Gunsmithing Needed for a 66-4

[drummer007]

I live in upstate South Carolina.

I own a used 4" barreled 66-4. End shake and timing are fine, but it has a mild carry up problem in 3 of its 6 chambers. I would like advice for the following options:

First repair option: Does S&W still do this kind of repair on an older 66-4 ? If they do, am I risking getting back the revolver with replacement MIMs parts ?

Second repair option: Is there a qualified revolver gunsmith within a 2 hour drive of me (say from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta GA and Columbia, SC to Ashville,NC) ?

Third repair option: buy an oversized S&W hand from Midway and do the repair my self - I am very comfortable working inside a S&W revolver and Larry's video on youtube about replacing the hand makes it seems easy.

Also, anybody got a ball park $ figure on repair options 1 and 2 ?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me.

 

[roughedgekid]

Try goggling hand stretching. You may find a video online and it will save you buying a new hand. You should only need a few thousands. All you need is a punch,hard surface and a hammer.

 

[KAC]

Stretching a S&W hand does nothing for DCU. Carry up on a S&W is determined by the thickness of the hand.

 

[Alk8944]

Try goggling hand stretching. You may find a video online and it will save you buying a new hand. You should only need a few thousands. All you need is a punch,hard surface and a hammer.

This is only applicable to COLT revolvers and those having Webley/Pieper type lockwork. Final carry-up in S&W revolvers is a function of hand thickness.

Drummer007,

First try a new standard hand, they vary .002-.003" in thickness and may be enough.

 

[walrus100upd]

carry up 66-4

I live in upstate South Carolina.

I own a used 4" barreled 66-4. End shake and timing are fine, but it has a mild carry up problem in 3 of its 6 chambers. I would like advice for the following options:

First repair option: Does S&W still do this kind of repair on an older 66-4 ? If they do, am I risking getting back the revolver with replacement MIMs parts ?

Second repair option: Is there a qualified revolver gunsmith within a 2 hour drive of me (say from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta GA and Columbia, SC to Ashville,NC) ?

Third repair option: buy an oversized S&W hand from Midway and do the repair my self - I am very comfortable working inside a S&W revolver and Larry's video on youtube about replacing the hand makes it seems easy.

Also, anybody got a ball park $ figure on repair options 1 and 2 ?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me.

To clarify this carry up problem for me , do you mean that seems to drag a little when indexing ? If so it may not be the hand.. It could be cylinder drag. If the gun indexes properly on all chambers , the hand is doing its job.. You probably already know this , but when checking for problems in timing , indexing , etc. you should place spent cartridges in the chambers . Checking in both single and double action can help eliminate some possibilities.
Cylinder drag is caused by a few different issues , but is easy to fix. Make sure the gun is unloaded, holding it in your right hand , set the heel of the grip on the bench so the gun is sideways to your body, the bbl. pointing to the left. Take your right thumb and slowly cock the hammer rearward until you see the stop disengaged from the bottom of the cylinder . Hold it in this position and with the fingertips of your left hand gently turn the cylinder counterclockwise and see if it drags at any point. If it does , mark the cylinder on the chamber that is centered facing you . Repeat this a couple of times and see if it happens again when the cyl. reaches the same position . If so , you need to realign the cylinder . Let me know what happens and we can correct this quite easily.
Ted

 

[flintsghost]

S&W should still correct problems on 66-4 revolvers since they fall into the time period of lifetime warranty. They do still have oversized hands.

 

[drummer007]

I thought I would give a final update.

I decided to order a S&W oversized hand from MidwayUSA ($18.00 shipped) and give it a try, figuring that I could always ship the 66-4 to S&W if it didn't work out.

The hand I took out measured 0.095" and the oversized hand was 0.098". I tried the oversized hand and IT WAS A DROP IN FIT. It also cured the carry-up problem. After installing the oversized hand the 66-4 still has no endshake and my Brownell's service range rod says its timing is still good.

I am one happy guy !