Most of my police career I carried a Python. Our chief was conservative and would not allow either nickel or stainless revolvers. Shortly before he retired he relented. I would have purchased a stainless Python but could not afford one with my meager salary. Instead I bought a Smith 66. Of course the 66 was excellent and saved me hundreds.

After I left the department I sold all my guns except my P226 and my Python. As I grew older I had more discretionary money available. Now I have a total of 7 model 66's. A no dash 2 1/2 inch, 2 1/2 -1, 3 4 inch -1 and 2 three inch. That doesn't include several other handguns.

The last 2 four inchers were bought in the last 2 weeks. I guess that I see the 66's so rarely I cannot resist. Where do I draw the line?

Get the Sig P226 a friend.

More than two or three of any combination of barrel length and finish would raise the question of necessity. However, many here question the legitimacy of necessity as a question.

Next?

__________________
Formerly Model520Fan

I think 7 is just about getting there. I would like one more M28

Attached Images

	1973N28.jpg (67.7 KB, 82 views)
	M28-4in.jpg (62.2 KB, 80 views)
	M28-6in.jpg (55.2 KB, 80 views)

__________________
Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

I think a reasonable question to ask is "What do I want that I cannot get because I spent that money on a duplicate of something I already have?"

If you can come up to an answer to that question that includes a specific firearm (and doesn't include the word "nothing") then you might have just reached that point...

If the answer to that question is "nothing" then you don't need to ask the question!

Legally, you can only have 1 wife. Morally, you should have only 1 girlfriend. As far as guns, you can have as many duplicates as you want.

....as long as your wife (or girlfriend) approves.

I ran out of prop rod for the rest...

enjoy,

bdGreen

My 1973 4” Model 66 is one of my favorites too.

__________________
Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Wow you might be asking the wrong crowd if you expect restraint from us.
I am a shooter first and foremost, so I do tend to spread things around. OTOH, I currently have 10+ guns I can make go bang with a 38 special.

__________________
Front sight and squeeze

Let's let Bugs answer that question......Ben

Bugs is spot on!

The duplicates that I have are two Model 27 S&Ws and two Winchester-Parker side by side shotguns. Oh, I also have two duplicate Brittany bird dogs for hunting upland game too.

I have made an effort to replace all of those guns that I had to trade or sell to buy another one of need or interest back in my youth. So far I've replaced many (S&W Models 10, 14, 19s and 28) and I enjoy shooting them all the more in my retirement.

__________________
Keep your powder dry.

Dude. I’m not your comptroller. Do what you want . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Well, I am down to 7 Garands. Had something like 12 or 14 of them at one point. So, keep on keeping on, I say.

__________________
Regards,

Tom

I used to think I needed every model, in each finish and barrel length. Started on that journey once and got pretty far. But I came to realize that I am not a collector, but a shooter, so I cut way back on my revolver collection. Today I have just one 44 Magnum, one 44 Special, one 41 Magnum, one 10MM, and one .357 Magnum. For some reason, though, I have eight 38 Special revolvers. Can't seem to pare down that part of my inventory!

__________________
FBINA, 204th Session

I'm trying to figure out why you need to draw the line.

You're just getting started.

__________________
Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

I don't have a problem, said the guy who has 11 Smith wheel guns that shoot the .38. Oh that's right there is one in the birth canal. Two N frames, three L frames, 5 K's, and a J. And the one enroute is an N. Oh boy I think I need a Crown-7 now.

You can never have too many.

You draw the line at the moment you think you got everything you ever needed and it's finally time to get that Jiminez .32 or Hi-Point 9mm you had your eye on.

That's when someone close to you should step in, pop you upside the noggin and point you to A/L or G/B to get another M66 or even an M27or M28.

Hell...sell the P226 and put that $ towards a new Stainless Steel Python!

Model 14s, underlugged . I've acquired 2 more since this photo, both 6". When I find a good deal on one, I cant let it go..

Attached Images

DSCN1754.jpg (93.8 KB, 68 views)

When the late gunwriter Kent Bellah ran across a gun (usually a revolver) that he really liked, he remarked that he needed "a pair and a spare".

Right now that's like money in the bank; Good guns,popular barrel lengths, folks want them they are hard to come by........

I had a few back in the late 80s early 90s...... most got traded off except for the two 3" 66s........by the early 21st century I realized I'd like to have a couple 2 1/2 and 4 inch 19/66s.......but unlike a decade before the LGSs didn't have any P&Red guns sitting on the used gun shelf waiting to be bought ......................

Today, personally I have as more than I need; but it took me a decade to get as many as I wanted in the condition I wanted.

Got to know when to hold um...... when to fold um!

