- Joined
- Dec 23, 2015
- Messages
- 123
- Reaction score
- 775
Hi folks,
I was lucky enough to come across a 3” Model 65-3 at my LGS a few weeks ago. It was a little worn but I thought it could still be salvaged and did not pass on it for $549.
Upon handling and shooting the gun I fell in love with its balance and how it feels in the hand, especially with round smooth target grips, which I added after as it originally came with Pachmayr grips. Like others in this forum, I’m afraid I have caught the 3” bug. I now know why people rave about these.
After being outbid on Gunbroker on a pristine 3” 65-5 with box and papers, I ended up winning a different auction for a 65-5 that did not come with box but was in great shape, with a tight lockup and a good price.
The first 65-3 had been carried and showed wear, especially in the cylinder and ratchets. It was also out of time on all chambers. But I used the great insights from this forum and the Kuhnhausen book to change the hands, cylinder stop and the cylinder assembly.
By changing the cylinder assembly I was lucky to get the barrel gap from 0.010” to 0.007”. With the newer ratchets, I was also able to use the smaller S&W oversized hands (as opposed to the larger Power Custom ones) which worked great without requiring me to file the ratchets at all.
Lock up on 65-3 is now great but I will still fit the oversized Power Custom cylinder stop to make it slightly tighter (leaving some play not to stress the forcing cone).
The 65-5 from Gunbroker came to me with a great finish and tight lockup. So no work needed there. Let me know that you guys think... can you post photos of your 3” model 65 or 13?
I’m now on the hunt for the elusive model 13 in 3”.
Cheers,
686PC
I was lucky enough to come across a 3” Model 65-3 at my LGS a few weeks ago. It was a little worn but I thought it could still be salvaged and did not pass on it for $549.
Upon handling and shooting the gun I fell in love with its balance and how it feels in the hand, especially with round smooth target grips, which I added after as it originally came with Pachmayr grips. Like others in this forum, I’m afraid I have caught the 3” bug. I now know why people rave about these.
After being outbid on Gunbroker on a pristine 3” 65-5 with box and papers, I ended up winning a different auction for a 65-5 that did not come with box but was in great shape, with a tight lockup and a good price.
The first 65-3 had been carried and showed wear, especially in the cylinder and ratchets. It was also out of time on all chambers. But I used the great insights from this forum and the Kuhnhausen book to change the hands, cylinder stop and the cylinder assembly.
By changing the cylinder assembly I was lucky to get the barrel gap from 0.010” to 0.007”. With the newer ratchets, I was also able to use the smaller S&W oversized hands (as opposed to the larger Power Custom ones) which worked great without requiring me to file the ratchets at all.
Lock up on 65-3 is now great but I will still fit the oversized Power Custom cylinder stop to make it slightly tighter (leaving some play not to stress the forcing cone).
The 65-5 from Gunbroker came to me with a great finish and tight lockup. So no work needed there. Let me know that you guys think... can you post photos of your 3” model 65 or 13?
I’m now on the hunt for the elusive model 13 in 3”.
Cheers,
686PC
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