S&W 586 - any good? (Part 3, backing away)

[Sleeping Dog]

After reading the good answers and posts here and on smith-wessonforum, especially the "sticky" post by Jim March, I took another look at the 568 I was interested in.

It is a model 568, no dash. The blue was worn near the muzzle, and a little worn on the cylinder, no big deal there. But the cylinder had fore/aft play (end shake?) in full lockup, maybe .004, which made a pretty sizeable gap between cylinder and barrel, in the .008 - .01 range. That was bad compared to some other guns I looked at last week, models 686, 681, 66. Those cylinders were very tight on full lockup. On top of that, the barrel was ported.

I'm thinking this was someone's abused race gun, shot fast, and with hot ammo.

So, I'm passing on it. Much as I like the blue finish, the condition doesn't compare with the soul-less stainless guns I looked at.

Now that 686 is starting to look pretty good. So's the 681. So's the 66. Shopping is not easy

Thanks to all on this board for thoughtful answers. I think y'all kept me from purchasing a lemon.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Well, adios 586 quest. Today I found a 686-3 at Cabela's, very nice condition, passed all the Jim March tests, has the firing pin on the hammer, and a wood grip. So I got it. The trigger is smooth as silk, but all the triggers on all the K- and L- frame models were smooth.

Now I have to find some time to get shooting.

The only thing that was messed up was a screw head in the grip - not too bad, just a little bit mangled arould the slot. Anything special about these? Easy to find?

Regards.