Late 66 no dash and 19-4 gas ring question?

[dasandman]

OK hope someone can help ,my 66-0 sn 7k725xx has the gas ring on the yoke , and my 19-4 sn 38k76xx has it's gas ring on the cylinder. This is the opposite of the way they are supposed to be. Both guns are 100% original.

Any help would be great, also would they have more value because of this?

Thanks in advance

 

[ENGINE18]

I don't know about more value. I have a similar situation with my 19-3 snubby. The gas ring was supposed to be moved from the yoke to the cylinder w/the -4 changes 1n 1977 but my -3 reflects the change more than one year earlier.

M66 gas ring changes also are listed for 1977 beginning with -1 models. Someone around here, maybe Smithnut, can add more but I believe S&W had a few "non-standard" wheelguns roll out of the plant!

 

[dasandman]

Gas Rings 66/19

Thanks, I have been following ultimate 66/19 thread and am finding it very informative.
Hoping to hear about other revolvers like these.
Thanks Dick

 

[snw19_357]

This exact thing is one of the reason I started that 19/66 thread.

If you look at the location of the gas ring on the pre-19 through the 19-2, and some of the early 19-3s, the gas ring is located on the cylinder. Sometime during the K-frame -3 era, I think about 1976, the gas ring was moved to the yoke. I suspect this was a cost cutting measure. It has to be cheaper to make it on the yoke and just leave the face of the cylinder flat, no ring. But, not too long after it seems that they found problems (binding) with it on the yoke and announced the -4 (-1 in the stainless) engineering change, which moved it back to the cylinder. I find it interesting that there is no mention of the move to the yoke, much less a 'dash number' for it.

With only a limited sampling, it appears the gas ring moved to the yoke in the M19s around 7K3xxxx and the 6K6xxxx range for the M66. Then there are the late M66 that show the -1 change but are still marked M66 (I posted one in my thread). I have seen two examples in the high 15Kxxxxx range. I suspect the same holds true for late M19-3 but I have yet to see an example of one.

I am also curious to see how this compares to the other K-frames in these serial number ranges. Please, if you have a blued -3 or a stainless (no dash); post, PM, or email me (in profile). The more examples, the more accurate the information.

 

[tocohillsguy]

With only a limited sampling, it appears the gas ring moved to the yoke in the M19s around 7K3xxxx and the 6K6xxxx range for the M66.

Okay, I'll confuse you further...here's a M66 no dash, serial number 6k6xxxx with the gas ring on the cylinder.

 

[tocohillsguy]

I thought this might be useful to those viewing this thread. Here is a picture I lifted from an auction site of a 66 no dash that appears to have the gas ring on the yoke. Serial Number 13K2704.

 

[dasandman]

Okay, I'll confuse you further...here's a M66 no dash, serial number 6k6xxxx with the gas ring on the cylinder.

THAT 66 IS SA-WEET!!

 

[tocohillsguy]

snw19_357 and I have had quite an email exchange and investigation going with regard to gas ring issues. Finally I called S&W and spoke to a gunsmith. It appears the S&W Catalog is somewhat misleading about the gas ring. Here's the answer....

1. The 66 was initially manufactured with the gas ring compression fitted to the cylinder. Thus the early 66's with no dash have the gas ring on the cylinder.

2. At some point the gas ring was moved to the yoke on the no dash series.

3. Then the gas ring was moved back to the cylinder (this was announced as the 66-1 model), again using a compression fitting.

4. Sometime maybe around the mid-90's they began to mill the compression ring onto the cylinder.

I don't believe the S&W gunsmith was being particularly precise with when they began to mill the gas ring on the cylinder, but the point is that not all of these changes generated new dash numbers, and the "gas ring on the cylinder improvement" already exists in the earlier 66 no dash revolvers. I also suspect these same configurations/changes were being simultaneously made to the Model 19.

 

[Nightowl]

The early 66's apparently had some issues with the cylinder binding up when they got hot from shooting. The gas ring was moved to the yoke to correct this--this apparently did not work either ( I never liked it, either), so it was moved back to the cylinder. This is from my memory and observation. I had 66's back then and some 19s and we bought them at the PD for detectives.

 

[dasandman]

This 66 no dash has got it on the yoke.

 

[tocohillsguy]

This 66 no dash has got it on the yoke.

I suspect the serial number is later than say....mid 6k6xxxx.

 

[tp1]

i have a 66 no dash with the cylinder mounted gas ring with a 4k59xxx serial number. has the markings G.A.T.T.U. on the left side of the frame under the cylinder, anybody know what agency that may have been?