When i picked up that Colt Detective Special last weekend @ the Gun Show I looked around for new revolvers also. Most Smiths where priced above 500 bucks. I saw a Taurus Model 617 2" .357 Mag 7-shot for $238 +tax (NIB)....I'm thinking about getting one of these...should beat the old beat-up Smiths i find at the gunshow that cost $250 and up.
Primary use would be Truck Gun and sometimes carry.
I'm with ya. Every one from other parts of the country talks about all the good deals on used Smiths. NOT AROUND SOUTH EAST TEXAS! :banghead: I've looked and looked and had gun store owners tell me the same, Smiths are out of sight price wise around here. Seems to be a regional thing just reading this board. I've bought two Taurus M66s used at the little podunk Victoria gun show at the KC hall in the last several years. My Nickeled 4 inch is AWESOME! The trigger compares with the Smiths I have/do own. The older blued one is a little rough, has the older hammer block lockwork. If you're looking at used ones, look for the transfer bar lockwork, much smoother, but the blued one has a 3" barrel and is a good shooter so I carry it some IWB. It totes better'n my 4" and I don't want to wear the nice nickel finish on the 4" anyway carrying IWB. The 3" has some holster wear on the bluing.
I gave $197 for the nickeled one. Saw it sitting there amongst a sea of over-priced Smiths, picked it up, it was tight as a bank vault, timed perfectly, smooth as silk trigger. I thought there must be something wrong with it, but bought it anyway. It's the most accurate .357 DA 4" revolver I've yet to own including a Ruger and a M19 Smith! Awesome deal!
My 3", the guy wanted $200 for it. Now, this was just the other day some 4 or 5 years after buying the nickeled one. I picked it up, had a tiny bit of end shake and a timing issue on one cylinder. I showed the guy. I knew the gun would fire, not that bad, but didn't like the timing issue. Bargained him down to $180. I got it home and shot it a couple of times at the range and noticed the timing issue seemed to be fixing itself.
So, I took the side plate off and found there is a plunger/spring in the side plate that pushes the cylinder pawl forward, the hand that rotates the cylinder. It had a bent up spring and was hanging, not pushing forward with authority. I just trimmed the buggared part of the spring off and reassembled it and it timed perfectly.
Someone had the thing apart that didn't know what they were doing, too, because they had the wrong screw in the hole that holds the cylinder crane. I put it back right and it took the crane play out of the gun.
Now, it's pretty tight and perfectly timed, but the older lockwork doesn't compare for smoothness with my nickeled gun. It's a nice carry piece, though, epecially for $180! I've become a gun show Taurus bargain hunter.
This older gun is almost as accurate as its nickeled brother, too. I'm quite impressed with these two guns.
