It looks like the perfect carry revovler. Dirty as hell and really worn finish in some areas.

How many here carry one as a defensive revolver?

Grip recomendations?

Holster recomendations?

Sound like a good price?

I will be taking a closer inspection of it tomorrow. What should I examine on this gun? The sights are fixed and original and it has a Houge replacement grip on it.

Recomended inspection points?

Pics of your 3" model 65 or 64's?

It's my carry gun of choice, probably the best conceived one ever.
Price sounds high for shooter grade. I paid $400 for this beauty.

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Dick

Hogue Bantams for shooting and Ahrends Tacticals if you just want it to look good (they're good for shooting too, but the Hogue Bantams are great). For holsters, De Santis 101-13 fits the gun and barrel perfectly -- it has a thumb strap. I also ordered one from Mernickles -- call them and tell them what you have and they will make it -- took about a month.

I've got a 3" 65-3. They are perfect carry guns. Mine has Pachmayr Compact grips and rides in a Bianchi Shadow OWB pancake holster with a thumb break. The price you paid is about average for the condition you describe. Mothers mag wheel polish or Flitz will do wonders for the clean up.

There you go Dick, trying to razzle those 3" 66 guys.

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Sure you did

Yup, I love it when I see them way overpay for a set of adj. sights. Like three times what you can buy a 3" 65 for, which BTW, is a better choice for CCW.

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Dick

this link may help with inspection......



http://www.chuckhawks.com/used_handgun.htm

Get those cheap 3" 65's while you can.

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Sure you did

I haven't even been able to find a cheap 65 lately.

Course, what I'd really like to find is a 65 LS.

Can't go wrong with that either.

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Dick

You'll find one, there's quite a few police trades floating about. A bit of Scotchbrite and/or Flitz and you're like new. Though not on the LS.

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Sure you did

A 3" Model 65 is a great gun. I had a good one but sold it because I never shot magnums out of it and this 3" Model 64 came my way at a nice price. It shoots well but I was yanking them a little right in the pic.

Here's mine, it's a -5 LS.





Wearing it right now in a Don Hume 721.

That's not a bad price for a decent 65 with a 3" barrel, as you know they are in great demand. I'd recommend Hogue Bantams or Uncle Mikes Boot grip. S&W is selling the Hogue bantams with the S&W logo which is neat, I just bought 2 extra pair just to have them. For holster recommendations there are to many choices to recommend one, but it's easy to find something that will suit you. The below pictured 65 came stocked with Magna that I upgraded to factory banana grips and finally decided on the Uncle Mikes Bantams.

Attached Images

	DSC00098.jpg (106.3 KB, 65 views)
	DSC00110.jpg (78.4 KB, 77 views)

This one is my daily carry gun. The photo has it with its original Uncle Mike's Combat Grips. I swapped them out for a set of Ahrends Retro Combats. Keep it loaded with 6 rounds Rem 158gr SWCHP +P. Holster is a Don Hume J.I.T. Slide. Three extra speedloaders.

Yours is a very good price. They're going anywhere from $450, and up in these parts.

Probably the best carry revolver S&W ever made. It's a shame it's not made any more.

"It's my carry gun of choice, probably the best conceived one ever.
Price sounds high for shooter grade. I paid $400 for this beauty."

I was looking for an M65 or even an M64, before I bought a new 3 inch M686. The 686 is a fine gun, but I really like the K frames in 3 inch. I agree that they are the best CC revolvers made. Unfortunately, Smith has given up on the 3 inch K frame, even in .38 Special! Too bad.
When I was checking GunBroker, I only saw 2 very nice 3 inch M65's, and they both had four figure bids. The reserve had still not been met! I didn't want to get a lesser condition K frame magnum without being able to see it in person. The photos were very poor quality, and I could not tell the condition of the forcing cone and top strap, so I bought a new 686.

rat

When did you last check? There's half dozen 3" 65s on there right now, have been for a few days. Some are good, some not so good, but I actually have only seen one in the four figure range, and it's an engraved model. Most of them could look pretty nice with some cleaning and polishing and your choice of grips, and all seem to be under five bills. I check on 3" 65s all the time and see them often, and I think the prices are usually in the five hundred +/- range.

