I am not the dullest knife in the drawer. I've been shooting and enjoying S&W revolvers since 1980. I've had a few broken hammer noses but nothing more serious.

Last night I was fooling with my 66-2. I has for years had a set of S&W TG's sans aluminum washer that fit well and looked good. Unfortunately, since I broke my left hand, I've not been able to stand the recoil. So I switched to some Pachmayr presentation grips that a fellow board member kindly sent my way. Work great!

I decided to swap that pair of Pachmayr grips with a set that was on my 19-3. Of course all fit just fine. Only rub ... while the 19-3 functioned just fine ... the 66-2 all of a sudden developed signs of push off! SA got incredibly light. No real change w/ DA. Checked and strain screw was properly tight. Took grips off and all returned to normal. Perfectly normal SA/DA w/o grips. So ... swapped everything back to as it was ... everything now works perfectly.

I have just now been cocking the 66. Listening I can hear everything in the revolver moving as expected in cocking, releasing the hammer, lowering the hammer and then letting the trigger reset. In every way it sounds identical to what I hear when I do the same routine w/ the 19-3 and my 15-4.

What gives? Anybody got any ideas? I've never in my life opened up a S&W revolver. If that is necessary I'm going to first have to buy the proper tools. I've always taken good care of my revolvers. Do I need to flush the 66 out with break fluid or WD-40. I looked in my box and have some Balistol but it is not aerosol.

I am now relaxing watching a Randolph Scott movie and chilling out with a "Bomb Pop!" My little four year old g.son loves those things! Is there anything I need to do for my revolver? Sincerely. bruce.

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I wonder if the grips screw on the Pachs was somehow interfering with the mainspring and making things go wonky on the 66. I know both are K frames, but maybe the 66 mainspring has a different bend profile that the Pach grip screw interferes with. Other than that, I don't know.

Great minds think alike. I immediately thought the EXACT same thing.

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I too think the grip screw is interfering with the mainspring.
Had the same problem when I put Pachs on a model 10. Went back to the stock magnas and problem solved.
Jim

I agree with above. Some of the Pachmayr grip screws have a thinner diameter in the center section to clear the mainspring

When one needs answers pertaining to S&W revolvers .... don't Google ... turn to the S&W brain trust! I looked at the way the revolver functioned with the original grips and the S&W TG's ... no problems at all. I then took all three K-frame Pachmayr grips I have and installed them in turn on the 66 revolver. One set was problematic on the 66 ... but not with the other revolvers. So ... I've now got things sorted out. I have Pachmayr's on my various K-frames other than my Model 18 which has standard S&W TG's. As my left hand heals, maybe I can return to using the S&W TG's. They are my favorites from way long ago. Many thanks to all for the suggestions. I was concerned that I was going to have to end up replacing the hammer or hammer/trigger. That would have been some serious money. Sincerely. bruce.

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Bruce, If you must have rubber grips on your 66, try Hogue Mono Grips.
They attach at the bottom with a clip and not through the grip frame.
The mainspring functions freely.
Jim

In 40+ years I have encountered two Revolvers that had an ever so slight interference between the Main Spring and the Grip Screw. One went away by replacing the Mainspring and the other one I had to take down the middle of the Grip Screw diameter by .0250". All has been good since.

You can also just recontour (bend) the mainspring a little to get it away from the grip screw. This will change the hammer tension some, but usually not enough to cause a problem. Always do a function test after making changes to any gun.

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Well, that’s just one more reason I have always disliked “Grips by Goodyear!” I sympathize with your comfort problem though, so if you can’t get things to work like you need to this way, you might try a set of rubber Hogue Monogrips. They use a sort of “stirrup” that clips onto the bottom of the grip frame and accepts a screw into the heel of the grip - no screw through the middle to interfere with your mainspring!

Best of luck recovering from your break... I’m laid up after knee replacement, so “I feel your pain.”

Froggie