nice condition but not collector quality. Would prefer blued. Thanks.

I was shooting with a local PD and it ended with a man on man on a dulling tree.
I was holding my own with a revolver others had wonder 9's . The chief pulled out his very old 19 2.5 and said here use this. This gun was shot in, hit POA , and was slicker than a nose in the first bloom in spring. That gun would have fetched whatever he wanted when I was done shooting but he would not part with it. SO SWEEET! J.Michael

I'm hoping for an old roundbutt 19 that I can do a lot of DA shooting with.

No frame locks...no MIM...just blued steel with a trigger that breaks like glass. A gun that will teach you lessons.

I have owned several 2.5" model 19's and 66's, and while they are nice guns, I got rid of them and went to a 3" model 66. Having a full length ejector rod instead of the short ejector rod is worth it's weight in gold. The 3" conceals every bit as well as the 2.5" gun, but is sooooooo much slicker in ejecting cases!!!! The first time you try to do a speed reload and have to stand there picking cases out of the cylinder, you'll understand.....

http://www.zidaho.com/category/312/Handguns-Revolvers/listings/41789/S-and-W-19-5-357ma...

and I'm not sure about the stainless 66's but I think that's also correct. I understand on the full length ejector rod but I don't want a square butt. I've got those already. JD, do you remember if your 3" 66s were RB or SB? Problem is that I want a blued early gun that is RB and short...thus it's 2.5". If the 66 gives me an option to have a short RB, then I would consider stainless.

The newer guns don't interest me.

Would prefer to buy from someone here that I know but I will keep that as an option.

Since I'm shopping for old gold let's not hold back.

S&W has made a number of runs of 3" model 19's and 66's over the years. As far as I know, they have always been round butt guns...

I know the 2.5" 19s were round butt only. I thought the 3" guns were square butt. That's good to know. I'm not opposed to a 3" gun as long as I can get it RB. That opens up the search.

If given a choice between a 2.5" model 19 and a 2.75" security six, personally I would go with the security six. Most security sixes were square butt, but if you get a stainless one, it is about an hour job to round butt it (provided the serial number isn't in the way..). The security six is a much more robust and durable gun, but still has a nice single and double action trigger, and the ejector rod stroke is a little longer. My 2.75 stainless security six started life as a square butt, but I fixed that right off. Now it is a nice round butt with a very smooth action. I really like it...

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of a Speed Six versus an early S&W 19 or 66? I know there are blued 2.7" RB Speed Sixes.

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Between the 3" 19 or 66 and the 2.75" Ruger?

There's nothing quite like a 2.5 inch Model 19. I found an almost pristine one quite a few years ago in a local gun shop, and couldn't make up my mind about it. The blasted thing actually sat there for over a month, whispering to me every time I walked in the door. My wife finally went to the shop with me and bought it for an anniversary present to me, just so I'd quit moping about it.

It is no longer pristine, but with stag stocks and some holster wear it looks even better. The 2.5 inch M19 is one of the most businesslike looking guns ever built, IMHO.

I carried a 3" M66 for years. Round butt. You are right about the full length ejector rod. Mine had a nice action job, radiused and polished trigger, a ball detent in the yoke and night sights.

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Tom Richardson made me buy his and I have been tickled with it ever since! I carry it almost as often as my 1911 these days, probably run 2000 rounds plus through it over the last 18 months or so. Lives in the nightstand next to my head or on my hip these days...

that's one source I was going to check. Heard Tom was selling his....well, it stayed in the family. That's cool. Sounds like you dig it.

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On mine, the double action is extremely smooth and single actio on par with a stock k frame...

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all over it...

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

I think the short barreled round butt guns are even better. Plus, I want to practice heavy with a nice snub 357. If you can hit with that, you can shoot anything well.

I'd still call him, might have another and he's always worth catching up with.

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sights, all good. Just my opinion...

