Did you ever forget how much you liked a certain gun?

[Sean85746]

I did.

I traded a Glock 19, of which I have several, for a Smith & Wesson Model 681 L-Frame .357 and a little cash to balance the deal.

I had been looking for a model 65 or 13 4" .357 for a while. I hadn't really thought about a 586 or 686, though I have owned both.

I got a message feom a feller who had a SUPER CLEAN model 681, which is the stainless fixed-sighted version of the 686.

I talked a deal, we met, and did the trade.

Me, being me, I went to the range this morning, and put a couple of boxes of .38 and ,357 through it.

WHAT A SHOOTER!

It was about an inch high, and an inch or so right at 15 yards, and dead center at 25 yards, and an inch an a half right with Federal and Remington 125gr jhp's.

You could hardly ask for more than that from a fixed sight wheelgun on it's first run.

Being a country boy...I "adjusted" the front sight a bit with a pair of pliers, and polished off the tool marks, and it is now shooting about a half an inch to the right. I can live with that!

It's a keeper.

My advice is, if you ever run into a 581 or a 681, and are looking for a tough, reasonably priced .357...BUY IT!

I am just glad that I found a gem of a wheelgun, when I so often just grab a Glock or a 1911 to carry. I have found my new field companion. It will even mesh nicely with my Rossi "Big Loop" .357 mag carbine.

 

[stellarpod]

Don't you just love 'em?

I just picked up a 686-4 (Powerport), a '94 vintage with the sweetest trigger I've felt in a long while.

Similar to your experience, I'm a prodigal son, returning home to these nice 357's after years of living in sin.

I don't believe you can go wrong with the S&W L-Frames.

stellarpod

 

[Magnum88C]

Not one that I gave up, but I had neglected by SBH for quite some time, playing with those new-fangled double action guns. I guess it'd been a couple of years by the time I took it out again and went to the range with it. All I could think was "What a shooter! Why'd I stop shooting this gun?"

 

[sm]

Sentimental Journey

Bear with me.

I was born in April of 1955,awaiting my arrival was a High Standard Sentinel with a 4" bbl. Many many memories from me being around 3 and teaching my Grammaw to shoot it, to more serious times, and general plinking and hunting.
This gun was later loaned to my dad , while in his care my half brother sold it for dope.

Later on I bought I a H&R Topper 999, that gun just hit what aimed at - period.

So I get a call from a buddy of mine recently to come out, I did and he had another customer there. Without saying a word this customer opens pistol rugs, lays the guns on the mat.

These two guns were the spittin' image of what I had. My buddy knew this, and without even asking , a box of .22 ammo was handed to me, the targets were already hanging outside awaiting my arrival.

I just re-lived some old memories. I thanked the fellow and he was most happy that he had made me happy. He is bit older than I - but when he was around 6 he was given that Sentinel as his first handgun. Like me - he bought the 999 because ...well - it was one of the .22 revos a person had to have.

I have someone willing to sell me a 6" version of the High Standard... one of these days...

I know sounds corny, but then again my memories and my first gun.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Well, Yeah.. I regret getting rid of more than one gun, but one particular gun stands out from all the rest.

It wasn't anything to write home about. I was stationed in Norfolk, Va and would leave the wife at home pretty often. Orders were orders. So to ease some tension, I found a nice 6" Taurus 66 Nickle .357 in a pawn shop. Less than $200! So I taught the wife to be proficient with it. (Some women are just naturals!) Anyway, over the years moving back home I've expanded the collection. The collection sorta got too big so I let a few cheaper arms go to friends and relatives. That cheap 66, with a trigger that I'd refined over the last fifteen years, that had four custom loads developed just for it, The one that I could hit 12ga shells and .22 ammo boxes with at 50' and Pepsi cans at 25 yards went to a good friend about three years ago. And to this day regret I got rid of it. . Now all that lines the shelves of the safe are Colts, Rugers and one Dan Wesson. There should still be a spot for that Taurus pawn shop special.

-Steve