My new (NOS) 66-1 w/6" barrel

[413Maxwedge]

And baby got some new shoes.

 

[notsofast]

I bought a 6” mdl 66-1 new around 1978 and I sold it 10 years later, what a mistake. Glad for you to have a nos one, mine was very accurate.

 

[Model29-26.5]

Picked this up on Weds!!

 

[bobsguns]

This is my first vintage revolver (all my Js and my 686 are current -rev).

The pre-lock models will ruin you for the later ones, IMO.

Just an excellent, excellent score, IMO.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

And baby got some new shoes.

Keep the original grips in a safe spot.

 

[413Maxwedge]

Keep the original grips in a safe spot.

Definitely. The grips are the only thing I'll change and all the paperwork/tools/original grips will stay in the box in my safe.

Even on my new guns I save anything I remove so a future owner can restore it to original if wanted. A brand new 686-6 with the internal lock might not seem special now, but in 50 years...
Who knows.

 

[glenwolde]

and yours still has the trigger stop!
Not common in a 66-1 that doesn't have TT/TH/RR/WO

Did they ever make stainless (flash chromed) full target triggers and hammers? I searched for them forever and gave up. I can't recall ever seeing a "full target" 66 and came to believe they never made them. I've seen ones with case-hardened hammers and triggers but the ones I know about were not factory.

 

[Model29-26.5]

The pre-lock models will ruin you for the later ones, IMO.

Just an excellent, excellent score, IMO.

There are only pre-lock S&W.
I’m not aware of any genuine SW with this lock that people speak of. It must be some kind of mass hysteria.
They simply do not exist. At least, in my world.

 

[jimmyj]

what cleaning method do you use to clean off the oil and gunk ?

 

[Sevens]

This is my first vintage revolver (all my Js and my 686 are current -rev). I knew they changed the frame lug design but I assumed they were always cast into the frame. I see now this looks pressed in and expanded.

I had to do a quick double take at the first picture in this post -- I think you BLED on the revolver! Ensure that is off the revolver everywhere you leaked on it. Blood will attack over time, no doubt.

 

[413Maxwedge]

what cleaning method do you use to clean off the oil and gunk ?

After disassembling it I just wiped everything down with clean rags and a little Hoppe's #9 Bore Cleaner. I wrapped the rags (or paper towels) around chop sticks to clean around the inner pins and grooves. More clean rags and elbow grease to dry and polish, and a few drops of gun oil as I put it back together.

The seller told me it was cosmolene grease, but when I research that it usually looks like a dark grease. This gun had a dull coating of clear waxy grease on the outside and was sticky inside. Now it's super smooth action.... Much smoother than my modern Smiths.

 

[413Maxwedge]

I had to do a quick double take at the first picture in this post -- I think you BLED on the revolver! Ensure that is off the revolver everywhere you leaked on it. Blood will attack over time, no doubt.

I DID cut my knuckle while working on it, but didn't realize it got into the pictures. Its been wiped down several times since that picture.

 

[TheTinMan]

Did they ever make stainless (flash chromed) full target triggers and hammers? I searched for them forever and gave up. I can't recall ever seeing a "full target" 66 and came to believe they never made them. I've seen ones with case-hardened hammers and triggers but the ones I know about were not factory.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a “full target” Model 66 either.

The first Model 66s (no dash) came with a stainless rear sight that wasn’t black. The change to black happened during the 66 (no dash) run IIRC:

 

[snw19_357]

Did they ever make stainless (flash chromed) full target triggers and hammers? I searched for them forever and gave up. I can't recall ever seeing a "full target" 66 and came to believe they never made them. I've seen ones with case-hardened hammers and triggers but the ones I know about were not factory.

Sure did. Four inch (prod code 102707) and 6" (102711)

 

[boykinlp]

And baby got some new shoes.

I, too, think new shoes look fantastic on a S&W!
Larry

 

[sbrmike]

413Maxwedge that is one special revolver. That is the nicest looking non-original grips I recall seeing on a model 66. Model 66's are just great. I have a fairly worn 66-1 myself, but in 4 inch. Those grips really look sharp on that gun. Man, those internals have me envious!

 

[Roofuss]

My recent 66-1 find

My recently acquired model 66-1 I picked up a couple weeks ago.