S&W 66/.357 rebarreling Question

[target17]

I have a S&W mod.66 with a 2.5" barrel that I would like to change to a 3" barrel. I believe they made a few mod. 66 in 3", but I have not been able to find one. Question would a S&W mod.65 fit on the mod.66. I know the front sight is not the same. This is a project I've wanted to do just for the heck of it for a long time. Thanks in advance.

[Mickid]

In general the M66 has a barrel shroud, while the M65 does not. S&W does not sell Magnum barrels to the public, the gun would need to be sent in for this. There are a few very rare M66s with 3" barrels but it is not a standard catalog item, you'd need to call S&W, or Lew Horton to see if they can help you.

[Jim Watson]

It would work if barrel and frame were of the same generation (pinned or not) but you would have to put on a high front sight on the lower M64 rib to match the adjustable rear. The Weigand ramp and interchangeable blade would be your best chance of a matchup.

Short of finding one of the scarce 3" M66 barrels, the neatest (not cheap) way would be to have a 4 or 6" cut to 3" and fitted.

You will also have to install the longer extractor rod and centerpin for barrels over 2.5"

[target17]

Thanks alot guy's!

[noway]

{In general the M66 has a barrel shroud, while the M65 does not. }

That's not 100% correct my 65LS has 3" bbl that shroud but my std mdl 65 doesn't. So for the orginal poster look at 65LS bbl ( 3") and then you can convert that 66 to a 3" job.

[BustedFlush]

Those 3" M66s weren't that rare, I own a couple of them. ;)

Mickid is quite correct that they were never listed in the S&W catalog.

There have been several runs of them. Mine were produced in the earlier 1990's, one in 1992 (I think) and another in 1994. One is a 66-3, other is 66-4.

I think S&W would periodically produce them for a distributer. I had read about them and I saw a new one at a gun show in 1992. He wanted too much for it, but I was able to get a gunshop owner to order one for me at a fair price. I can't recall which distributer it was, but it wasn't Lew Horton. In early 1995 I bought the new 66-4 from a different dealer at a gun show. These are keepers.

I did have a 2.5" M19, wish I'd kept it, but I much prefer the full length ejector rod of the 3" barrel K-frames

The 65LS, the 65 and the 13 all came in 3" barrels. As has already been pointed out, of those, only the 65LS has the shroud, and all of these were fixed sight guns.

I've occassionally seen 3" M66s in the years since I got mine, both at gun shows and for sale online. It would be interesting to know when the last run of them was. Don't give up on finding one, unless this barrel job is just something you have to do.

A few years ago, there was a S&W Performance Center M66 in 3" - it was probably at least three years ago. I saw one in a local shop, it was nice, and very pricey.

I don't know didley about changing barrels, but good luck.

BF