I just picked up my first S&W model 66-8 .357 combat magnum.
Has anyone else? Does anyone have any feedback?

There is a search feature. There are several threads on this gun. I have not seen any negatives.

Welcome to the forum!

Good for you! I don't have one of those particular ones, but I'm sure you'll like it.

Again, welcome to the forum.

Oh, and be sure to post pics of it.

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I've got one. Had it since late last summer. Have a little over 1,200 rounds thru it. It's one of my favorite "shooters". Great little gun IMO.

Bought it as an understudy to my M69s and a big brother to my 4" M617. All three are round butt guns that I equipped with the Hogue 500 grips. Transition between guns is pretty much seamless.

There has been some discussion regarding S&W's QA/QC (or rather lack thereof) on current production guns. I know others have had problems but I've had no such problems with the aforementioned M69s, M66, & M617, all of which were purchased in the last year.

I need to get a family portrait.

FWIW,

Paul

I like shooting both the .38's and .357's out of it. Hardly any recoil and has been a ton of fun. I heard this newer model has a stonger belly for the .357's than some of the 66's from years pasts.

I have the 4 inch barrel version of the S&W 66-8 and absolutely love it. It is a 357 Mag K Frame with all of the reported issues the older versions had now fixed. Congratulations on your purchase!

The 66-8 has a full size forcing cone so it no longer has the thin flat spot older versions had. Some people say the flat spot on the forcing cone caused a weak area which could crack if shooters shot a steady diet of hot 357 Mag loads. The 66-8 does not have that problem. S&W made the ejector rod thinner which allowed the crane to close even with a full size forcing cone.

No complaints with mine. One thing that will have you cleaning it a bit more often is the lack of a gas ring at the front of the cylinder.
It will get crudded up after 75 or so rounds.

Mine get carried with the first two chambers loaded with CCI/Speer shotshells.
I can avoid snakes easy enough but I worry more about my bird dog when the rattlers are out.

The grips that come with them are comfortable but a hard rubber and ugly.
I put VZ grips on my 66-8 ( and Hogue Cocobolo on my M69).

My 66-8, 69, heck even my older 686 and 63 all had the rear sight bottomed out to get zeroed at 25 yards. And some where still shooting high.

Taller front sights were needed, and I went with the Dawson front sight.
I'm glad I did, it's so much easier to see a well defined top of the front sight.
I stubbornly stuck with the ramp with red insert for years, but I like the Dawson much better.
As a bonus, there is a Tritium ring around the white dot.
And by going with the next taller height than my factory red ramp, all my sights now have a couple clicks of elevation left instead of being bottomed out.

Dawson Precision S&W Pinned Tritium Front Sights - Dawson Precision, Inc.

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