S&W Model 66 rear sight upgrade

[drillsgt]

I found this S&W Model 66 on the website of a gun store in MI that usually has a lot of nice used guns. It was a later model 66, probably one of the last variations before the lock. These later guns have the rear sights that already has three holes drilled and tapped underneath and pinned on front sights, exactly what I was looked for. I ordered another D&L fixed rear sight on Monday and got it today, very fast service. It didn't take long to get it fit, some might be drop in some might not, this one took a bit of filing but not too bad. Next step will be to put in either a gold bead or night sight front.

 

[ndbbm]

Good idea. If carried in some hip holsters, a seat belt latch can snap off an adjustable rear sight.

 

[drillsgt]

Took it to the range today and shoots fine, I'll measure that front sight height and order a new one.

 

[MrMunster]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but that is probably a post-`97 version as that is around the time they moved the firing pin on the hammer to on the frame.

 

[drillsgt]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but that is probably a post-`97 version as that is around the time they moved the firing pin on the hammer to on the frame.

Based on the serial number it's a 2004, later than I expected it to be.

 

[drillsgt]

I finally got the front sight changed out. I wanted a Dawson night sight front but they are out of stock right now so I ordered a serrated post front to try out. I had never done it before so it was a bit of an adventure. Based on a few tutorials I watched it should have been easy but that wasn't the case. In the tutorials I watched they had roll pinned front sights whereas mine was a solid pin rounded on both ends. The pin was pretty tight and my standard punch was slipping so I had to stop and order a proper cup punch from Brownells, would have saved a few scuffs on the sight base. I had ordered a drill bit from Grainger with a larger shank to fit my drill as well but also luckily ordered a few standard ones from amazon since they are cheap. With my cup punch in hand it made pretty quick clean work of the pin so that's a lesson in not being impatient and get the proper tool. From there I tapped the old front sight forward a bit like I saw in the tutorial so it hangs off the front a bit and then tapped it out from underneath and it came off nicely. The new Dawson fit in just fine, no side to side movement and I just took a hair off the bottom of the sight base. I taped off the sight and barrel and clamped it so it wouldn't walk on me during drilling but it was probably unnecessary. I put my Grainger bit in and drilled one side out and turned the gun around to hit the other side and the bit broke. I had the bits from amazon but then had to go to Home Depot and get a small collet for the dremel. With the dremel and working slowly I was able to go through both sides cleanly with no trouble. I dressed the sides of the sight ramp back up and luckily I have my own blaster so I taped everything off and re-blasted the sight base. From there the pin went back in just fine. I taped off the sight so it still had some residue to be wiped off in the pictures.