Smith&Wesson Model 586 4" Combat Magnum...

I can't decide between 586 and 686. Both have their pros and cons.

no.5enfield said:

I can't decide between 586 and 686. Both have their pros and cons.

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It's pretty much a pro and a con, isn't it? Stainless vs. blued steel, either of which can be either a pro or a con, depending upon the situation and personal preference. Having both, all things considered, I'd go with the stainless. I admire the looks of the blued gun, but I admire the looks and the utility of a stainless one too. But I can certainly understand if the blued steel is just too appealing for one to ignore.

The look of a blued revolver, especially the older Smiths is something to behold. The ability to clean up finish scratches from stainless revolvers easily is a nice feature especially with a carry gun.

Years ago bought a 586 off gunbroker a 4” that was cut down to 3”

maximum thread revival LOL

nice score, though

I vote for the 586 because I prefer blued over stainless generally

I love my 686+. It gets lots of carry time.



But that 586 is quite the shooter and looker....

A question: I have a 686 and it's fine. But my most recent purchase was a new 66, 4.25". I know why the 19/66 morphed into the L frame, but this new gun feels about perfect in my hand and makes choosing a preference between it and the 686 very hard. For those in this thread, why do you favor the 586/686 over the 19/66 (the durability issue aside)? For what it's worth, despite come comments about new S&Ws being of poor quality (and the dislike of the locks), the fit and finish of my new 66 is flawless.

Personally, I find stainless steel about as sexy as a doorknob, but if I were carrying the gun all of the time it would make sense.

Currently I am on the lookout for a 4” model 27, but the 586 is at the top of my want list as well. Neither one would be carried a lot, if at all, as long as I live in California. I plan to go with blueing if I decide on the L frame first.

I know a store that has a 6” 586 Classic right now. It hasn’t sold for two reasons;
1. It’s a store that deals mostly in tactical guns and services.
2. Everyone that has asked about it turns their nose up at it because it’s “only a 6 shot”, per the counter men there.

P5 Guy said:

The only thing that would make an 'L' frame better would be to make a half lug barrel.

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They did. It's called a 686 mtn gun(7 shot) 4" bbl..I have one.

There's some revolvers that need to be blued (eg Colt Python) and there's some revolvers that need to be stainless (eg Ruger GP100). The Smith L frame luckily is one gun that looks great with either. You could give me a 586 or a 686 and I would be just as happy either way.

Mosin Bubba said:

There's some revolvers that need to be blued (eg Colt Python) and there's some revolvers that need to be stainless (eg Ruger GP100).

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Don't know about that. The blued 5" half-lug GP100 that @shoebox1.1 has posted before looks far better to my eyes than the standard stainless GP100.

The Happy Kaboomer said:

They did. It's called a 686 mtn gun(7 shot) 4" bbl..I have one.

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With fixed sights?

I have a 6 inch 586 which was MAGNA-PORTED by the previous owner. I shot it yesterday with a box of REMINGTON 125 grain sjhp and was amazed at how well it worked for me. I fired 23 rounds at center mass and all went into the 10 ring. I did not expect to shoot that well using the hard kicking REMINGTON ammo.

I am very pleased with the gun.

Jim

AustinTX said:

Don't know about that. The blued 5" half-lug GP100 that @shoebox1.1 has posted before looks far better to my eyes than the standard stainless GP100.

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Someone say “half lug”? My ears were tickled lol. Carried to the store yesterday under my navy pea coat

golden said:

I have a 6 inch 586 which was MAGNA-PORTED by the previous owner. I shot it yesterday with a box of REMINGTON 125 grain sjhp and was amazed at how well it worked for me. I fired 23 rounds at center mass and all went into the 10 ring. I did not expect to shoot that well using the hard kicking REMINGTON ammo.

I am very pleased with the gun.

Jim

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I'd love to see this!

Adam,

It looks very standard. It had PACHMAYR gripper grips on it when I bought it and the only reason I even looked was it was at the front of the display case and I could see the left side port when looking at something else above it. I scored my favorite RUGER Security Six the same way, looking at something else.

It is not as pretty as the 5 inch RUGER GP-100 above (beautiful grips), but it is shinier!

Jim

Snake Plisskin said:

I vote for the 586 because I prefer blued over stainless generally
View attachment 978250

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That is a beautiful gun, but I would hardly shoot it because I wouldn’t want it to lose any of its luster. I had a 19-2 I bought for an absolute steal about 8 years ago. Pinned and recessed. Numbered Target diamond grips. Looked unfired. $263 out the door. Best deal I ever made. It was so pretty I knew I never shoot it. I tripled my money on it. Same for a mint 13-2. Too pretty to shoot. Sold it. Wish I still had them but I know I’d never shoot them. I have a LNIB 15-2. Looks unfired. Won’t sell this one but doubt I’ll shoot it. I have other revolvers to shoot.

I had a 686 once. Stupidly sold it. I have a 681 now. Never selling this one. I am more accurate with that gun than any other gun I own.

Homerboy,

I agree with you about the 681. I bought one when we were still only using revolvers ( I had to pass the transition course before I could carry a semi-auto and it took a while of me whining to get the firearms officer to hold one). After I bought the gun, I had an action slick done and put a HOGUE rubber grip on it. It shot well, but was heavy, so I did not carry it off duty. When I went to a GLOCK 19, I had the gun MAGNA PORTED and still have it. It is a keeper.

Jim

I remember buying Blued guns and saying "I just can't see paying that much more for stainless". Lol. Now I've gotten to the point I hate the look of stainless