I recently bought an older Taurus Model 66. The gun has a 3" barrel and wooden grips(factory). The gun is blued with adjustable rear sight. The serial # is 122 121.
I called TaurusUSA earlier today to see if they had any background on the gun. The person I talked to said that they had no information due to
it being manufatured before 1985....Oh well... Anybody have any information or can tell me where to look to find information on this revolver. Thanks in advance..

Hi cjsolar.

Welcome mate!

I usually would not put the serial no of my guns in the public.
I suggest you mask the serial later on

On the topic, although I used to own a Taurus Mod 66 in the past, I cant say that I liked it and swap the gun with a Colt SPIV back in 1995.

Gelan

gelandangan wrote:

I usually would not put the serial no of my guns in the public. I suggest you mask the serial later on

Ditto.

And welcome to the group. Lately, with Taurus' improved quality control and engineering changes, the 66 is an excellent medium frame revolver. I don't know a whole lot about the pre-'85 guns, but Taurus did not enjoy a good reputation in the 1970s when they were first imported to North America. However, it is easy to tell the quality with a few hundred rounds at the range.

While I do not find that a 3 inch barrel is right for me when hunting, I think it would be excellent for dispatching varmints at close range. The 357 Mag round is quite a workhorse, and you can also shoot low powered 38 Specials from the 66.

I think there may be a Yahoo group for Taurus collectors. These two come to mind:
sports.groups.yahoo.co...aurusGuns/
groups.yahoo.com/group/snubby/

I had a 6" model in .357 mag , and liked it very much.

I've had very good luck with Taurus products. Other companies may be more refined, but as a working tool Taurus guns have never let me down.
I just picked this one up on Saturday. It's a five shot Model 450 in .45 Colt with a 2" ported barrel.
Don

HI all,

I have a Taurus model 82 4" revolver, bought it in 1984 used. Bluing was about 99% and fit and finish was good, has non-adjustable service sights. I can still put all six rounds in to a paper plate at 25 yards with no trouble. It has been an excellent performer, and I only paid $160 out the door!

M. G.

I just bought a Taurus clone of a Colt single action. It has a 5 1/2" barrel on it and it does just what I needed it to do. Plus it's fun to shoot.

I only owned one Taurus in 357 back when they were a brand new name. I bought it new and had it back to the shop so manytimes that the owner of the shop traded me for the Ruger Security-Six that I still own. The Ruger has had over 20,000 rounds through it and it is still shooting 1.5" and 2" groups for me. Someone with good eyes and a steady hand could probably shoot the "X" out of the bull with it.

edit: 400 rounds a week (daily practice and Hunter's Pistol competition) for two years. 41,600 rounds in the two years that I competed with it. Add to that the several years before that with at least weekly practice and all the plinking we did that Ruger has no right to be as tight as it is!

As you see from the above posts, early Taurus products had a, shall we say, spotty record of quality and reliability. They began life using old Smith and Wesson tooling that had seen better days and their understanding of metallurgy was not really up to the task. All of that changed during the 90s with vastly better tooling and a commitment to quality metals and today they make quality firearms that should last well for general use. I don't personally own one but know several people that do and are quite happy. None of these people are what I would call "volume" shooters, so I can't give any insight as to durability. Reports from other published sources seem to indicate that they hold up quite well.

Best advice is to have a qualified gunsmith check it over for headspace, end-shake and lockup before depending too much on it. If he gives you the green light, enjoy!