Six is enough ... Twelve is too many .
Gary

__________________
Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I think "need" and "want" are just 2 ways of saying the same thing. I also don't think there is such a thing as too much money or too many guns. One of my mentors told me that there are some things you can buy that when you want too sell you won't be able too find a buyer so you've lost all your money but somebody will always give you something for a gun so at least you haven't lost all your money. Larry

I try to look at it this way. One is none, two is one and three is better, four is way better

De Oppresso Liber

Well, before getting bitten by the S&W-bug, I never even wanted a .38 Spl. anything. Heck, I already HAD a .357 or two - why would you do that??

And then they started pulling me in...... too embarrassed to say how much hardware I have that shoots .38.

Same with stuff in .45 ACP - had one (1) Colt Series 70, why in heck would you EVER want a weird revolver that shoots that?
Now - Have M25-2 (and a -5), a near-perfect old M1917 and a M1937 Brazilian as a 'woods gun'.

All part of the enjoyable dysfunction.

__________________
Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Not Dayton PD but a small but very active suburb. The 226 is long gone but I'd like to find a reasonably priced P228. Have another 9 revolvers plus 10 misc autos.

I don't look for a particular gun anymore have been running upon the 66's lately. I don't consider myself a collector. But do not shoot most of these either.

Is that ALL you have? You're just getting started.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Sky may be too many

__________________
Retired trap shooter

I call all these as "different" guns, no duplicates here! My excuse and I'm sticking too it!

jcelect

As I used to tell the kids in math class, "what's the biggest number?" They would blurt out various numbers. "Nope, just add 1"

__________________
No baby we aint

Well...With at least one digit different on each serial number, there are no duplicates. Carry On !!

Me? I wouldn't know the answer to your question

bdGreen

"How many duplicates are too many?" ...I'll let you know when I find out... I still struggle every time I see a good deal on a 3 1/2" or 8 3/8" Model 27 or any of the pre equivelants...

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

No real answer here, basically what ever floats your boat!

Some people collect all different brands and models, while others focus on one particular model or brand from a certain period - neither is wrong.

If you are content with your M66's indifferent variations - then it's right for you.

I've got 6 model 41s and they're all different. I can tell by checking the serial numbers.

The question, "How many duplicates are too many?" is not a real question despite being grammatically correct in every known language. It conforms to no identifiable reality. On the other hand, the question, "How many duplicates are enough?" is a real question and can be answered with a universal assertion that is correct on any occasion the question is posed: "One more."

That response is known as the Lower-Bound Limiting Case, a specific instance of the Universal Principle of Adequate Amassment, first formulated or Aristotle or Chairman Mao or Will Rogers or somebody like that. This is the shortest expression of that broader truth: Too much is always enough, and too many are always sufficient. In this case, the undefinable quantities of "too much" and "too many" represent the "Upper-Bound Limiting Case," which is, perhaps perplexingly, an infinite range rather than a single real number, but hey -- that's philosophy for you. It is the attempt to establish a point in an infinite range as the lower bound that constitutes the logical fallacy in the initial question.

This concludes today's lecture. Please deposit a nickel in the jar by the exit door. Tomorrow's lecture will address truth and justice, which sadly almost always leads to shouting and violence. I will not attend from fear of possible injury, and the lecture will be team taught by two psychologists, two economists, and five logicians -- all armed.

__________________
David Wilson

Funny story about duplicates. Got back into Smith's after a long
layoff. Got back to this forum and decided I needed a 3 in model
66. Finally found a decent price. When it came in checked it over,
logged record book and went to store in safe. Located proper place...
there is model 66's.......oops.....there in the safe is a model 66 3 inch.
Well now I got two! Good on me. Sometimes a bad memory is not so bad!

DCWilson.....you gave me a headache!

How many is too many? I guess it all depends on the individual. I'm just too gun poor to have anything of real value repeated in my gun safe. The only dupilcates I have are two Glock duty guns I purchased for a song when we transitioned to new ones, and they aren't real dupicates because they are of different calibers and generations.

When it comes to women....I found out early on it was very problematic.

That's all i got.

I went to a "collector" show way back in the 20th century. One exhibitor had 140 examples of the Browning P35 HiPower. Quite breathless, I asked the owner "Is that all of them?" Without a moment's hesitation he replied "Nope, but I'm after 'em." So that apparently isn't too many. Joe

__________________
Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

Strange coincidence, but I had one already when I wrote that!

__________________
David Wilson

Can we have too many of one model in the same barrel length, caliber, dash number and finish?

At what point doesa collector become a hoarder?

Is it an investment to buy low to sell high down the road?

Like Joe Friday says just the facts?

I think having one of each is me, maybe two one in different finish.

__________________
Plant garlic in the fall

....I hate you, Richard.

You can never have enough duplicates. Remember, he who has the most wins!

__________________
Pine_Worker
Ex-LEO, NRA Life