Perfect 357 - S&W 686

[Nick96]

Okay - this coming from a die hard Ruger fan back to the 1970's. The perfect .357 revolver of the day has to be the S&W 686 4" barrel - 6 rounds. Yes, the "Six Series" Rugers were fine pieces - but they are no longer in production. Too bad - probably the best examples of high quality, competetivily priced, utilititarian revolvers ever made. But it seems to me that the 4" - 6 round S&W 686 is the current king of the .357 revolvers. I'll not go into all the reasons why. Suffice it to say I've considererd all the available options - and the S&W 686 comes out on top (forgive me Ruger GP100 fans - but the S&W simply wins this one out).

So, tell me where I'm wrong - with the condition that we are talking about a revolver that will be used by a typical citizen - no hot hand loads - maybe a thousand rounds of factory loadings per year through it - and little interest in modifying it from out of the box.

My thoughts on some other perfect handguns for their respective "popular" calibers:

* .22 LR Auto - Ruger MK III - Yes, the new one. Slick, good looking & good handling. Competetivily priced. Based on a proven design. Will likely out sell all other .22 Autos (just like all the other Ruger .22 Autos have for the last 50 years).

*.25 ACP - Beretta BS 950 Jetfire. Sadly, dropped from production. Too bad. Although a decades old design, still the perfect combination of reliability, accuracy, safety and ease of carry & use of any .25 Auto ever made.

* .32 ACP - Kel-Tec P-32. Small, light, cheap, acceptably reliable & accurate. What's not to like?

* .380 ACP - Sig P-232. The ultimate refinement of the .380 Auto. Currently an in between caliber between the .32 & 9MM - this platform offers the maximum in compactness, accuracy, reliability & durability of all the curent .380's. Yes, I hear you Bersa fans. But a Bersa is no more like a Sig than a Ford Taurus is like a Jaguar X-Type.

* 9MM - Sig P-239. Safe to carry concealed, compact size, light weight- but ample enough for effective handling - adequate power. Of course it's utterly reliabable & accurate. Second place has to be the Glock 19. It would be first - except for the fact that the operating system is such that some jack ass's handle them improperly & still insist on carrying without proper holsters - and thus consistently put holes in things that were not intended to have holes.

.38 Spl. - S&W 642 Centennial. The perfect evolution of quality, price, compact size, light weight, accuracy, reliability, ease of maintenance and adequate knock out power. Yes, there are some fine old S&W M-10's, Colt Diamondbacks & Dective Spls. out there. But if you need to put your hands on a new .38 Spl. right now - the S&W 642 will likely fill all your needs.

.357 - Already stated - S&W 686. Second place - Ruger GP 100.

.45 ACP - Ruger P-90. I know - ugly, bulky, heavy, etc. But it's priced right, easy to operate, always sends a bullet out of the muzzel when the trigger is pulled and puts that bullet where it's pointed. Second place is of course the Colt 1911. Actually, the Colt 1911 is superior to all .45 ACP's - but the fact is it's an "experts only" type pistol. Too many AD's among those who do not have an appropriate respect for the operating system.

.44 Mag - S&W 629. Need I say more? Close second is the equivilant Ruger. But the S&W just has so much more "curb appeal".

Sorry if I missed your "pet caliber". I just covered the most popular in my opinion. The .40, 10mm, .500, .454, .45 Colt, .44 Spl, etc. are all fine - but not particularly those that come to mind amond the average "Joe Six Pack" in "fly over" country.

 

[EghtySx]

I'm afraid I'd have to disagree on the 686. I would have to vote for the 6" Colt Python as the best revolver ever made.

 

[JohnKSa]

Dunno...

Never heard of a GP100 shooting itself out of time. Friend of mine bought a 686 new and had to have warranty work done twice within the first year when it shot itself out of time. Pretty depressing since he really didn't shoot it a lot.

Trigger alone, does not a winner make, IMO.

 

[Plinkerton]

I don't know. I think I will agree with the 686. I think the Colt Python may be the best LOOKING .357 (in some people's eyes anyway). I've also heard of Python's shooting themselves out of time, much more than I've ever heard of 686's doing that.

The GP's are great too, but maybe a little rough.

 

[Majic]

If as you say no hot handloads and somewhat limited .357mag ammo per year then I would say the S&W M66. The K-frame balances much better than the L-frame in my opinion.
I much prefer the Python over either model. I've own one or more since the 70's and never shot one out of time. They are more prone to go out of time if shot a lot in double action very fast, but so are other revolvers with heavy cylinders.

 

[ruger357]

S&W 66.

 

[Brian Williams]

But it's Stainless


22lr - Revolver my S&W 35-1 small J frame, good barrel 6", accurate, but I have never shot a good K22...

25acp why have a best
But the 686 is Stainless
32 acp Keltec???? never shot one.

380 Colt mustang
But the 686 is Stainless
9mm BHP

But the 686 is Stainless

38 spec - post war 1950's era k38 or M&P


357 But the 686 is Stainless and I like Blue Steel so my pick is 13,19,586,28,27 but really 5" Registered Magnum is the best.

44spec S&W 24
43 mag Ruger Superblackhawk hunter
45 colt Colt 1873 Cavalry model P
But the 686 is Stainless

45 ACP 1911A1 made around 1942


OBTW did I say that the 686 is Stainless, Really dislike stainless

 

[HSMITH]

The M19 4" is the best 357 Mag IMO. The L-frame is too big and heavy for the caliber, same for the GP and forget the N-frames in 357. The Python is hugely over-rated from my perspective being big, heavy, very little smoother IF any over a Smith with 20 minutes of attention paid to it, and fragile though unless shot a lot this isn't an issue. Stainless guns make good crowbait, just can't like them as hard as I try.

