Restoring my father's S&W Model 66 for Father's Day

darn. A snag.

I was unscrewing the horizontal sight windage adjustment screw. I knew it had a pin/ratchet type system to look out for. I unscrew it, and carefully place it down trying not to dislodge the pin just yet until I figure out where to put it.

Well, wouldn't you know it. I tripped, hit the table, and the shaking table dislodged the pin, and it rolled somewhere. That thing is TINY. So now it's hide and seek with another small part.

In the meantime, just in case, I ordered from Brownells "036390000 REAR SIGHT PLUNGER SPRING) for the Model 66. I am a little concerned as it doesn't mention the pin, just the spring. I'm hoping it has both.

For less than $2, if that is a fix, great. Otherwise I'm going to need to clean up the shop to find this thing tiny thing amongst all the dirt and metal shavings/chips on the table and floor.

This project would be easy, if it weren't for my clumsiness.

Here is the problem. The part that has been lost and I need to obtain a replacement.

Here is the entire schematic from Brownells.

Here is the listing of the available parts:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/sc...?schemid=608&m=15&mn=Smith+&model=K-Frame+66+

I wonder if I should have ordered part 37 instead of 40.

sgt127 - I plan to just polish the mother out of it (pun intended considering that I'll be using "Mothers Mag Polish".

I want it to have a mirror-finish. Nickel - if that's what it's typically called. Ordinarily, I like satin, but the current satin is horrible IMO on this 66.

It will all shine. I tinkered with the idea of blueing the hammer, trigger, and cylinder latch, or color case hardening them, but decided against it (especially color case hardening the hammer which could cause it to chip at the pin.

I then plan to wash it all out well. I wasn't going to use WD-40, I was going to use RemOil for the Teflon properties. Then lube with Hoppes Elite.

Reassemble, and then clean it with Hoppes Elite cleaner and lube regular points with Hoppes Elite oil (I'm testing this stuff out for the first time as I've been a BreakFree CLP guy for a while now).

As for the grips, I plan to get the S&W "factory" grips in rosewood with finger grooves round-butt from Midway. I will then coat with automotive lacquer and polish to a glass-like finish.

That's the plan so far. If time allows, maybe some engraving by a professional.

Old Fuff - calm down. I was removing it because I noticed that the bottom of the rear sight aperture was rusted. I wanted to clear it of rust and any rust that may be in the rear sight assembly.

You can't restore a firearm, without removing rust. That's half of the point.

No need to get upset. It isn't your money. It's mine.

You have to remember, this gun had spent nearly 20 years in a wood office drawer in a room with many windows, more or less on the Atlantic ocean. Between the salty sea-air and the humidity, rust is a problem when a gun is not maintained at all from the day it was bought.

I'm taking it upon myself to undo the damage done by years of neglect, and make it look great in the process. No harm there as far as I can see.

jfh - will do. I don't own many revolvers. Only a few J-frames. I'm mainly a semi-auto guy. I do plan to get into more revolvers though, so I'll definitely get those books. Aside from this little piece though, everything is going smoothly. Question though:

You can order that part from Brownell's--just be aware that they have a minimum $10.00 shipping charge.

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What part number. I ordered part number 40. Was that right?

As for Brownells getting rich - aside from shipping, I only paid $1.60 I believe.

I made an earlier mistake. I said I might have been better off ordering part number 37 instead of 40.

I mispoke. Screw part number 37 is still in place.

It's screw part number 43 that had to come out, and part number 40 was lost when it dislodged from 43 and went somewhere.

I wouldn't expect the rear sight to be too rusty, as it is made from stainless steel. The usual procedure is to fill a small bottle with penetrating oil, drop in the sight, and screw on the cap. In a couple of days a stiff toothbrush will remove any remaining rust. Next to no chance of any small parts getting lost.

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That's actually not a bad idea. I should have thought of that yesterday.

my dad isn't a gun guy. He hasn't even touched it since he shot it one time after buying it 20 years ago. That's not because it is a collector's piece. It's because he doesn't care about guns, or it in particular. It has been sitting in a drawer along with the same ammo for 20 years just in case we have a break-in.

He basically bought the cheapest used gun he could find that was in ok condition after the alarm went off one day and he realized he couldn't do anything but call the police and hope all is ok. So he went to a pawn store that was also a gun store and bought this Model 66 along with some ammo. The original factory grips were in horrible shape (disgusting looking from wear) so he bought the cheapest rubber replacements they had. I know this because he's told me so.

I can assure you that he is not going to wish that the original finish had been left. The worst thing that can happen is that he won't care about how much better it looks. I know his tastes though, and I don't think that will happen.

The few times I took him to gun shows, he liked the guns that looked more or less like what I'm turning this into.

Also kinda get the impression you may not entirely know what you're doing.

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I will admit I have never done this type of job before. I'm not a gunsmith. I have taken apart J-frames and put them back together several times. I have polished some parts with Birchwood Casey Lead Remover to a mirror finish on several occasions, and I have modified guns slightly to be more to my liking.

This is not as much beyond what I am capable of, but it is beyond the amount of effort I have ever put into a firearm. I am confident it will turn out well though.

So, no, I'm not an expert, but I'm fairly certain I'll do fine on this. Life is full of challenges. I want to do something special for my dad, so I'm willing to take on this challenge.

Worst case scenario, since he doesn't care: I'll buy him a new Ruger. It isn't going to come to that, although I may still do it as well as I had planned that for his birthday last year. It's coming back up in August, so he might get both a refinished and "pimped" Model 66, and a GP100 for all I know.

Also - today I bought the pistol case. The embroidering people weren't sure they could get the needle all the way through though as it is padded. I have to take it back Monday to speak to the manager and have them test it. If it's ok, I'm going to have them embroider his name across the case.

A local PD guy suggested maybe I have the gun engraved with his name too, but I decided against it just in case he does catch the bug one day and decides to sell this gun towards purchasing a new one.

My mother is going to chip in for some nice grips and we'll order them Monday.

Experience is a good teacher even if in learning you make a few mistakes. My hats off to you. Good luck.

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Thank you sir.

I agree about the 66 having a better trigger than the GP100. To my knowledge, the biggest selling point on the 66 vs the 19 when Smith replaced the 19 with the 66 was the target type trigger. It is very smooth even in its current condition. I hope to be able to restore it back to its original smoothness during this job.

btw - I polished the cylinder today to a mirror finish. It looks amazing. It took a lot longer than I thought it would though. I must have been hand polishing it for a good 2 and a half hours or more before I was satisfied with the finish. Next up: the frame and sideplate (I'll do them separately).

I think I should be able to have everything polished in the next 2 weeks if I work on it in my spare time.

Also, I figured that while it would ruin the surprise factor, I told my dad that for his Father's day gift, I'm going to make his gun look better than it was the day it was new. I told him just to not freak out if he notices it's missing from the safe, because I have it.

I did this before I started polishing today. He seemed intrigued if nothing else. So at least no negative reaction - which gave me the green light to start the polishing.

Now, if somebody could help me with this plunger pin issue, I would be very grateful. I'll call Brownells Monday to make sure I ordered the right part. If they don't know, I'll call Smith.

In post number 27 I highlighted the lost part in red. Number 40 which I ordered, I worry might be just the spring.

here are the grips I bought from Midway:



~$61 before shipping