So I came across this jewel yesterday on a gun trading site. Not sure if the guy knew what he had. I do not know much about them but I do remember reading somewhere that the 3 inch was a rare length for the barrel which made the more collectible. Hope I was right. I paid a little more than $500 for the gun.

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Great price...... roughly 50% of the going price these days for a 3" 66.

About 5000-5500 made in -2,-3 and -4s...many consider them the best Concealed carry 6 shot revolver out there..... I do...LOL.......been my primary CC revolver since 1988/89.

Get yourself some nice Spegel Boot grips for that gun!!!!!!

Now I do not want to sound like a fool for saying this. I know any customization would probably decrease the collector value. Is this a gun I should send off to Gemini customs to have ported and customized? Or should I leave it be.

Very nice find, and nice price too.

Serial Number starts with BNY... I saw on past threads this could help identify where it came from. Anyone that can provide info it is greatly appreciated.

if it was mine I would leave it alone, I just don't care for porting. I have one with the 2.5'' bbl. and love it.

Did somebody say Spegel Boots??



When you p/u a $1000 gun for $500 you need to apply some of the discount to a new pair of shoes!

I'm not sure you would find porting to be a worthwhile mod for any purpose. That said, it's a tool, and what you need to do to make it a better carry/fighting gun is important. As for impact on collector value, who cares? Collector value is only important if you plan to keep it as a safe queen and sell it to a collector.

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NHI, 10-8.

Doug,

I was hoping that porting would help ease the kick of full load 357 ammo. Do you not see it as being any different? I have a ruger sp101 done by gemini and he did some amazing work to it.

Personally I would leave it stock. It will preserve its value, and as you probably already know a full-house .357 load in a K frame will recoil hard even with porting, rubber stocks, a compensator and any other gadgets.

PS. There was another recent post here about some lucky guy in the Houston area who picked up a 3" model 66 for a song. Happen to know who that was?

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

So it was you????
I posted this thread after I saw the ad disappeared.
66 3"- who ended up with it?

I emailed him about a trade and never got a response. Apparently he wasnt firm on his asking price. lol. Great buy!

LEAVE IT STOCK!!! If you must customize and port a gun, I have a 2.5 incher I will trade you and you can do whatever you want with it.

Great Buy and congrats!!!

yeah I will have to get some nice grips for her. Spiegel I see is on back-order and is not taking new orders. Anyone have any other recommendations? Pictures of 66 3inch with grips?

DO NOT PORT........

I magna-ported a 3" 65 in the mid 80s..... there is some recoil reduction with full power 125s but these rounds already throw giant fireballs and are really loud due to the short barrels...so 2 of your senses are overloaded so it was hard to judge the recoil reduction.... not much impact with +P loads and nothing with standard .38s.

I love that gun; action work, bobbed hammer for DAO, red ramp front sight, Spegel grips.... except for the porting........

Also I don't believe "most" carry these with full power .357s.......I/we trade off some power for quicker follow-up shots with +P ammo.....or the old 158g SWCHP (FBI load).

Spegel not taking new orders?? Damn shame...very comfortable grips.
And don't you dare have that 66 "customized"... There is a small number of ported 3" 66-4s that were ordered that way by the distributor. Maybe someone with an example would be willing to trade it for yours???

-4 with Spegels

IMHO - I'll buy a gun which is ported. That is one thing. To have the work done aftermarket is something else. Especially if it did not leave the factory already ported.

I have bought a number of ported guns and love the blast but I'd never have the work done. I was just reading about a ported .327 Federal. Is that necessary? How about a ported .22 short. Another questionable issue is the .38 cal model 67. It does not make sense. I suppose that is why they only sold about 300 of them.

All that being said, I may start collecting ported revolvers. I think about it but then come to my senses.

{Most of the time I snap out of it. But late last night I hit Buy Now on my 2nd model 66-6 3" PC F comp customized to boot. Oh the insanity of it!}

Enjoy your new find!


What was the website BTW?

texasguntrader.com

Don't Port that 66. Porting in 357s is only marginally effective. I've owned several ported guns and they all went away due to severe muzzle blast and noise.

If you want a 357 that is easy to shoot with pull power loads get a 686 or a 28 or 27.

I agree that porting should be avoided and will not only help much, but decreases the value of a gun and probably lowers velocity.

I suggest keeping that gun "stock" unless it really needs an action job. New grips are okay, of course, but keep the originals.

Dang - I wish I had seen this thread earlier. There were two in an internet-only auction tonight. One sold for $440 and the other for $445. I had no idea they were worth that much.

Whoops - never mind - these were 2 1/2" barrels.

Love those 3" 66's.

January - March 1993.

I'd keep it stock. You already got the ported SP101.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

If anyone knows of a 3" 66 that has been ruined by porting, let me know and I'll give them $500 for it since I'm such a charitable guy.