Smith and Wesson 686+ Talo edition

Here's a 3" talo
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/830229951

I believe they were also available with 5" barrels.

I'd ditch them for something more comfortable in a heartbeat.

I bet when you find ammo that it likes you could shoot one- hole groups with that baby.

If you handload, try the classic bullseye competition formula; 148 grain bullet (or thereabouts) over 2.7 grains of Bullseye powder.

My S&Ws shoot a home cast Lee 158 grain RNFP over 2.7 grains of Bullseye beautifully. Feed that beauty a variety of loads and prepare to be surprised/impressed!!

He told you wrong. They are available in 3”, 5”, and 7”. The trigger and hammer have a little different finish also.

No functional difference.

Here’s a 3” one.

I have the 5" model. Pretty lil' thang with those fancy grips and unfluted cylinder. Shoots just like my other 686s. Very well.

When I had a 6" 686+ it really loved 140gr XTPS with a max dose of H110.

My 4" seems to shoot just about everything well. Although it really shoots the 180gr Buffalo Bore WFN load exceptionally well. I'll have to try and load up a similar batch in the future.

Yup, they came with the option of a 3”-5” or 7” barrel with unfluted cylinders.

TALO has manufacturers put together some really cool guns and you certainly got a nice one there!

Stay safe.

It may be trivial, but originally the 3-5-7 series were TALO distributor exclusives. Now S&W sells them as a regular catalog item. Because of this, there may actually be two different series with slightly different features.

The current production 3-5-7 series features laminated KU grips from Altamont. In person, they are a sort of brown/grey. Many photos show laminated grips that look more black/gray. I cannot tell if there is really any difference. One thing that complicates it is that photos of the TALO exclusives may be re-used to market the slightly different regular production series without indicating the distinction. I suspect the TALO guns had black/gray grips, whereas the production series may have laminate layers of wood stained greenish brown.

Current production also have triggers and hammers in a case-hardened color. As near as I can tell, it is exactly the same as regular production 686's. I see some pictures of guns where the trigger and hammer look darker -- more like the Mdl. 66 and 69. Therefore I suspect the TALO exclusives had the darker trigger and hammer.

Both 3-5-7 series, TALO and production, feature unfluted cylinders for the 3", 5", and 7" guns, and the Altamont KU grips. I've listed what differences I suspect there may be, but I do not know by authority.

The only difference between the Talo, and other production 686s would be the grips and included cylinder. The 7 inch gun is only available as one of the 3-5-7 series. I just got a 3 inch 686+, but it is not one of the 3-5-7 series guns

I haven't used them on 7", but the grips have a few features:

round-butt - they conceal well compared to big target and conversion grips
tall - you will easily get all your fingers on the grip
deep - they really fill the hand front-to-back, but they don't cover the top of the backstrap so there is not a long reach to the trigger
narrow - they're not fat side-to-side and they don't have a fat palmswell
fingergrooves - if they don't fit your fingers well, you won't be able to grip higher on the backstrap or you'll find the finger-knobs blistering your fingers; they might be fine if you have thick fingers
wood - they don't dampen recoil velocity like soft rubber, but you probably don't need them to with a 7" full-underlug; the stippling allows some grip even if they're wet, sweaty or bloody

In my opinion, they don't balance out the 7" barrel in terms of appearance. They fit the 5" better. A 7" barrel is longer than most people are accustomed to looking at. The proportions might be better with Altamont Cokes, Ropers, or Hogue square-conversion grips. But that's just for looks.

I have one of those 7" Talo guns. I dislike the grips. I put a set of Pachmayrs on it.

Im a big fan of Arhends, they have some very comfortable shapes, in nice looking wood for a reasonable price.

The grips were biting the web of my hand, put a set of VZ grips on and cured the problem.

look on u tube

Any chance you could post a picture of it? I`ve never seen a Talo Edition 7" but would love to. May just have to do some internet surfing since my interest has been piqued. With the ammo that it likes, I bet you could get some groups to be proud of.
Speaking for myself, at times it seems that I couldn`t hit the broad side of a barn from the inside but a 7" 686 may even make me seem like a good shot

Huntolive said:

What do you guys make of those 3-5-7 grips for a 7 inch barrel gun?

Click to expand...

The grips that come on these 3-5-7 guns are utterly useless IMO. They are so narrow that I can't get a decent grip in the gun at all.

I like highly stippled Nill Grips, with a closed backstrap on my L Frames.
They fill my hand much better, give me a more appropriate trigger reach, and greatl;y enhance my shooting of this particular gun.

http://mactecsales.com/

They have a variety of sizes and styles.