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Sincerely,

Hobie

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I understand your desire, took me quite a few years to find a good one. Finally happened on a sheriff deputy's widow at a local gun show selling off all of his guns and wanted them all gone that day. She had a local dealer helping her out, was fully aware of the values she could get for them given more time, but just wanted them gone. Picked up his '72 vintage sheriff dept stamped 2.5" M19 for $250 and it is a honey. Has a little road rash on the cylinder where it was probably dropped, but otherwise has excellent blue, timed perfect and is smooth as glass. It shoots well enough I have used it to head shoot squirrels while out bumming around in the woods. It is very comfortable to carry with the right set-up and accompanies me frequently.

The S-6's can have very nice triggers. Nice as Smith? Ummm.....I would have to admit to being prejudiced towards the S&W (this from an admitted Rugerophile).

You still planning on being at CSA? I would happily throw in the two shorty Speed Sixes I have. Unfortunately, neither is a 3-5-7; they are .38 Spl and 9mm. I'd let you get them dirty....

I will ask around for you.

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

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Of the Troops & For the Troops

some of the Rugers can be nice...most are decent and they are tough guns. They just don't feel as good to me as early S&Ws. I hear Ruger makes good single action guns. :)

Yes, I will be at CSA. Happy to try yours and offer you time with any of mine. Thx.

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the 4" are certainly easier to hit with. Part of the attraction to the snub is just practicing to be a better shot with a stern teacher. I've got plenty of guns that are easier to shoot.

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Went to a local gun show this morning and there was a nice looking 2 1/2" M66 sitting on a table for $625 and an older 4" M19 on another table for $425. They are both still there, nice pieces but a bit rich for my blood.

Bryan, I will pull my blued 2 3/4" Security Six from it's bedroom safe hangout when we load up for CSA.
I'll bring ammo too. You are welcome to shoot it as much as you like. And no it's not for sale
I say this because at least 50% of the people that shoot it want to buy it.

Mark Stevenson

The good thing is they aren't hard to find. If I don't have a model 19 by then (and I'm working on a deal right now) or even if I do, it would be nice to compare some features side by side.

I look forward to it. Thx again.

Pretty soon you won't have to bring a single gun nor piece of ammo!

Just joshin' of course.

I sold the truck. The Subaru Outback will be full I think for CSA. Should be lighter on the way back unless my checkbook gets lighter too. One never knows about such things in advance.

Will know soon. Thx for all of the good replies. They are interesting guns.

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Was talking with my Dad about handgun hunting and he said he had recently read an article by Ross Seyfried on the subject where the author stated his favorite hunting handgun was indeed a 2 1/2" M19 and that he had made good kills out to 100+ yards with it. Seeing as you just posted an thread looking for his articles, then a thread about looking for just such a handgun, was wondering if the two may be related?

Short answer is yes. I've long been a fan of Seyfried and have read all of his articles. I remembered the article on his fav handguns and then found it. Besides liking the snub S&Ws in general, I like his thinking on the 2.5" 357 being a demanding teacher. If you can shoot it, particularly in DA, then you can probably shoot anything well.

I do enjoy the challenge of the short barrel guns. Today decided to try out a DAO AMT 380 and pulled off a 25 yard center hit on an 8" steel plate, not too bad for a pocket auto with just a groove down the slide to sight down. Then ran a rack of swinging 2"x4" rectangular steel plates, with a S&W M317 (airweight 3" j-frame) in double action mode, without missing one in spite of a cylinder full of mixed ammo, with two that did not go off the first time, so had to dry fire through the cylinder a second time without knowing which cylinder was going to fire. It was not super rapid fire, took probably about one second per drop of the hammer, but fast enough to be challenging with the heavy double action trigger on such a lightweight revolver.

I never could shoot my Seecamp to my own satisfaction. Ack.

It has been very reliable and accurate, which is not the reputation of the Back-Ups. They are tough to hit with though because of having no sights, just a groove the length of the slide.