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Thanks Pat! I’ve been eyeing a small frame revolver for quite a while now, and I didn’t realize the model 66 held 6 rounds instead of 5.
The “K” frame is not “small”.
Small is a relative term, comparing a model 66 to my GP100 is in fact small.
I’m old school I do carry my mod 66 2/12 every day in winter in summer as it’s not quite as concealable I carry my sw mod 60 ss 38. I’ve had my mod 66 which I brought new in the early 80’s.
That was a good article pat. When I was a young man in the seventies we had a very competitive. Shooting program in my home town. The most common combat format then was PPC shooting that required the use of a six shot 38 Special revolver. I competed for several years and was a flanked shooter in this club and other meets in our region. I have never felt that a revolver was a disadvantage. I carry a revolver and two speed loaders as my every day carry gun now and never leave home without it. I really enjoy your articles, keep up the good work.
First carry was a 1981 Colt Dective Special (old IL-boy) which agreed is more concealable than a Glock and an appropriate wedding present for my son. Wheel gun lover!
My side arm while hunting is a 4 inch, 66. tried and true, simple and reliable.
Great article. Pat’s articles are always my favorite reading on Survival Blog. My go to gun his the model 66. My gun is a 4 inch barrel and is very accurate and defines “ reliability “. When you pull the trigger it goes “ bang”. Never a jam. Thanks Pat. Keep up good articles.
Glad to see so many SurvivalBlog.com old school readers like myself – just hard to go wrong with a good ol’ fashioned revolver…and with practice, it only takes a few seconds to do a speed reload with HKS speedloaders – and after the initial exchange of gun fire in a deadly situation, one should be behind cover to reload.
One thing about the new Combat Magnum – at least part of the reason for the extra quarter-inch is that they give you a full-length ejection rod (or so it looks to me). That makes reloading, and handling in general, MUCH better. My favorite carry is a 3-inch GP100. I’ve never been able to beat a 3 to 4 inch .357 for unmatched utility and dependability.
This does not just have “old school” appeal. As someone who did not grow up around guns, I have found revolvers to be a much more comfortable choice because of the simplicity of the design and the pure mechanical functionality. If I do my job, a revolver will ALWAYS do the rest. Frees up the mind for the task at hand especially when there are not decades of muscle memory to depend on.
Pat,
I thoroughly enjoyed the write up. I attached a couple of pix. I was a part-time law enforcement officer for Dallas County, TX, for 28 years. Early on when working in plain clothes I carried a S&W M66-2 with the short barrel. When my father would see the gun he always remarked on how much he loved its looks. Fast forward, over three years I bought a 4″ gun from a friend with a gun shop, bought a 2.75″ barrel from Numrich and shipped them to the S&W Performance Center. They changed the barrel and then I had some additional work done to that one and my old carry gun. For my dad’s 80th birthday my wife and I gave him the gun that matches mine, along with two styles of Galco leather holsters, double speedloader carriers and a couple of speedloaders, a box of .38SPL +P and .357 Magnum. He nearly cried. My wife and I generally carry Glock 23s day-to-day, but we both love that S&W. Thanks again for your write up.
My Dad, a DC police officer, carried three different weapons over his career. Started with a Colt .45 long revolver that DC got from the Army, so it was likely about fifty years old when they issued it to him. Then a .38 Spl large frame when he was a Sergeant, and finally a five shot .38 Spl snub nose while a Lieutenant and Captain. We used to debate whether a revolver or a semi-auto was better, with me favoring my Army M1911. Dad was of the opinion that the average police officer only cleaned his revolver once a year, after re-qualifying, and that if they carried 1911’s they would be too dirty to fire after six months in the holster. I couldn’t argue with him on that.
I love reading Pat’s very knowledgeable reviews of guns. Always informative!
WOW! A real steel revolver! One of my favorite carry guns is a Colt Detective. Easy to conceal, even in summer. And yes, I shoot it regularly. Currently on the hunt for a S&W M36 Chief. Love those old wheel guns!
Good luck on your hunt for the M36. I carried one for a number of years. Never felt under-gunned. Unfortunately I sold it. Now I miss it.
The thing about snubbies is you could always use the “New York Reload”.
Remember the TV show Berreta. That’s what he did. One in an ankle holster as I recall.
