Hello,

This beauty is on its way to my FFL dealer. Original owner purchased it new in October '95. I was out to dinner with a friend and he made the connection with the seller for me, whom he was related to.

I have been wanting a smaller frame in this caliber, preferably pre-lock, so my luck with having this fall into my lap couldn't be better.

Currently in the mail, more pics not available until I take possession. I'm guessing the model is printed under the serial number.

Less than 500 rounds , a mix of 357 and 38. Pictures from the original owner.

nice find, you'll get a lot of enjoyment from that. Looking forward to seeing more once it arrives.

It's a fairly scarce 3" model 66, either a -3 or 4. Enjoy!

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

It is a 66-4. It is because of the year, natural color of the forged hammer and trigger,uncle mikes grips. You will also find that it is drilled for a scope from the factory. I have one just like it. I just saw one sell on Gun Broke for $1695.00

That's a very, very sweet find!! They are scarce indeed. I just let one slip away from me locally, it was a 66-7 3". Buyer wanted $600 for it, but too many unknowns for me to take the plunge. And I still regret it as I type this, it's sold.

From a collector standpoint, a few "points" off for lack of pin and recessed, but several added on for the 3" bbl and all forged parts. From a shooter and carrying standpoint... outstanding. Congrats, you should find it to be a great one!

Froggie

Wow, looks like I really lucked out with this one!

I am absolutely approaching this from a shooter's standpoint. I have no plans to sell, or collect for that matter. That is one of the reasons I want a S&W in the first place, I know it will last.

Have not had good luck with my 686-6. Just got it back today after it's second trip back home and I'm hoping it's fixed now.

I agree with ken4, it's very likely a -4. Product code for these 3-inch guns is 102712. I've seen a ton of them, so they're not super rare. They are highly desirable and sought after... and NOT inexpensive.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Nice find!

Remind the current owner to unload it before he ships:-)

HAHA! Hopefully she did, still waiting on my purchase permit so I can pick this sucker up.

Don't know where you live, but in Old Virginnie, the only "purchase permit" needed is cold, hard cash or a debit or credit card.

The longest part of buying a gun from a FFL here is filling out the paper work. Calling in the purchase took 5 minutes on my last gun buy.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Nice score. Mine is a -2. SN: AHL08XX I bought it new 8/27/86.

Mine was my prime gun OD, afield on foot or horseback.

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NRA LIFE
Reserve Officer 9yrs

Finally! Picked it up yesterday.

Might need to do some cleaning and oiling on the hammer. Might be a small spot of rust on there, but no big deal. Thinking about stripping it down for a detailed cleaning since it hasn't been cleaned in 20 years.

It looks pretty good to me! Almost looks like it wan't fired much. Great buy!

Ed

So, is it a -4, or what?

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Yes! It is a 66-4. You think I would have mentioned that given the whole point of this thread?

Coincidentally I just picked up a 66-4 3" this morning off a buy now on gunbroker. It also has the old style thumb piece. It's supposed to be maybe fired but it looks really clean rubber uncle mikes & all. I looked for a long time but they were all so expensive I held off until today.

I believe that the 3" began with the dash 2 and up so none of them would have been P&R. I passed one up at my lgs about 8 months ago because I was picking up my 625-2 1988 model from the gun shop & said to myself I can't buy this 66 3" now I just bought this 625 so I alerted forum members about it & a member bought it. Since then I have wanted one (you know how that is) & finally yesterday I found one.

Great find!!! It's clean enough already...shoot it!!


HOLY MOLY....$1695...even with a dinged front sight and a box with no label.


Over 5000 3" 66s were produced, but according to a factory letter 4195 of them are -2 "Ashland" models. The -4s, -3s, etc., only number in the 100s. Not quite "a ton" of -4s are out there. OP's find is rare indeed, especially when considering that some of the -4's were magna-ported.

That's interesting. When I look in my data base for 3-inch M66's, I have info on (17) -3 and (17) -4's. I have (20) -2, which suggests they were made in roughly similar numbers. (And in LARGE numbers. Many guns, that you'd think are more common, I'll only have seen 3 or 4).

I have no control over what guns I happen to see. Admittedly, when they cross my path it's a random event. But, it's not the first time where what's written down somewhere doesn't seem to agree with what I've seen in the real world.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I think S & W fans are more likely to discuss and post photos of their finds, but any model with production in the hundreds (rather than hundreds of thousands, like Shields) probably at least qualifies as "scarce". You can debate the difference between that, "rare" and "super rare", like coin collectors do, until the cows come home .

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Kernel...here's the letter that i was referring to, along with the 66-4 that was lettered...

And where do the F-comps fit in? Are they counted in the numbers? And am I understanding correctly that the -4 F-comps only number in the hundred's?

I never realized that the 66-2 was the first 3"66... I bought mine as a consolation when I had broken up with my financee' & she declined to sell back to me the blue steel 3"M13 I'd given her (was FBI issue at the time & hard to find)... I recall that my 66-2 did indeed come from Ashland & the SN is in the AHL group...

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NRA LIFE
Reserve Officer 9yrs

The 3" Model 66 is a sweet looking gun but I'm not that much more enamored with them than a 2-1/2" version to pony up the difference. I have a like-new -4 in that barrel length that I bought for $416 several years ago - I'd probably have to triple that (if it stopped there) for a 3" model.

Ed

Nice find, OP!

Passed on a 3" M66 a few years ago at $700-ish because I didn't know what I had in my hands. By the time I researched it & got back to the shop it was gone. Still kickin' myself.

Thanks for sharing that letter. I'd seen that info before, I think Jinks cuts and pastes it. But never your specific CAA80xx gun. My side hobby of collecting s/n's, ship dates, etc., would not be possible if not for individuals like yourself that posts this type of info.

Did your gun come with Magna Stocks?

Another way to interpret that letter is (4,195) were made for Ashland on one certain order. In addition, another (5,000+) total were made, over some unspecified time frame, for "various distributors." Making for a overall total of (9,000+). Those various distributors obviously included RSR, but it could also mean more were shipped to Ashland at a later date.

This would, at least, explain the very large number of 3-inch gun's I've see. In fact, I would say more than (9,000), just because I've seen soooooo many. As in interesting foot note, I've only ever seen (1) -5 3-inch gun.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I bought it just as it is in the pic, with the Spegels. It's a gun show find and i got it from the original owner. It has a sweet trigger job too.

Those F-Comp guns have their own cult following. The -3 and -4 guns had Product Code 170024. Obviously, Performance Center guns. You see various production numbers, but one source that seems to know everything else, places the total of these pre-lock F-Comp (aka Carry Comp, aka Power Port) guns at total of (1,171) over several years (1993 - 1996) and several runs for various distributors. They are seen with wide range of s/n prefixes, like CPCxxx, FPCxxxx, PCPxxxx, LHFxxxx, and LHJxxxx.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

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Based on the terminology, NY. While the process is unwieldy, there was a time when carry licenses in other states were not that common, and I got my unlimited NY in ... 1979 or so. The clerk's office was very helpful, etc.
Compared to where I am now, a pain in the gluteals, and I don't see myself moving back, but I do miss Rochester sometimes.

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NHI, 10-8.