finish like this? It's interesting they requested the trigger be "blued" too. Kind of mimicking a Colt. Makes you wonder why the CT SP didn't just give their business to the in-state manufacturer.

I don't have my book handy for the details but I'm almost certain there was a run of blued (or maybe it was "blackened") 686 models at some point, too.

Edit: here it is: http://smith-wessonforum.com/985110-post2.html

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SWHF #448

Yep, this is it Honestly I was surprised that I got it for what I did. Haven't made it to the range with it yet, not that it will get shot all that much, but I'm very much looking forward to it.

Great to see others out there, and I'm glad I could share something new with a lot of you.

Back when stainless steel revolvers were introduced by Smith & Wesson, they had a polished surface. This received a lot of press and thought about how much they would reflect light and show up more than blued steel. In other words, not tactically advantageous! Overuse of the word "tactical" was not in evidence then! :-)

Also, remember the only other shiny surface was nickel plating on guns. This was indicative of the "hot dog" when displayed in officer's holsters. Chiefs were very aware of this, except maybe Texas ones. Tongue in cheek here!

I think the brushed stainless dulling the finish and the obvious advantages of stainless overcame a lot of objections to the shiny finish and stainless revolvers were in a lot of officers holsters in the late 70s and 80s before the Glocks ran them off.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

I have a 66-1 in a fully blacked out finish (not blued, perhaps melonite?) Based on S/N prefix, I think it was produced in the early 80's. Either it's factory or somebody went to extreme lengths to disassemble the firearm, meticulously put the black finish on each separate piece, and reassemble. Wish I could just drag and drop the pic.

Back in the day, many a LEO WANTED a shiny revolver. They wanted it to be SEEN when it was pulled out of the holster.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I can see one of those fitting in my modest collection just perfectly. I love a stainless gun for it's resistance to rust, however I also love the looks of a blued (black) gun with wood stocks.

I'm just not sure I can wait long enough to (1) Find one, and (B) Afford it.

Not sure how I missed this thread some 6 and 1/2 years ago......... I could'a been looking this WHOLE TIME!

I’ve got a 6” 686 with the midnight black finish. Purchased from a member here. It has a satin blue/black finish.

Oh, a note to Vigil617, I served on the Decisive WMEC629.

That is a cool revolver! Didn’t know they existed.

I remember this but I was perfectly happy with my satin blue Highway Patrolman as many times I held it next to my right leg when approaching a vehicle when things didn’t feel quite right, I don’t believe any of them ever saw it (& thank God I never had to use it).

[QUOTE=vigil617;139573587]OK, so now I'm going to ask the "elephant in the room" question:

Why in the heck would the factory blue a stainless steel gun.

To answer your question out of order..... Yes also offered a version of 686 with the "black". There are chemicals that react with the nickel in stainless steel to make it black. Not sure what Smith did to attain the color. Look in the Brownells catalog, you can purchase today. I almost bought one when they came out. I was still living in Virginia so late 80' or early 90's. As a possible answer to as to why they would do that, I'm not sure. I know S&W had put an ton of money and hope in the L frame. But 1986 the winds of change began with the FBI Miami-Dade shootout. From that point on the call for more fire power in law enforcement holsters was the rule. Semiautomatics and new calibers. S&W 1076 in full boar 10mm lead to the .40 S&W cartridge. Smith was beaten to the market with their .40.S&W by Glock's introduction of the G 22. Smith introduced their 4000 series .40s but it was too late. Sig, HK, Beretta Walther etc were putting out wonder 9s and .40 S&W guns. To salvage what they could of a shrinking revolver market, Smith had to offer something different. Stainless steel wasn't all that common back then. The.revolver crowd was used to deep.polished blue carbon steel. Now you you could get the best of both worlds... a blued stainless gun. That failed miserably for Smith. I remember seeing L frame revolvers being used as lost leaders to get folks in the store. That's why I thought had about buying a blacked out 686 new in the box for $350.00. Also remember that the milsurp market was in full swing. Surplus US M4 carbine bayonets were more expensive then the carbines they went on. It was wild back then. Hope that helps.