The others, don't like the Ruger Mkanything, much prefer a Buckmark in 22.

25 and 32 I don't care much about, though I do like the PPK.

Bersa 380 are a great value and a lot of gun gor the money.

9mm, I think t he CZ-75 is the ultimate 9mm.

38 special, the best ever made are the old K38's.

45 acp is 1911 territory, I would go to the M25 Smith before another autoloader in 45.

44 mag is Model 29, again the stainless has to go.

 

[mfree]

So, what you're saying is, the 686 is stainless?

 

[C.R.Sam]

Relativity

Best at what ?

Makes a difference.

Sam

 

[MAUSER88]

I had a 6" Colt Python. I sold it in favor of a S&W 686 6". I couldn't get my hot reloaded 125 gr. JHP's to eject from the Python without excessive force. Same loads in my 686 pop right out with no trouble.

 

[461]

While any handgun purchase is up to the interpretation of the buyer, I will have to agree to disagree on the best current production full size .357. I made this decision a few months ago for myself and could have bought any revolver out there with the exception of the Korth and went with a Ruger GP-100. Accuracy, Durability, Value, Customer Service and general quality were all factors I considered and I couldn't be happier. Shoots like a champ and I have every confidence it will even when my grandkids shoot it and that is hopefully many many years in the future.

 

[MJRW]

Kind of hard to disagree with your points when you don't make any, but I'll try.

I think the SP-101 is better than the 686. If the SP-101 is better than the 686, the 686 can not be perfect.

 

[MLH]

Where's?

Tamara??? We need expert opinions!!!

 

[YodaVader]

The 686 is the perfect 357 for a lot of shooters out there - me included. I have owned 4 of them in varying barrel lengths. Also like the GP100 - owned one back in the late 80s. Would not mind having one again. Saw one at a gun show last week that tempted me. Either 357 would be a good choice.

 

[Werewolf]

Edumacate me Please....

I'm no revolver guy (except for a couple of Ruger Vaqueros I use in CAS) so I am not familiar with the phrase "shooting itself out of time".

What the heck does that mean re a revolver?

Inquiring minds want to know? (especially since a a 4" .357 and a snubby in .357 are on my and my wife's to buy list in the next 6 months or so).

 

[Boats]

"Uh, the 686 is, like, uh, the perfect .357 though, uh, uh, I can't say why 'xactly."

ROCK ON DUDE!

 

[Rockrivr1]

I'd agree with the 686 being the best 357 Magnum. I have the S&W 66 with a 4 inch bbl and the 686 with a 6 inch bbl. Both shoot awesome and they look really good in stainless steel and S&W logo wood combat grips.

My Dad has a Security Six and I'll take my 686 anyday.

Oh and by the way. If you get a 686, you HAVE to go with the Plus. Nothing better then a 7 shot 357!!!

 

[Plinkerton]

Kind of hard to disagree with your points when you don't make any, but I'll try.

I guess I should say the same thing...

I like the SP-101 a lot, but not for an all around .357 magnum. I think it would make a wonderful carry gun, and fun plinker, but I don't think it has enough heft to make it a wonderfully balanced, overall fun to shoot .357.

Also, all the ones I have ever handled feel a bit rough. I'm not a big fan of the trigger either, but I know that can be worked on.

Overall, I would like to have one, but it just doesn't seem like a gun for constant shooting, as a 686 or GP-100 could be.

There, I gave some reasons...

 

[Majic]

Werewolf, the revolver requires certain events to happen at an exact time thus timing. As the trigger is pulled back, the hammer is cocked, the bolt drops allowing the cylinder to rotate, they hand rotates the cylinder, the bolt pops back up to lock the cylinder in place, and then the hammer falls. Any small variation in the amount of time it takes for each step to be performed results in the timing being off.
The reasoning for the Colts coming out of time quicker is that in a Colt the hand stays engaged with the cylinder forcing the bolt to lock up solidly in the cylinder bolt cuts. This allows perfect cylinder to bore alignment. The hand actually uses only a very small, thin tip to accomplish it's work. This tip gets pounded and wears. In time the wear will allow the cylinder to move slightly and not lock up solidly. The more wear, the greater the amount of movement till the alignment is so bad that the bullet then shaves lead as it passes from cylinder to bore and the shaving of lead is called spitting lead.
S&W on the other hand retracts it's hand and the cylinder is allowed to move slightly and cylinder to bore alignment is accomplished as the bullet passes from the cylinder to the forcing cone of the barrel. In other words the bullet self aligns the cylinder and bore.
So timing in a revolver is just certain events happening at a specific time in a specified sequence.

 

[Werewolf]

snip - detailed explanation of revolver timing ...So timing in a revolver is just certain events happening at a specific time in a specified sequence.

Thanks Majic....

And some folks think that a semi-auto pistol is complicated????

 

[Checkman]

Does perfection exsist?

I would say no, but the 686 is a fine revolver. I own a seven shot four inch and despite the stories surrounding the Plus model (going out of time, unsafe etc.) I have found it to be a very accurate and reliable shooter. It handles the recoil of 357 rounds very nicely. I've never been a big fan of the medium frame 357 magnums ( I prefer the N frames) but the 686 has won me over. I do own a Ruger GP 100 and I like it, but my Smiths are definitely my favorite. I'm not really that crazy about stainless steel, but considering the 686's other fine qualities I'll overlook it. Buy one. You won't be wasting your money.

 

[twoblink]

You can make a GP100's trigger and springs smoother, but you can't make a Smith last longer!!

 

[Plinkerton]

Well, you can't take the ugly out of a GP-100...

 

[albanian]

"Well, you can't take the ugly out of a GP-100..."

I took the ugly out of my GP-100.
Check this out.

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85730