Picked up an oddity: 66-1 2.5" with square butt - Pics

[walkin jack]

What a purdy gun!! Congratulations!

 

[BigBlueSix]

A 2.5 " model 66 or 19 is on top of my grail gun list

Based on what I'm seeing it's at the top of yours, mine, and untold minions of others with more money (than I have anyway).

 

[Muley Gil]

I'll tell you what probably happened.

For years, police officers wanted 19s and 66s in a configuration that Smith and Wesson did not offer. They wanted 4" barreled guns with Round Butts.

So invariably what happened is they would get either a new 4" square butt, or a new 2.5" round butt gun, and then get the other one, slightly used.

A smith would take the barrel off of each gun, and then swap them. The police officer would have a 4" round butt, as desired for Duty, off duty, or undercover work.

They would also have the Square butt frame and would put the 2.5" barrel on it. At first glance, kind of a strange combo, but if it has Magnas, it actually is a great carry gun in its own right.

So some folks were ahead of their time.

Massad Ayoob wrote once that by swapping the 2 1/2" barrel onto the square butt frame it produced a great snub gun for PPC competition, as well as the RB 4" written about in your post.

Me, I just converted a SB 4" M19 to RB. That's what I carried to the police academy in '79. I would have shot my .44 Special, but the PD provided 500 rounds of .38 wadcutter ammo and I would have had to load 500 rounds of .44 on MY dime.

I shot Expert with that M19. Wish I still had it, but an ex-wife wound up with it.

 

[JohnAC]

Original or not, wanna sell it?

Maybe... Just not today.

 

[ayetee]

Clint Eastwood's Square Butt 2-1/2" M-66

Clint Eastwood carried that revolver in "The Gauntlet."

He sure did. See clipping.

I doubt the prop man would go swap a barrel for a few movie shots.

 

[flundertaker]

I'll tell you what probably happened.

For years, police officers wanted 19s and 66s in a configuration that Smith and Wesson did not offer. They wanted 4" barreled guns with Round Butts.

So invariably what happened is they would get either a new 4" square butt, or a new 2.5" round butt gun, and then get the other one, slightly used.

A smith would take the barrel off of each gun, and then swap them. The police officer would have a 4" round butt, as desired for Duty, off duty, or undercover work.

They would also have the Square butt frame and would put the 2.5" barrel on it. At first glance, kind of a strange combo, but if it has Magnas, it actually is a great carry gun in its own right.

So some folks were ahead of their time.

Understood but a question, does the extractor rod have to be changed as well to a shorter one that will fit in the short shroud? How many different length rods exist for K frames?

OP- beautiful gun.

 

[CH4]

Understood but a question, does the extractor rod have to be changed as well to a shorter one that will fit in the short shroud? How many different length rods exist for K frames?

OP- beautiful gun.

Yes, the ejector rod used with a 2.5 barrel is shorter than the one used for longer barrels.