This h'yer is your basic Taurs Model 66.
It was purchased new by the current owner from a local gun shop and it's done its share of killing paper people, but it still looks pretty nice to me.
How can I tell it's a 66? Well, there's the frame size, the sights, the caliber, the barrel length . . . and when you swing the crane out, it's right here, stamped on the frame:
a.k.a. "The Mule" to anyone who's ever fired a .357Mag snubbie . . .
This pistol has been fitted with a Hogue stock which probably helps a LOT with the recoil of full-power .357 rounds. I found it amusing that Hogue and Taurus were competing for Logo Display Land real estate, and that Taurus lost the battle.
The sights, as I mentioned, are a feature of the Model 66. The top strap is serrated along its length and the front sight is serrated across the back.
The rear sight is a nice example, if you like this sort of rear sight. The adjustments are plainly marked with deep stampings, right on the body of the sight, WITH arrows to indicate which way to turn for what effect.
This revolver has some honest wear on it, but it is still pretty well fitted together. I measured well under 0.006" cylinder end gap (between the chambers and the barrel) on all six chambers.
The chambers themselves look in good condition.
The bore, however, is an area of minor concern. I'm not sure yet if this is rust or copper fouling, but it doesn't look good where the grooves and lands meet.
You can tell it's been shot. There is typical wear on the frame, where a cartridge slams back. Also the hand is wearing around the edges from rubbing on the cylinder. It still locks up tight enough, and the timing is right-on, so this doesn't bother me too much. Yes, the action is partially cocked to make the hand stay in this position.
What does bother me, and what surprised me a great deal, was the trigger spring center pin. It came out broken. Fortunately this seems not to affect functioning of the gun at all, but it slightly complicates disassembly.
I told the owner of this arm about Taurus' lifetime warranty, and suggested he might want to show this to them, and see what they have to say about it.
I also suggested he show them this:
The extractor has a bunch of little chips and dings where there should probably be hard corners. I don't know how this would happen unless somebody was playing cowboys and indians, but there it is.
I like this piece, but then I like most of the guns I've ever met. I aim to take this revolver with me to my next gun class. Let's see if it shoots as nice as it looks when it's just been wiped down with an oily rag.
Photographers, take note: use a cotton rag to wipe off fingerprints right before a shoot, not a paper towel. Unless you like white flecks all over the bluing. Doh.
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Update after I processed the next batch of photos:
The stuff did out of the barrel, and it looks like the bluing is worn out of the corners of the grooves:
After a little scrubbing, the rifling came smooth as well:
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