Resisted as long as I could - M66 w/3" barrel

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DHart

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Jun 1, 2004
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Sonoran Desert, Arizona
I have been eyeing a 3" 66 in a local pawnshop for a couple of months... this last week I decided to visit the shop, and if it was still there I was going to buy it... well, it was there, and now it's here. The gun was in excellent mechanical condition with a nice, smooth action, but the finish was not exactly "fresh"... it wore the badges of being around a while... scuffs, light scratches, kinda dirty, but all stuff I knew I could zap with a little home refinishing job... so I got her home, stripped her down to the bone, did a surface "peel" with a ScotchBITE pad, followed with Flitz on cotton bore swabs. Cleaned out the insides, did a little action polishing, put her back together, buttoned her up, and put on some Ahrends grips. She's a much happier revo now! Here are some pics from today...

66-4_LF1583.jpg


66-4_L1574.jpg


66-4_RF1578.jpg


66-4_LR1579.jpg
 
"Resisted as long as I could"

There is no reason to resist. The good ol' Combat Magnum in stainless, with snubbie barrel is one of the best real American handguns ever made.

And your photos are beautyfull, too.
 
Don, it's only appropriate that you have the 3" 66. Are there any 3"ers that you don't have yet? The 3" 66 is the one that started it all for me, my first S&W. She looks great!
 
Let me get this straight: You left a 3" Model 66 sitting in a gun shop for MONTHS, didn't buy it, OR tell us one was available????????

You should be horse whipped for this.

However, since you had the intelligence to finally buy it, you're forgiven.

The 3" 66 just MIGHT be the ultimate carry revolver.
 
mmm..that is very niiiiiicce! Great job of polishing and dressing it up too. DHart, your pics are always a pleasure to view-thanks!
 
Well... in the back of my mind I expected that I would buy this gun. But I got so busy with other guns that time slipped away from me! :rolleyes: Glad you guys appreciate the pics... I love taking a slightly tired looking gun, bringing it to "like new" inside and out and then creating images of it. My idea of "fun". Call me crazy! :rolleyes: Much more enjoyable than buying new guns, plus they ain't got no locks! :cool:

45Wheelgun... These were done with available light in my gun room... a north facing window to the back left and a floor torchiere lamp illuminating the upper walls and ceiling to the left and some reflectors to bounce some of that light around onto the gun. Open north light is a very cold colored light as compared with incandescent room light, that's why you see a mix of both warm light and cold light on the gun. Camera was a Canon 20D with 17-85 zoom lens. Camera on tripod with electronic cable release. ISO 200, f/11, exposure about .8 second. Used one of my denim shirts as a background. Pretty simple, really. But it does help that I've done this for a living for many years.

dfariswheel... being the Detective Spl. lover that you are, you might appreciate that I also took some pics of my new-to-me Dick Spl. Will post them a little later. It was a nice find. 1992 vintage, unfired, all paperwork, blue plastic box with printed Colt paperboard box sleeve, all new condition, $375!
 
Thanks, now I miss mine even more.

Better go handle the 2.5" 19. It always makes it better.

<don't tell it I wish it was 3" too>
 
carebear... those 2.5" 19's and 66's are very, very fine indeed! I love mine. You got a goodie there! Don't wish it was a 3", just add a 3"! if you just had the 3", you'd be wishing it was a 2.5".... you know how that works! :rolleyes: Get both.
 
Along with having excellent taste in guns, you could make a good living as a handgun photographer. Very Nice!
 
DHart:

I've used various grades of synthetic pads to re-grain stainless pistols and remove scratches for many years, but I've never used Flitz.

The synthetic pads leave a nice grain finish but do leave tiny cross-grain scratches in some areas.

Does the Flitz give a shiny finish or does it still have the non-gloss of the original?

It would be nice to remove the cross-grain scratches without giving the metal a nickel plated-like shine, but leave it with a satin finish.

You can usually spot a stainless gun that someone's been using metal polish on from across the room.
It looks like a badly done nickel pated finish.

Any advice?
Thanks.
 
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dfariswheel... Flitz does have a tendency to bring up the shine and gloss, and is capable of taking a finish to a mirror-like shine, so you have to be very sparing with it to avoid a shiny look. If you look at the pics, you can see that the finish is a little shinier than the typical S&W brushed finish. I would imagine that using a nylon pot scrubber might soften the grain lines a little without getting too smooth and shiny, but I haven't tried that. I tend to like just a little gloss shine beyond the matte brushed look, but I stop short of the bright high polished look. I have a lot more experimentation to do beyond just Scotchbright and Flitz. Let's try stuff and share info... I'm sure there are others here who have some great experience with this. I really enjoy refreshing stainless finishes!
 
df... just go light on the Flitz and light on the pressure.... maybe start on the inside of the grip frame to give yourself a feel for it. You can always go back over it with your Scotchbright or whatever to reintroduce texture. I did that on my GP-100 to matte it back down. Now I think I liked the bright smooth finish better! :rolleyes:
 
DHart, I must be frequenting the wrong pawnshops up here ... I've been looking for a nice Model 66 for a while now; you scored a nice one. If you don't mind me asking, from a King County or Pierce County pawnshop?
 
TennTucker... I used black ScotchBITE pads... not sure what grade they would be considered... I have no idea.

Old Dog.... Portland, OR metro area. I'm in Clark County (Vancouver). This pawn shop just happened to be several miles from my house.
 
Nice Pics! I'd love to stumble across one of those, not that I could argue a need, but it just looks soooo right.....
 
landon... I sure didn't need it either, and if I had known then (when I first saw it) how nice it would turn out after working it over, I would have bought it right then! Laying in the display case a bit dirty, a bit scratched up, and wearing old rubber grips, it wasn't exactly screaming to me. But Cinderella turned into one Hot Princess! ;) Now I know when I see a true diamond in the rough, I need to buy it right away!
 
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