Looking for a S&W 357 Magnum

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mrbladedude

mrbladedude

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Hi guys. I am in the market for a revolver and have decided on a S&W Model in 357 Magnum. I cant seem to find everything im looking for in a revolver.

4 inch barrel
Wood grips
6 round capacity minimum
Stainless steel

I cant seem to find this. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
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The 686 will fit your needs. The majority of new model 686s are 7 shot and come with rubber grips. You can find like new or even unfired older model
686s on Gunbroker and they wont have the external lock.
 
BYJO4 said:
The 686 will fit your needs. The majority of new model 686s are 7 shot and come with rubber grips. You can find like new or even unfired older model
686s on Gunbroker and they wont have the external lock.
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7 shot 686s models are called 686 Plus. A different model, with the only difference being a 7 shot instead of a 6 shot. There are no 686s with an external lock altho new ones come with a cable lock in the box. Models after the -5 serial suffix have an Internal Lock. There are some new 686s that come with wood grips, but are generally distributor models such as Talo or Lew Hortons. Standard factory models come with rubber which are easily changed.
 
The 5" Talo with the unfluted cylinder always caught my eye. 7"er is too long in my opinion. feels unbalanced to me, but 6" is the max bbl length I like on any revovler
 
I would strongly advise against buying a recent one. They are having issues right now. Get an older used one.
 
I think I've read that some of the newer 686's are coming with canted barrels, and wind up going back to S&W for repair.
Personally, I'd stick with an older model 66, which everyone loves.
 
Then change it again to a blued 4" gun, and buy an old Model 27.

Never been a better .357 made.

S/S ain't all it is cracked up to be if you give your guns proper care in the first or second place.

rc
 
Dammit are the new guns really having issues? Because my local gun shop informed me that they are getting restocked with S&W revolvers tomorrow
 
I carry a 686P/6" at my place, prefer it over the 4", it's' faster for me while engaging multiple targets w/o using sights. It doesn't know that it's supposed to have problems.

Both 686Ps have superb triggers and are extremely accurate at distance, ~150 yards. Another benefit of the 6" barrel is recovery time on target when pushing DA split times with full power handloads.

Some years ago I worked with a felony squad officer (suit) from another state who carried a worked over M27/6", probably the best revolver I ever shot, put my worked over M66/4" to shame.

I didn't find the Gunbroker 686 prices that competitive. My local Davidson's dealer had the Talo 686P @~$700 and the 686P/6" @~725, allocated.
 
S/S ain't all it is cracked up to be if you give your guns proper care in the first or second place.
Click to expand...

Just curious on your reason for this comment RC. Would you elaborate? Do you just mean the fact that stainless must be polished if scratched rather than getting bluing refinished? Glare issues? Just curious. Personally I love stainless revolvers. Just my preference. I do have a hankering for a blued pre-lock model 29 though.

I think I've read that some of the newer 686's are coming with canted barrels, and wind up going back to S&W for repair.
Click to expand...

Can anyone confirm this?

Personally, I'd stick with an older model 66, which everyone loves.
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I love the 66 also, and would happily own one. But be aware that the 66's had issues when fed a steady diet of magnum loads. I think there were problems with them going out of time, and weren't there some cracked forcing cones too? Can anyone chime in. We gave the OP advice, but no reason for it.

Thanks for the replies guys. Changed my mind to a 4 inch barrel
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I've always loved the balance of the 4" version. It seems like the best of the range accuracy, self defense, aesthetics, and practicality worlds. I think you'll be happy. On another note, if you are planning to carry, a Ruger SP101 with a 3" bbl is a great option. I carry one semi regularly, and have a 686 performance center on layaway that will be my range/hunting/heirloom/do everything else the 3" won't do 357.
 
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I can confirm one case of canted barrel on a 686. buddy got one last summer. the barrel was twisted to the left so badly that the corner of the barrel top extended past the frame. Probably a 20 degree rotation. there was nowhere near enough adjustment in the sights to compensate. I'm not intending this to be a bash on Smith - just restating one specific incident. It was sent back 3 times and the issue has yet to be resolved. The barrel is still visibly rotated, it still shoots way off - But it HAS come back with a new cylinder, trigger and hammer???? The last phone call into smith CS the rep was asked if the gunsmiths were blind, or if his issue was being ignored on purpose. He has yet to ask if the gun could be replaced as a whole, since it was a gift from a relative who is now deceased.

The manufacture date of this particular 686 was 2010 IIRC

To be fair tho- another friend has a 686 SSR that's a true joy to shoot.
 
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Also when buying the 686, apparently they have something like this. 686 - 1. 686 - 0 etc. What do all the dashes mean? What do the latest models come with? Is one better than another?

Will the gun say 686 on it at all?
 
When the cylinder is open, on the bottom of the yoke there is a model number and a serial number. after the model number is a dash and another number. ie: 686-3 means it is the third edition of a 686. Each time S&W makes a significant change to a model, they increase the number following the dash. As far as which is better depends on whether or not you want the change. If you do not want an internal lock than you should not buy the latest variation of the 686 or any other S&W revolver. IMHO this will sell a lot of Rugers.
 
686 no dash, 1980, introduced model
686-1, 1986, radius stud package, floating hand
686-2, 1987, changed hammer nose, bushing and associated parts
686-3, 1988, new yoke retention system
686-4, 1993, change rear sight leaf, drill and tap frame, change extractor, hogue grips
686-5, 1997, change frame design to eliminate cylinder stop stud, eleminate serrated tangs, change to MIM hammer with floating firing pin, change to MIM trigger, change internal lockwork
686-6, 2001, internal lock
686-7, 2002, Performance Center variation in 38 Super
 
An excellent and not too expensive .357 mag is a model 66. I have a 66-2 and a 66-5 and they have very clean and tight actions. I've put k's of full house loads through both, and they are still accurate and tight.

You should be able to find one for around $400-$450. I was in one of my LGS a couple days ago and saw a 4" for $425. And if you aren't dead set on stainless, there are quite a few 19's around as well.

GS
 
The rumors flying around about 66's going out of time, getting loose, and having forcing cone issues after full house loads was investigated by S&W. They ran tens of thousands of 125 gr. JHP's, I think the write up said 100K, with 296 loads through a 66 and it never failed to any extent. The forcing cone issue was determined to be the result of non jacketed loads, and the lack of proper removal of lead deposits in the cone, which caused lead build up to cause excessive pressures to fracture the cones. Even jacketed loads will leave deposits in the forcing cone, though not as much as lead will, but just the same it can damage any forcing cone when pressure rise beyond the limit.

GS
 
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