S&W 65 .357mag

[Player]

hey guys, i found a smith and wesson 65 4inbarrel, stainless chambered in .357 for sale at my gun club. now the pistol is in pretty good condition and someone probably worked on the trigger cause it's smooth as butter on DA and crispy clean on SA. the wood grips are kinda messed up, but i'm going to switch the skinny grips off anyways.

for $275, what do you guys think? it's not a LEO stamped model. light light light scratches if any. so should i do it?
looks exactly like this ones
http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=68331401

[jfowl31]

Sounds like a decent price to me... Not necessarily the deal of the century, but definitely a little below the going rate from what Ive seen.

Ive never personally liked how those feel in my hands, as I prefer a thicker grip, but thats just my personal preference. The pistol is definitely a fine piece of work, just not my preference.

If you like the feel of it, Id say do it. Its a good deal, and more than likely will be worth more than you paid for it later on if you keep it in good shape.

[cimmaronkid]

Henry, haggle a little on the price. At $275, it is a good deal, but $250 makes it really nice. Remind him that this is no 66 and doesn't have the adjustable sights and under rib. Should come down. They are extremely nice and will last several lifetimes if fed a diet of 38 special.

[Cavalryman]

I absolutely love the K-frame Smith and Wessons! I have them in .22, .38, and .357 mag. The concept behind the K-frame magnums was that they would be shot mostly with .38 special for practice but could be carried with .357 magnum ammo. (They were intended primarily as law enforcement officers' weapons, which is why so many of them have 4" barrels.) There's nothing wrong with this concept, but they developed a reputation for unreliability when fed a steady diet of hot loads, which is why S&W doesn't make them any more. If you're planning to do most of your practice with modest loads, then I believe the 65 is a great firearm; if you want to shoot a lot of magnums, then you should move up to an L-frame revolver.

I agree that $275 is a decent price but not spectacular. A stainless 4" K-frame .357 is just about as good as it gets for hiking and backpacking as it has enough power to be authoritative but is easy to carry, highly reliable, and requires minimal maintenance. It's also a great "car gun."

[Player]

well, i tried to go 250, but the guy wouldn't even budge. took it for 275

[Player]

and yes, it's a 3in, not a 4in

[jfowl31]

pretty slick I must admit. Looks like you got a good one Henry.

Ive always wondered why they measure barrel length on a revolver as just the length of the rifled part of the barrel, but on a semi-auto, it is measured from the breech face.

back to topic... I like it! Worth every penny I think...

[cimmaronkid]

Henry, nice piece. And the added benefit of the 3" is a big plus. Shoot it in good health.:woohoo-1:

[Cavalryman]

Henry, I'm pretty sure that's a 4 inch barrel. A 3 inch barrel would end just in front of the ejector rod latch. Either way, it's a sweet piece.

[Player]

oh i don't know that much about revolvers, it was labeled and stamped model 65-3 so i just assumed that it was a 3inch model


but mannnn it took me forever to clean it up, the guy who had it before i did probably shot it and never cleaned it. good thing though, i bet he rarely shot .357's out of it. cause i tried to load .357's in at first and it wouldn't go in. turns out the .38's he shot built up soot rings in the cylinder and they stopped the longer .357 cases from going in. i brushed it a whole bunch, soaked it with breakfree and shot .357 out of it and scrubbed some more. then i also cleaned up all the soot buildup along the outside of the pistol itself.

now it's good as new, and with no big scratches or scars... i LOVE it!!!

[okie shooter]

Henry, on smith and wessons, I believe the dash means what revision of the pistol you have thus its a model 65, third revision.

[jfowl31]

That happens with 357 pistols that have 38 shot through them a lot. Its a great indication, just as you are thinking, that the pervious owner shot mostly if not only 38's through it, so you can definitely expect a long life outta it.

It looks like the same barrel length as the one on gunbroker that you posted, that is marked 65-4... put a tapemeasure to it.