S&W 686

Check them out yourself and you decide.

Only criticisms really have been from the
anti-internal lock crowd and those who
have come across some canted barrels.

You decide if the IL bothers you and look
at the barrel before you buy to avoid
any perceived cant.

I have pre-lock and post-lock 686s. Very little perceivable differences, other than the brushed finish may be a tad better on the older models. Accuracy seems to be better with the newer ones, along with the option of the + models.

I have a pre and post lock 686. The finish is a little better on the pre. The pre has a canted barrel. The post does not.

Also examine lock-up and cylinder gap. I have seen several new production S&Ws that I would describe as "loose goose" and/or "extra breezy".

Have a mint 686 no dash made in 1983. Great gun, awesome shooter, butter smooth trigger.
I'd prefer the older 686's myself

I bought a new production 6” last year and I would do it again. Good finish, good barrel clocking, good cylinder gap and good action. The action could be better and I’m sure it’ll get better with use.

UncleEd said:

Only criticisms really have been from the
anti-internal lock crowd and those who
have come across some canted barrels.

Click to expand...

Howdy

I don't have any quarrel with the locks (or MIM parts), but I do have a quarrel with canted barrels.

I bought this 686-6 brand new in 2015.






When I took it to the range I had to crank the rear sight as far to the right as it would go to bring the point of impact to the point of aim.






When I got home I looked closely and realized the barrel was canted, not allowing the yoke to close all the way. Should I have noticed before I bought it? Yes. But I have many, many S&W revolvers and had never experienced a situation like this, so I had no idea it could happen. This would never have gotten out the door in 'the old days' when there were multiple inspection steps through out the assembly process.






This is how a yoke should close. The joint should be almost invisible.

Driftwood,

You've had since 2015 to have the 686
fixed by S&W. Have you? If not, why
not? The face of the cylinder indicates
you probably shot it. How'd that go?

Also, your comment of "the old days" is
perhaps more favorable than mine.

My 686+ 7-shot 4” has been a great gun. I had it bead blasted and dropped in a lighter rebound spring, other than that it’s stock.

Very smooth, very accurate and handles stout loads easily.



When you get one let us know how it shoots for you.

Stay safe.

UncleEd said:

Driftwood,
The face of the cylinder indicates
you probably shot it. How'd that go?

Click to expand...

Sounds like it went like this...

Driftwood Johnson said:

Howdy
When I took it to the range I had to crank the rear sight as far to the right as it would go to bring the point of impact to the point of aim.

Click to expand...

I have a newer model 686+ in 4 inch. Darn fine weapon out of the box with a nice trigger. Accurate as well. I'm not worried about or bothered by the lock. MIM has come a long ways since it's beginning so no worries there. I have already put over 1000 rounds of my full house .357 loads through her and no complaints. I just got a 5 inch GP100 and the S&W trigger is nicer than the Ruger out of the box.

JDeere said:

I have a newer model 686+ in 4 inch. Darn fine weapon out of the box with a nice trigger. Accurate as well. I'm not worried about or bothered by the lock. MIM has come a long ways since it's beginning so no worries there. I have already put over 1000 rounds of my full house .357 loads through her and no complaints. I just got a 5 inch GP100 and the S&W trigger is nicer than the Ruger out of the box.

Click to expand...

in case the OP is thinking about a GP 100, which also has a 7-shot option, I agree with the above post about trigger pulls. I’m trying to get used to the 6-shot GP .357 trigger; it’s very stage-y and feels a lot longer than the S&W. The S&W is a consistent pull all the way through. My 5-shot GP .44 has a smoother pull, maybe the 7-shot .357 model is better.

Stay safe.

I had one of the 686SSRs with the lock. Heavy but smooth DA, clean SA. At 25 yds., shots were all over the paper. Checked everything I could think of, i.e., timing, B/C gap, barrel alignment, etc., and all looked good, until I finally looked at the muzzle crown. Think deranged monkey with a Dremel. S&W sent a shipping label. Soon came back with a properly crowned barrel, and all was well. I Really Disliked that lock though, causing me to sell it. Couple years ago, I was considering a new revolver. Preferred S&W, but went with Ruger instead because of that lock on the S&W......

I have not heard of the canted bbl issue only now. Arrgh.

I have a model 686 plus 7shooter. I try not to pay too much attention to the $^&*^%# lock. A close friend of mine is a gunsmith and he slicked it up better than any Python I have handled. I mainly shoot it in DA mode after watching Jerry M feature the 3" 686 on youtube.

I have a 686+. No problems. 4 inch barrel. Great for field carry. Shot a yote last year with it. Nice trigger pull

If you're set on afflicting yourself with 357 Magnum then the 686/686+ is probably one of the better revolvers for that cartridge. But with a S&W revolver new or used I would not put money on the counter until you have had a chance to look it over really well. Old ones get abused and the new one have QC issue from time to time. Both used and new are great revolvers but you have to make sure before you lay the money down. There are some good video on YouTube that will teach you how to look over and inspect a S&W revolver for the most common issues. Educate yourself and shop away.

I would love to get my hands one one of those 7-hole .357s with a 4 inch barrel. That is on my list to purchase, but I am not finding one for sale. Tons of web listings but all say "out of stock."

5", best of both worlds, +model no lock stocking dealer version.

I might have to be flexible on barrel length to get one of these. I already have a snubby 1&7/8 barrel, so would not go below 3". For home protection I don't know that longer is bad, so even a 6 inch would work.

I had a pre-lock 6" and a post-lock + 7 shot 4" and life was good. Then a man came along with a pre-lock 629 6" and trade me for the post-lock +7 and $100 of my hard earned money and life is even better. The post-lock + 7 was a nice revolver but the 629 was well worth that Ben Franklin. It put the BOOM back in my life.

New 586 , excellent accuracy and performance.

Love my 686 plus 6”. Totally stock and after about 4K rounds it’s got a super smooth single and Double action pull

aaaaa said:

I would love to get my hands one one of those 7-hole .357s with a 4 inch barrel. That is on my list to purchase, but I am not finding one for sale. Tons of web listings but all say "out of stock."

Click to expand...

Check out local auctions. I bought one that was basically brand new in the box at an auction last year, for less than retail ..