I own a 3" RB Model 65 and I too feel it's probably one of the best conceived carry revolvers ever. I carried the equivalent Model 10 until the mid-80s when we transitioned to semi-autos and I bought my Model 65 at the S&W Academy. Instructors brought an entire rack of them to our class and each one had been flagged for a minor defect which we had to repair. I selected one with a minor problem, fixed it, then broke the gun down and used my brand new armorer's skills to polish and stone where necessary. After further adjustment by the S&W staff to insure that the gun shoots to the sights, I had a Model 65 smooth as glass and on the money. I'll never part with it.

I used a DeSantis thumb break scabbard but of late, I tend to carry either a Kahr P9 or a Glock 19.

I own a 3" #64 & #65 & a 2.5" #66. While I agree these are fine carry guns, there are several semi autos that are the same size and weight but are slimmer and hold more cartridges. The S&W #908 is a great example of this.

Except that it's an auto and it won't handle smokin' hot .357 Magnum loads.

There's lots of autos that you could attempt to make this argument about, but if it came to that, I'd take my SIG P228 over the 908 any ole' day.

However, we're on this thread to talk about Model 65s with 3" barrels, your post might just belong in another category, like S&W autos for instance, but I could be mistaken. Around here, we all kinda' like revolvers and rarely talk about how much "better" we think autos are (because we don't believe it).

Ya stole that one!
Mine gets carried in my NRA carry jacket holster.
This thing shoots like a laser:

No rubber for me on any carry gun.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I use either a PWL or a DeSantis holster for these guns. I have two of the DeSantis holsters. The second photo is of a Don Hume 721 OT for a J frame. I had one for the #64, but it was for a lefty so I gave it to a neighbor. It was a fine rig; inexpensive, snug fitting, secure, and concealable.



My #64


My #65, it now wears Hogue Bantam stocks.


My #66, it is waiting for a pair of Grashorn elk stag stocks.

I believe the Bianchi 8L Shadow holster in this photo has been discontinued, but many companies offer similar models, as do the custom makers here on the forum. This holster conceals well and supports the weight of a K frame very well.

$399 is a good price, congratulations!

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"Shall not be infringed"

It was last fall that I was looking for a 3" M65. I was not too concerned about appearance, as my guns are shooters. I am concerned about damage to the frame and forcing cone on a K frame magnum. I would either need to see the gun in person, or see very sharp photos of the important areas before buying a used M65. The photos didn't show anything like that. And the descriptions were very generic.

rat

This is my S&W Model 13-3 from 1982. I carry it strong side in a black Don Hume JIT holster. The grips are Bianchi Lightning Grips made for Bianchi by Pachmayr, and, yes, they are brown. They don't snag or grab my clothes, and the full finger-groove grip allows excellent control and fast recovery when shooting full-house magnum loads.

The only places I've seen the Bianchi Lighting Grips are at gun shows and occasionally on eBay or one of the gun auction sites. I paid around $20.00 for mine a number of years ago IIRC. They were made for the round butt K-frames, round butt J-frames, and M1911A1s.

ECS

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CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

Good point. I don't mind ones that look a little rough, but then you've got no idea about how good the bore, forcing cone, top strap, lockup, endshake, etc, etc. is unless you can get your mitts on it. I've only done one deal on gunbroker and it went well for me, what I got was NIB, except for the grips, but that's nothing to me. I think I would really only bid on a NIB 65 (a bit rare) and you are probably right; they could ask way too much for it and maybe even get it. Probably best to do deals with forum members before relying on GB if you can't physically inspect one.

That's all I can say. I love them. I'd heard them described once, but never seen them before. It makes so much sense. Probably allows for a very high hold.

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low speed, high drag

i have a 3 in 13 and a 13 in LS no lock.
love them both. dont see many pre lock smiths of any variety at good prices.