Pat, Since I started prepping back in ’07 I’ve acquired about a dozen pistols. Safety is my utmost concern, the only semi-auto pistol I’ll carry with a round in the chamber is my 1911 because of it’s multiple safety’s, that said I have gained some experience with both types of pistols and I much prefer my revolvers as I carry them ‘cowboy’ style with hammer down on an empty chamber. I don’t feel that I’m at a disadvantage for doing so and feel that I can actually bring my revolver to bear more quickly than I could a semi-auto that I would have to rack a round into. Then too revolvers are quicker to clear of a miss-fire, just pull the trigger again, or a jam, nothing to jam or miss-feed on a revolver vs a semi auto. I’ll take that ‘old fashioned’ tech any day. I like and enjoy your articles so keep ’em coming.
I have been shooting 357s since 1970…still carry them.
Have had 2 model 19’s….best double action revolvers I ever shot, and that included PPC shooting.
I lived for four years north of the Brooks range in bush Alaska. Always, and I mean always, carried a model 19 in my Carhart jacket pocket. 00 buck was in my 870 when my hands were free. I always felt at ease around wild life and only rarely had to defend myself. Wolverines, bears, wolves , moose and once, a lovesick walrus. All wonderful stories and great memories. The model 19, 66 and other k frame Smith and Wesson were the smallest frame yet controllable ,magnum round, hand gun. At -45 F, no one trusted a semi auto.
I carried a S & W Model 66 when fellow officers were going to Glocks. The first two times I used a Glock during target practice, it jammed. That is two out of 18 available rounds that I hoped to fire. I could not clear it in the field. It could have been the ammo, of course. Recent models of Ruger and Sig Sauer semi-autos seem to do okay. But, I certainly have more confidence in a revolver and it is still my preference. I have had a cartridge swell and refuse to be ejected form a 66 but in a pinch, one still has five chambers you can reload.
The 66 was my concealed weapon of choice when I lived in my home state of South Dakota it was very very accurate and dependable.
S&W revolvers are in my opinion the “gold standard” for reliability and simplicity. I am 67 years of age and grew up with guns, I’ve owned many. As a young boy I followed behind my father who carried a 16 gauge double while hunting pheasant and rabbit in southwest Michigan. I bought my first handgun, a Colt Python, when I was about 25, and have added numerous firearms over the years. I accumulated quite a collection, and recently decided to clean house and keep only the guns I actually use. I traded four or five guns and bought a couple new ones. My goal was to own only what I would carry and use. In the end I have two trusted S&W revolvers, a model 60 and a M&P 340, both .357 Mag. These are my “go to” firearms as I walk out the door. And yes, I have my .40 Glock which is a fine firearm, yet my comfort level is with the S&W revolvers. Always loved them, always will.
My EDC is a 4″ Colt Python(’68 vintage) with two Five Star Firearms speed loaders carried in Jox loader pouches.
Most of my handguns are revolvers. And I carry a revolver for a good many of the reasons Pat gave above. Two other reasons were accuracy and the rule of three’s, 3 shots, 3 yards, 3 seconds. Still carry 12 extra rounds. 🙂
I often find that there are shooters that will quickly criticize my EDC but can’t give me an explanation for their choice of Carry Weapon other than more bullets.
In the late 80’s I worked as a police officer in the SF Bay Area. The entire department carried Mdl 66 S&W. Patrol carried 4″ and Plain Clothes carried 2.5″. We all used the same .357 ammo. One morning 6 members of my shift finished a graveyard shift and headed to the range. 5 out of 6 of us suffered jams and malfunctions that precluded firing any additional rounds. My cylinder was so jammed into the frame that it was eventually shipped loaded, for repairs. Another near by agency had so many similar incidents that they declared a state of emergency that allowed officers to throw away their Mdl 66 and carry something else until the Agency could purchase Mdl 686 for everyone. My agency continued with the MDL 66 until more than a year later we switched to 7906/6906 9mm. With that being said and now long retired I still carry a Mdl 66. I NEVER run .357 through them and have never had a misfire with the .38 +P I shoot with.
I believe that some of the Model 66’s shipped in the mid-80s had problems and were not up to previous standards. Nevertheless, I prefer S & W over their biggest competitor of that era.
Can anyone recall an early to mid 80’s production revolver chambered in 9mm that did not need clips to keep that rounds in the cylinder?
I love the Mdl 66. I used to have a 4 in version. I learned from a gun magazine article that due to the forcing cone not having enough support, they can start cracking if too many 357 cartridges are used. It recommended practising with 38 spl and only use 357 when carrying for self defense use.