Finally arrived, 23 days after auction end , Anywho it looks pretty nice, timing and lock up are solid, finish and grips are pretty nice. My only concern is there seems to be a fair amount of pitting in the metal. Not like rust or anything but perhaps as part of the manufacturing process?? Came with a very nice shape S&W black leather holster, my dealer thought it may be worth $40-$50 its self? So I would appreciate any comments and hope you like the pics.
This looks like they tried to sand or file here?
Here with my 631 .32 H&R Mag. Start of my Magnum collection I hope
S&W holster it came with
But will spend most its time in this Galco I got on Ebay.
Even on new guns, the steel surfaces that are not designed to be seen are pretty rough. As to the dings, scratches, and minor pitting on the exterior of the gun -- looks like it was a duty gun or otherwise a gun that was used day-to-day for maybe several years. That does not mean it was shoot a lot, but it was exposed to a lot of incidental contacts.
Stainless steel is fairly forgiving -- you can do a lot to clean it up with light scrub pads, very fine wet-dry paper, and polish. If you are careful you can even blend out many of the dings around the edges with a stone or ceramic sharpener followed by polish.
I had a 4" 65 that was in similar shape that cleaned up very nicely. Took about 6 hours work over 3 or 4 days (don't try to do it all at once).
Nice 66 Tex! I recently bought a 66-1 in very good condition. I liked it so much it has now jumped in to rotation as an occasional carry weapon. I also changed stocks to some combat boots for improved handling!