Anyone own S&W 686 revolvers?

[ArmedOkie]

I love long barreled 357's. I was thinking about picking up the 7" or the Talo 7" soon. I'm assuming, being a smith, that they are good quality guns and it will outlive me. Any input positive or negative on the gun, or is there another gun I should consider as well in the sub-800 dollar price range?

 

[jmorris]

I have a couple, the longest is 6" they are both first gen that were sent back for the "m" fix. Back then they were $350 and worth it. I prefer the trigger on my Python but they are stupid expensive and have parts that are not as robust as the S&W. The GP100 is a stout revolver but I never liked the trigger on them.

 

[steady shot]

I have 3, they are great revolvers....

All 3 are pre-lock. Two 4" and one 6"


All are 7 shot

 

[hAkron]

I have a 686-4 4", and a 686-6 plus 2.5". I think they are great!

 

[I6turbo]

I'm a fanboy of my 1982 model 6" 686. I love the gun and for my use would not trade it for any other handgun that I've ever fired. And that includes a couple of Pythons, other Colts, several other Smiths, Rugers, and all manner of semi-autos. If I suddenly had to get rid of all my handguns except one, it would take me about a half second to decide that the 686 would be staying. I like 'em!

 

[mope540]

686's are well built and great shooting revolvers. This PC 686-4 "Light Hunter" (7 rounds) is the sweetest shooting revolver i have. Even with the longer barrel it balances very well.

 

[shiftyer1]

I have a six inch one that's seen a little work done......smooth as silk

 

[gotboostvr]

Loved me a 6" 686P-6


Are 681's allowed to play too?

 

[blue32]

My 686-6, 6" developed a bur on the forcing cone around 4,000 rounds. S&W beveled the forcing cone on their dime. The tip of the firing pin broke off at around 6,400 rounds. I replaced it with a Cylinder and Slide extra long firing pin because I couldn't find the standard S&W pin. Its been completely reliable with the after market part. I just topped 7,000 rounds a few weeks ago, of which less than 500 were factory 357. I have less than 25 38spl rounds in the gun (I find them to be unexciting). Maybe 300 148 gr. HBWC handloads in 357 brass. The remaining rounds have been moderate to hot 357 handloads.

Many will tout the strength and longevity of the Rugers but I feel the Smith is truly up to a steady diet of magnums. My particular example has roughly 2,000 125 gr. fireball rounds through it. I've also given it a few hundred 180 gr. loads which achieved an average velocity of 1,232 fps with load data suggested by Cast Performance.

I'll refrain from posting the obligatory picture because it looks like all the others except I have some well worn tiger stripe maple grips on it. Use your imagination.

 

[bannockburn]

I think my 686 with a 4" barrel is one of the best balanced and nicest handling .357 revolver that I have ever used. It also came from the factory with one of the sweetest DA/SA triggers on it.

 

[Salmoneye]

Long?

7" isn't long...

lol

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Got 2. Love them both.

 

[VanGoghComplex]

My friend just picked one of these up in 4", and the seller had owned it his entire life. It's had some trigger work done.

It's a very sweet shooter. Superb workmanship, nice balance... Just good all around. I've got Taurus's equivalent, and though I like it, the Smith still made me a little jealous. =)

 

[PJSprog]

The first handgun I ever bought for myself was a 6" 686 back in 1987. It was my 21st birthday present to myself. It remains to this day my favorite firearm.

I think it's the best-looking revolver ever made, and it certainly is a great shooter.

 

[judgedelta]

I had no idea Smith made a 7-shot pre-lock 686. I'd have sure lost that bet...

 

[njl]

Not quite a 686, but I have a model 14 (6" barrel) that I bought because the price was right. I've found I actually prefer the shorter (4") barrel, and like my model 15 that was a $275 dept of corrections trade-in better than the much nicer looking model 14.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have a 7" TALO and an older 8 3/8". The 7" is accurate and well made. I just bought it in January. I have put about 3k magnums thru it. It hasn't fell apart yet. The 8 3/8" is likely to be the most accurate revolver I have ever owned.

 

[375supermag]

Can't do any better than this...

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I regret turning down a nice 8 3/8 Silhouette offered to me for $700 last fall.

 

[ArkieVol]

S&w 686

Great guns. Ahrends grips on top two add better feel.

 

[nebraska_farmer]

686-1, probably my favorite range gun.

 

[jrod]

686 no dash 4". LOVE IT!!

 

[I6turbo]

All things considered, my '82 model 686 is my favorite handgun I've ever fired. Shown here with his younger brother, an '85 model 67.

 

[BYJO4]

The 686 is an excellent 357 and you wont find many folks who own or have owned say anything negative. I have the the 686 no dash in both 6" and 4". My favorite of the 2 is the 6".

 

[MrBorland]

The 686 is a mighty fine revolver, IMO, and I've got a few. The 686-6 (middle) has about 70k rounds through it, and still shoots fine, though it's fine accuracy softened a hair around 60k. I primarily use the 686-5 (top) now, and relegated the -6 to backup & dry fire status.

686-5 (top), 686-6 (middle) and 686SSR (bottom):