686 parts Q

I don't know about that but if true after only 500 rounds? I would take advantage of the S&W lifetime waranty. I have 1,000 out of mine with no issues.

A number of us use a 686 for competition. Mine is a fairly new model. I have thousands of rounds down range and the gun is still tight. No broken parts!

I bought one in December and have put thousands upon thousands of rounds through it without any issues.

I heard from a range dude that some of the internal parts are made by the injection mould process and that after about 500 rounds it gets sloppy in the action. His advice was not to purchase as a long term keeper. An older 586 would be a better buy. Anybody know anything?

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I would say the "range dude" doesn't know what he's talking about. He took a little bit of fact and assumed the rest to finish the story. While MIM parts are soft inside, they have a very hard exterior. The only time you would have a problem with a MIM part is if someone tries to do a trigger job or similar modification and they "polish" off the hard exterior of the MIM part. In that case the parts would fail fairly quickly but that's not the fault of the parts, it's poor workmanship.

If you are still worried about MIM parts you can still buy a M686 which was manufactured before 1997. In 1997 S&W released their Model 686-5 in which MIM parts were used. You can safely buy a M686 no-dash up to a M686-4 without worrying about MIM parts.

Since you are new to the forum I'll give you a little advice. Don't trust most of what you hear at the range or in forums like this. Doubt what you hear and check it out for yourself. (even what I'm telling you)

Welcome to the forum MugShot60. I'm sure you will like it here. (that you can believe!!)

^^^ What he said. I have thousands of rounds thru my mim S&W and no issues here nor have I heard of such in that regard anyway.

It's not just the MIM parts that have a soft inside, so do the forged hammers and triggers and too much material removed leaves them ruined as well. The color case-hardening leaves a much prettier surface on the forged parts, while the MIM parts just turn a mottled dark grey; but both give a very nice trigger action once you have fired your revolver a few thousand times to get the sear surfaces properly worn in.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Lessee, nearing something like 30,000 rounds and some dry fire on mine. Nice shooter.

It will last a lot longer than 500 rds, likely a lifetime with a bit of care.

Total B.S.Shoot it for years and years.

S&W has used MIM hammers and triggers for years. They seem to work fine. AFAIK no internal parts are MIM.

That said, older S&Ws frequently are better buys and better guns. Nothing wrong with the new ones (I've bought a new 642 and a 625 in the last couple of years), but in many people's opinions some of the older guns were better finished.

My S&W 586-7

I have a new S&W 586-7 (7x .357, blue, walnut) that I picked up last year.

I don't know when it was made, but it does have "the lock" on the left, under the crane release.

I believe it's later manufacture, but don't know a year.

So . . .

What parts in that revolver will be MIM?

Is there a place that lists MIM parts for given models?

More importantly, is it possible to get forged/machined replacements for those parts?

Arfin, Take a look here at the 686 SSR http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...angId=-1&parent_category_rn=15705&isFirearm=Y. It's a regular production 686 with forged hammer & trigger. The Performance Center has offered been offering forged hammers & triggers as an option for some time now as well. So I know S&W has the parts. Whether they'll sell them to you and send them to you to have a local gunsmith install them, or require that they (or the PC very likely since it isn't a warranty service issue) install them will take an inquiry on your part.

I haven't tried it, but I think an older trigger would work. A hammer could be a problem because in the older pre-MIM guns the firing pin was mounted on the hammer. In the new ones it's mounted in the frame. It is possible that the P.C. might have a special run of older-style hammers without the firing pin cut. If you're interested, contact S&W and see.

In my personal opinion, I think the MIM parts cheapen what was a high quality gun, but that's what cost-cutting is all about. In their favor, they do seem to be function in the short term. As for the long term, only time will tell.

It just occured to me! Maybe all they do is mount a block in place of the firing pin (S&W calls it the "hammer nose") in an older hammer. If so, I don't find the idea to be particularly attractive, but it would work.

he probably meant to add a few more zero's

to that figure.....like 50,000. before you might need minor servicing. Honestly these things are built like a tank, my personal 2003 vintage has many thousands of round thru it with NO issues. Smith is a big company that values their product....do you really believe the range guy??

You could believe the random range guy's story, or you could ask the folks who would know. Plug the following into the search box over on be's forum: "mike carmoney AND mim". I'm a lowly IDPA shooter, so I only shoot a few thousand rounds in matches annually. Those USPSA Revolver division guys...yeah, they shoot a bit.