Model 66 4'' no dash

[puppetboy]

A guy at our gun range has one of these for sale for $450.00 It looks to be in very nice condition for a 72 - 75 yom. I shot this gun and it works fine. My question is the cylinder endplay is a bit sloppy and measures .011'' between face of cylinder and the face of the barrel. He did not mind me using the feeler guage so I did measure this. Does this seem excessive and is $450.00 a fair price?

Thanks

 

[MichiganScott]

I believe S&W currently allows a cylinder gap of up to 0.012". Personally, I think over .006" is excessive, but I don't worry about it if I want the gun.

I'd buy it at that price if it's in good enough condition to satisfy you.

 

[Hapworth]

I wouldn't buy it at that price unless I planned on shooting as is and making a working gun of it.

As MS notes, .011" is within specs (barely) by today's S&W standards; by their previous specs (seems to have changed with the MIM/lock era), cutoff was .010".

If as you describe there's endplay and excessive gap (perhaps more) -- that's money to get fixed you might rather put into buying a nicer 66 that doesn't require correction.

 

[Green Frog]

I used a good shooter Model 66 no dash as the donor for http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/260686-project-616-a.html, and would have gladly offered $400 for the gun you mention in that shape for that purpose. I don't see $450 as all that far out of line.

If you want to shoot it in its current configuration, it would be simple to have a gunsmith "stretch" the ejector rod housing or use shims to eliminate the end shake. Setting the barrel back a turn and making the standard fitting steps that would accompany that process would really make the gun nice, but might not really be necessary right away.

BTW, what grips does it have? IIRC, it should probably have the old no-diamond targets with the "football cutout" for loading and unloading ease. If early enough it will have stainless sights, but except to the collector these are a bit of a disadvantage as they are sometimes hard to see.

Good luck with it!
Froggie