Back in 19 and 75, the Smith & Wesson Model 66 'Combat Magnum' was one hot item. (And the rest were pretty much everything in the S&W catalog, save − possibly − the tried-and-true Military & Police Model 10.)

In July of that year, I strolled into the Local Gun Show with all of my Summer earnings to-date − some $400 − burning the proverbial hole in my pocket, almost gravely intent upon buying one.

A Model 66, that is.

Lo and behold, there was exactly *one* at the show, NIB.

Priced at $230, it was well within my budget, so of course I bought it.

'Repairing' to the outdoor range, I fired exactly 18 rounds of Remington .357 factory ammo with the then-popular 158-gr LSWC bullet, when my shooting buddy noticed something 'funny' about my new gun.

The barrel had moved straight off the frame approximately one quarter of an inch.

That's right: Straight. No 'wild unscrewing' or anything, just a sort of 'seismic displacement'.

Exactly how and why that happened remains a mystery, but S&W did 'repair' it.

Somehow...

The rest, as they say, is history.

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Lots of rumors of failures on the first batch floating through the wholesalers. My favorite was the one where a cop broke the barrel off of one of 'em over a guys head.