My New 66-1 with pics

[Honkywitha44]

Figured I would show off my new addition. Smith and Wesson 66 -1 4 inch barrel, this revolver has the best trigger pull I've ever felt for a factory gun. Fired 50 winchester fmj 38spl and 50 pmc 357magnum 158 jsp with two ftf from the pmc 357. Still trying to figure out the two ftf both cartridges looked as if the primer was struck correctly, hope it was a light hammer strikes not knowing if the gun has a trigger job. I plan on having a local gunsmith look at it, one other problem that occurred is the ejector rod kept backing out. It locked the cylinder up twice doing this. I was told a little lite blue loctite on threads would remedy that problem I'm a little cautious to do that myself as I wouldn't want to get loctite in the cylinder some where where it doesn't belong. Serial number is 50k59xx would greatly appreciate if someone might be able to tell me when it was manufactured.

 

[Allen-frame]

By the way,,, Welcome to the forum!

Technically the model 66 stainless is an F Frame. But congratulations are
in order.
50K should be about 1978, I'd guess.
Edited here;
I was just kidding about the F frame reference. EVERYBODY calls them K frames. A.F.

Shoot it in good health.


Allen Frame

 

[PH-2]

Uh... K frame???

Mike

 

[Honkywitha44]

Ok, thanks Allen I didn't know the difference lol.. thanks also for the year of manufacture.

 

[TNDave]

That is a great gun. Maybe tightening the strain screw would end the ignition problem. If you tighten the ejector rod well it should stay tight wo loc tite

 

[Honkywitha44]

TNDave, I can hand tighten the ejector rod and it unthreads under recoil. I pulled the rod out yesterday and there was oil present on the threads. I thought this the reason that rod kept coming loose. I wiped the oil off and reinserted the rod and hand tightened snugly. One cylinder of 357 it was loose again.

 

[TNDave]

TNDave, I can hand tighten the ejector rod and it unthreads under recoil. I pulled the rod out yesterday and there was oil present on the threads. I thought this the reason that rod kept coming loose. I wiped the oil off and reinserted the rod and hand tightened snugly. One cylinder of 357 it was loose again.

That is aggravating. If you pad your vice jaws, put some empties in your cylinder, and put the rod in the padded vice that might be a way to get a good grip on the rod. Then tighten it by turning the cylinder until it is tight. Then turn it just a tiny bit more than you really want to. See if that won't tighten it enough to make it stay.

 

[Flint Ridge]

When you say hand tighten are you holding the cylinder in one hand and the ejector rod in the other?

Or is the rod in a padded vise and one/two hands on the cylinder to gently, but securely snug it up? If it's backing out using this second method, then I'd be getting some blue threadlock.

 

[Honkywitha44]

Yes, I'm holding the cylinder in my right hand and turning the rod counter clockwise with my left hand. I'll try the suggested padded vice tomorrow at work. Thanks for all the help. Please excuse my grammatical errors in my above posts.

 

[TNDave]

Try to get the cylinder close to the vice. Put at least 3/4's of the rod in the vice so you don't bend it

 

[Fishslayer]

Be very careful with the blue LocTite. Lots of places you don't want it. I wiped off all I could. There was enough left to do the job.

Don't forget the extractor rod is a left hand thread and make sure you put some empty cases in the cylinder to prevent damage to the extractor's locating pins.

Did the FTF cartridges fire on the second strike? This would indicate primers not seated correctly.

Check the strain screw. That's the "po' boy's" trigger job & will cause light strikes.

Maybe the action was worked and the previous owner installed light springs?

 

[6GUNSONLY]

...and you must get some proper grips for it. The Goodyears have gotta go...

 

[sheepdawg]

Actually a lot of LEOs put "Goodyears" on their 66s. They sure are more comfortable to shoot with than the original targets. Buy a pair of targets but keep them in the drawer.

 

[H.Callahan]

Plus, they are a lot more weather resistant, too. That was the main reason I got Pac's for my 66 when I was carrying it on duty.

 

[IAhunter]

Nice addition. Those grips remind me of the old USBP issue M66's.

 

[Honkywitha44]

The grips don't bother me very much. I shot 50 rounds of .357 with the pacs installed and it was rather comfortable. I am working on getting a set of original target grips like would have came factory with the revolver. I also am trying to get a set of combat grips factory. Gonna have the gunsmith mess would the ejector rod, he also is gonna degrease inside the cylinder I believe.

 

[sheepdawg]

Plus, they are a lot more weather resistant, too. That was the main reason I got Pac's for my 66 when I was carrying it on duty.

I thought you carried a Model 29.

 

[H.Callahan]

I actually did for a while. That's actually how I got my moniker. When I was first on the force, they rotated us FNGs around to different assignments to give us a taste of how everything worked together. I was given a plainclothes assignment right off the bat and I needed a concealed gun. I had duty holsters for several guns, but nothing concealable. ...except for a shoulder holster for my 8-3/8" Model 29. At the time, the department had no gun specifications (they changed this a few years later) and you could carry anything you were comfortable with. So on my first plainclothes assignment with a 8-3/8 Model 29 in a Bianchi shoulder holster. After that, I was "Harry" or "Callahan" and a bit later on "The Enforcer" after that movie came out.

Of course, I didn't get the ribbing that one of my fellow probies did when he showed up with a Browning .25 ACP auto in his front pocket! Particularly after I demonstrated that I could actually shoot the 29 at the range.