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Model 66 no dash condition and value

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Hi guy. This is my first post. I've been bitten hard by the revolver big and I'm happy to find this forum.

My LGS has a model 66 no dash for sale for $1059. There is an expected amount of wear on the barrel which I'm not concerned with. The front of the cylinder window, the forcing cone, and the yoke have significant charring and have some yellow gunk/stains. Does this come off?How much does this affect the value of this gun? Should these cause concern aboutt functionality? Handling the gun, it seems mechanically sound.

Would you buy this at this price? Or would I be better off buying a new 66 or 19 for the same or less?

Mostly, I want to fill the collection out with a K frame in 357magnum. The historic nature of this specimen is a definite plus. Joy of owning is goal #1, shooting in priority 2, value/resell is a distant 3rd. This gun is not for carrying.

Opinions wanted. What would you do?
 

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You can’t go wrong collecting K frame .357s! Just a fair warning they seem to multiply lol. In my area $1059 would be about the going rate from a gun store. If it was me I would offer $250 less and walk away if they declined. I think you could find a prelock in good condition for less, either in the classifieds on here or an online auction. YMMV this is just my opinion of course
 
If I were looking for a 66-no dash for a collection I'd look for one with stainless sights. Their price is on the high side for here but they'd probably get it.
 
shown50 said:
You can’t go wrong collecting K frame .357s! Just a fair warning they seem to multiply lol. In my area $1059 would be about the going rate from a gun store. If it was me I would offer $250 less and walk away if they declined. I think you could find a prelock in good condition for less, either in the classifieds on here or an online auction. YMMV this is just my opinion of course
Click to expand...

With the caveat that you can go wrong, if one has a forcing cone crack.

That's about a 100-150 more than my high priced LGS would want.
 
Camster said:
With the caveat that you can go wrong, if one has a forcing cone crack.

That's about a 100-150 more than my high priced LGS would want.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct, that would be the only downside to a k frame magnum. I’m not sure most people would ever shoot enough with ammo prices like they are today to have that come up, but when buying used that is at the top of the list to check.
 
With the caveat that you can go wrong, if one has a forcing cone crack.

That's about a 100-150 more than my high priced LGS would want.
Click to expand...

If the forcing cone is cracked, the price is, IMHO, is about $900.00 over the top. Save your money for a decent example of the model you want. Remember if you can't shoot it why buy it?
 
The gun can be cleaned up with a bit of TLC.
However, it's about a $900 gun. But if it is needed to fill a gap in your safe. Just consider you bought it a bit early. Everyone on here has probably overpaid at least once.
 
As stated in a previous post, look it over closely for the forcing cone crack. That would be a max price of $800 OTD for one in that condition for me. But, I have paid on several occasions considerably more than one is worth because I had to have it. Good luck with your decision.
 
Prices vary geographically as well as from shop to shop. Pic's show a moderately used 66 that perhaps isn't abused. The screwdriver used to work the screw to allow the cylinder to be removed for cleaning was a poor fit. A new screw can be found and fitted (yes, will require some modest fitting.) Not in safe queen collector shape, so could be shot and carried, without value loss. In .357 full pressure use, I limit myself to 158gr ammo in J and K frames.

In my world, it is a $650-750 pistol, from what I can see. If it was LNIB, with box, tools, papers, maybe it would be worth $1050 to some collectors. There is a "how to check out a revolver" page on this site that will tell you more what should be considered before purchase.
 
minconrevo said:
... If it was LNIB, with box, tools, papers, maybe it would be worth $1050 to some collectors.
Click to expand...
Yup. They are hard to find unmolested and with original box and tools. Most (early ones) were sold to police departments and various other LE agencies.
 
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I definitely prefer to buy pre-lock models. This one has a little more wear than I would like to see. I think with a little patience you can probably buy one in nicer condition for not much more $.
 
If I sold one of mine it would be in the $ 900 range. I strongly prefer pre lock. Most of mine are P&R. Saw a newer model with lock go for $ 600 Saturday. I bought another three inch 65 for big money.
 
I am in the $800 camp, more if it had the stainless rear sight. If it were a 2.5 incher, I’d take it home, but a 4 incher wouldn’t get a second look.
 
My LGS had a nice, pre-lock 4" Model 66 with S&W Target grips on it in their case for $800 a little over a year ago. I regret not buying it, but I did buy this 6" model instead. :D

$1059 is a little too high in price with no box or paperwork IMO, but the S&W Target grips on there are nice to see.
 
Definitely too high IMO, and it would be a hard pass for me at $1059. $900 OTD tops (for me) if the same gun had box, papers and tools.
 
What would I do? If it was something I was looking for, after checking the function, forcing Cone and barrel, I would bargain hard for the best price I could get and get it. There are some things you need to remember here. Most of these sticks in the mud here that say they wouldn't pay the price, either have one or more already and don't "need" another, or two, don't have any interest in it anyway. Where I'm from, that's a $900 gun easily, and someone would come along with the K reasonably soon. I'm betting it's the same there. You have to ask yourself, how often do you run across them? It's been a while since I've seen one in the wild.
As for the black and the gunk, it'll clean just fine.
 
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