[Gewehr98]

A friend at my squadron was bugging me about this stainless revolver he had no use for. I took a look, and asked his price. He started at $250, and I got it for $200. Now, for the S&W experts here, it's a 696, no "-1", .44 Special, 3" full-lugged barrel, firing pin on the hammer nose, case-hardened trigger and hammer, Uncle Mike's grip, and of all things, an adjustable rear sight. I assumed a L-Frame 5-shot .44 Special was meant for packing around, so why the adjustable sights? Anything I should be careful of with this gun, it looks fairly stout:



http://mauser98.com/696left.jpg

http://mauser98.com/696right.jpg

[Brian Williams]

Nice gun! Nice price!
It should be a great shooter and very accurate. It will make a nice carry gun and having adjustable sights is not really a detriment to carry and they should be fairly sturdy.

I have a J frame Mod 60 with adjustable sights that is a joy to carry.

[Mike Irwin]

And I carry a Model 19 2.5".


OK, the 696 was brought out in response to the other "smallish" .44 Spls., that were coming out by Rossi and Taurus about 10 years ago. By that time Charter Arms/Charco/etc. was no longer really a player in that particular market.

The concept was a little different, I suppose, in that it was to be a multi-purpose large bore that could be carried concealed but also serve as a trail-type gun and general purpose plinker.

That's why the adjustable sights.

[stans]

$200???? I think you got the better end of that deal! Nice revolver!

[Mike Irwin]

Yeah, I tried to talk him out of it so I could buy it, but he wasn't falling for that.

I just had to run into a moderately intelligent Zoomie... :D

[RON in PA]

You done good, real good! Nice piece.

[9mmepiphany]

great price, i have one too...it came with mag-na-port slots already done and is a great shooter.

i stroke it with CCI blazer 200hr gold dot JHP and it handles like a .38 spl shooting 158gr ball loads.

my only disapointment has been the lack of 3" holsters...it now rides in a 4" paddle

[VictorLouis]

You'll come to appreciate the sights depending on what sort of ammo you stoke it with. There's light and fast out there, as well as the old standby of slow and heavy.;) Don't be tempted to hot-rod it with Ruger-ONLY premium offerings, or Elmer Keith Memorial Handloads. Stick to what the books say for older, and/or standard guns in that chambering. That said, it's one of the couple of Smith revolvers that I'd buy a duplicate of.:cool:

[Gewehr98]

Hey folks, did S&W make this same style L-frame gun in a .45 Long Colt? I wanted to amortize on the dies and ammo I already had, but I couldn't pass up the "little" 696, either. Can't wait to shoot it, though.

Don't worry about me trying to hot-rod it into a mini .44 Magnum. I have a Desert Eagle for that type of flamethrower.

[9mmepiphany]

nope, the largest calibre offering, from the factory, in the L-frame is the .44 spl...you'll have to get a N-frame to handle the .45

[MJRW]

I definitely would have bought that for that price. Heck, I would have bought it for $100 more. Shot it yet? If it shoots anything like the 624, they are pussycats.

[Standing Wolf]

That's one heck of a deal!

[Dave Markowitz]

Oh man, you stole that gun! I shot one of these a few years ago. I think you'll love it.

[Gewehr98]

I ran a bunch of 225gr SWC's, from a local shop called John's Precision Cast Bullets. For a 3" barrel, I was pleasantly surprised by how accurate the darned thing was. I also knew that I was holding on to something with a bit of oomph, and had to stop after just 50 rounds. (Well, that, and the indoor range owner asked us to hurry up with our range session, stepson was shooting the Desert Eagle and the concussion was unnerving the other shooters) The snappy recoil of the 696 explains why they came with those Uncle Mike's grips, I think I'll load up some 200gr rounds for the next range session. It's a keeper, regardless. I'll even forego the idea of having the cylinder and barrel redone for .45 Long Colt or .45 ACP. :D

[chaim]

Wow, great deal. That is one of the guns on my "like to get" list (not quite the "must have" list, but it is very likely).

I was considering either the 296 or 396 (same gun, well one is 2.5", but lightweight versions). I guess based on your range experience, you'd probably consider that a bad idea. I didn't think of .44spl as hard recoiling, but I guess an L-frame is kinda light for this chambering.

[Gewehr98]

It just gave me a seriously solid thump in the hand from each of the 50 rounds. I would never grouse about such things, since I know recoil, with a 4" Model 19, a Desert Eagle, and a 10" Wichita single shot in 7mm Rimmed International. This 696 will just take some getting used to. And I have every intention of getting used to it, as well as it grouped.

Now, would I run those same 225gr SWC's through a 296 or 396? Maybe once or twice, but my own personal opinion is that those two lightweight .44's were meant to be carried a lot and shot a little. Kinda like those scandium/aluminum alloy J-frame .357's. :what: