A good/great smith might be able to set the barrel back..

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NRA Benefactor

Keep trying with S&W. Maybe an email. Let them know that you are still shooting full magnums through it, but that you are concerned. There were no ammo limitations with the M66 like there are with some light weight revolvers. Someone there might get nervous about the liability of having a firearm in that condition, and want it back. I would!

Best,
Rick

It came from their custom shop, and was 18 years old. I had fired it a fair amount, but never with 110 or 125 gr. bullets.

The exchange was only agreed to after metallurgical testing.

I asked the wrong question but got the right answer in a round about way. I wanted to know if your (not the original poster's) cracked Model 66 was made recently enough to have a lifetime warranty. Their Performance Center did not exist until after S&W added the lifetime warranty to their guns so yours had it.

I often see model 19 barrels on Flea bay for sale? Ask seller if he'd pop for changing out the barrel(monetarily)?
Steve

You don't always need to "waste" an otherwise good S&W barrel just because it has a damaged forcing cone. I have a 696 which came to me having a barrel with an oversized forcing cone. A couple years ago, after I had S&W replace that barrel with a "no longer available" new barrel from a special "discarded parts bin" (gotta talk to the right guy, and I paid 'em for it too), I then had the old barrel just laying around. This year, I cut the forcing cone off of the old 696 barrel and fitted what remained of that barrel to a Charter Arms stainless .44 Bull Dog to replace the crummy factory barrel. The 3" barrel shrunk to 2-3/8" and I now have a C.A. .44 SPL Bull Dog with a "match grade" barrel, though I'm not exactly sure why I needed it. See photo.

Steve

Attached Images

IMG_0523.jpg (153.4 KB, 61 views)

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CA is a great state to be FROM

Did I miss the post, where the OP resolved the issue? I'd like to know who he purchased the gun from...

The OP made 15 posts then disappeared in May.

Tell the owner that if he won't take it back or repair it on his dime that you will post the store name, location, and owners name on as many firearms forums as you can find on the internet. In addition you will be contacting your State Attorney General about a local Firearms Dealer selling product that he knows is DEFECTIVE and potentially UNSAFE.

Because anyone with any experience at all with handguns knows quite well that on a S&W K frame revolver you ALWAYS inspect the forcing cone for a crack in this area and that crack is large enough you would be able to feel it if you were totally BLIND. It's also not "fine", once a crack starts in that area it just keeps growing until the frame cracks and the barrel falls off.

Maybe it was a hairline crack before he shot it!

Then you have a pretty good chance the shop owner will take it back. I'd be surprised if he didn't being that you've done a lot of business. It just isn't worth losing a customer over to me being a small business owner myself.

If you decide to keep it and fix it then I would check out "Nurmrich." They've recently bought a lot of S&W and Mossberg parts and might have a replacement barrel for you. Good luck brother!

Dewey, if you paid with a credit card you may well have some protection, other than the seller's willingness to return your money. I think you have very good reason to dispute any credit card charges, if you used one to pay for the revolver.

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Always Stay Strong!

Did you ever get any satisfaction on the gun?

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Certified NRA rifle instructor

This is too funny
OP went off-the-radar two months ago.
Another George Martin .... starts a story and doesn't finish it.
I'll do an HBO and finish it for him.
He filled the gap with dragon glass and fused it with wildfire.
Worked fine happily ever after. The end.

BTW - the OP's full name is Dewey Lannister, so I don't need to say what became of the shopkeeper.