Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns S&W Model 66 357Mag

When the forcing cone wears, you just have a new barrel put on.

Seen a few 19/66 that had wear or split.

Consider it the cost of having fun. You shoot that much youve sent a good chunk of money down range
Barrel replacement should then be an acceptable cost IMHO.

4" .357 magnums are annoying in blast.

6" considerably more polite IMHO.

Think a 66 looks best as a 4" though, and a 686 looks best as a 6".

If one likes to run 38 spcl.....get a K frame
If mags your normal fodder, get the L frame.

The newer models supposedly stronger frame but they got some changes that hurt resale ( lock and other ).

The old stuff fetches silly prices

I'm not sure the forcing cone thing is an issue anymore with the newer guns.

I'm not sure the forcing cone thing is an issue anymore with the newer guns.

Newer, better, steel?

A redesigned barrel socket that allows a thicker walled barrel extension. I don't know the dimensions compared to the L frame, but if was a betting man I'd think if Smith would go to the trouble of a redesign, I'd bet the L dimension would be something to shoot for.

If you want to shoot it a lot, then buy the current make version. If you want to collect and shoot it a little, then I'd recommend an older one.

Hand raised.

My very first handgun was a brand new S&W M19-6. The forcing cone gave up the ghost with a 158 grain JHP factory load (I wanna say it was a Remington), about 6 months into my ownership. S&W promptly fixed it and returned it to me post-paid.

While gunsmithing at a S&W warranty depot, I saw split forcing cones fairly frequently. But keep in mind, these were almost always LE guns. I would also add that it is my opinion that the issue was not due to light bullets, as I have seen many that were split with heavier bullets; as was mine. It should also be noted that the issue did crop up on rare occasion with K frame .38 Specials; again, almost always LE guns.

The new M66’s are MUCH tougher revolvers and S&W no longer recommends limiting the use of magnum loads.

It's not the barrel socket

If you look at an old K frame, you’ll see the bottom of the barrel is shaved off at the forcing cone. Whereas the new ones do not have the barrel shaved off at the bottom. The barrel shank is full thickness on the new ones, and shaved on the older ones.
That flat exists to make room for the gas seal on the crane/cylinder. Really, the real work was done on the crane & gas seal to allow for more room for more barrel thickness at the forcing cone.