S&w 686

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squarepants33889

squarepants33889

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Saskatchewan, Canada
Hi guys. My local gun dealer has a 4.2" (Canadianized) 686. He's asking $1000.00. The six inchers go for around $825.00. Are they hard enough to come by in Canada to command the premium price?
p.s. I am from Saskatchewan so any chance of carry of hunting is a non issue.
 
What model 686 are you talking about? Unless there is something very unusual about the revolver, I would not pay that price.
 
canadian rate exchange will leave most of use wondering. Don't understand why its more money. A 686 4" + 7 rounder retails for 868 here. The 686 6rounder 6" is 829 retail.
 
I really don't know about the availability of those 686's in Canada, but, that is not a premium, thats robbery.

Look at a Ruger gp100, the barrels are 4.2in and the prices HAVE to be at least $300 cheaper than that 686, probly more!
 
I am fairly new to the pistol market, but I was lead to believe that the S&W was the holy grail of production revolvers. I am actually a ruger rifle owner and have no problems with it whatsoever. Is it in the same league as the 686?
And by the way, I'm starting to think the word premium is pretty loosely used as well.
 
I don't really know the Canuck market, but unless its like living on a deserted island, that sounds waaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced! You could get a SW performance center custom job for that much...

They regularly go for 650-750 around here in AZ.

I picked up a used 686 Plus 4" pre-lock for $580 in good condition. I love it.

Be patient and hunt for a pre-lock - scour the pawn shops - they are amazing guns.

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Today I would by far buy a ruger over the s&w revolvers. Cost to buy new can be higher and quality at times is not what it has been in the past.
 
A dealer around here would have to be wearing a mask to ask that much for a 686, unless maybe it's a Performance Center gun.

I don't know if Canada has the equivalent of gunbroker.com but that's always a good pace to start.

As others have said, the Ruger GP100 should be about 2/3 the price of a Smith either side of the border, and in terms of present day production, is every bit the Smith, if not more.
 
bikemutt said:
A dealer around here would have to be wearing a mask to ask that much for a 686, unless maybe it's a Performance Center gun.

I don't know if Canada has the equivalent of gunbroker.com but that's always a good pace to start.

As others have said, the Ruger GP100 should be about 2/3 the price of a Smith either side of the border, and in terms of present day production, is every bit the Smith, if not more.
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I'd say the Smith will still have a much nicer out of the box trigger over the Ruger, but a $10 Wolf spring kit and a few minutes of polishing will remedy that. You can get into the whole forged vs. investment cast argument, but I doubt any of us would shoot it enough for it to matter.

I too would rather buy a brand new Ruger GP100 over a brand new Smith 686 - used is a different story.

The only big consideration with S&W over Ruger is getting a Plus model - 7 shots is nice.
 
The 686 is an excellent revolver but that price is way out of line unless, as has been said, it's a performance center gun. Rugers are nice also - I've got both; and they're very nice.
 
www.canadiangunnutz.com is the Cannuckistan version of THR. You need to register to read the forums. They have an active buy sell and trade section.

There is a discussion of the Ruger GP100 in the revolver and pistol forum. They are apparently hard to find at the moment, going price is around $700.
 
Free market economics should set the price. South of the border, vendors used to be allowed to set their own prices and demand would dictate if the goods sold or not. Typically gun shops are smart or go out of business. If the shop has a $1000 price tag they are relatively certain there is a buyer at that price point or they dont want to sell it. I know guys that dont have stock and the bump the price up in order not to make a sale (based off the way their web interface works with search engines) and if someone comes along and wants to pay the sky high price they will source stock. When and if they get the part back in stock at reasonable price points they adjust. The GP100 is a great gun and every bit as accurate as a 686. If you are a trigger snob hold out for the 686.
 
squarepants33889 said:
I am fairly new to the pistol market, but I was lead to believe that the S&W was the holy grail of production revolvers. I am actually a ruger rifle owner and have no problems with it whatsoever. Is it in the same league as the 686?
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If I were buying brand new today I would go for the Ruger GP100. I just can't deal with "The Hole" on the new S&W.

But I don't buy brand new. My 686 is a no dash model.

In terms of strength, reliability and longevity there's not a darn thing wrong with the Rugers. Fine revolvers. I just like the older S&W.

$1K for a 686 would be insane even in California. No idea what availability is like in Canada.
 
I think part of the reason for the high price is the additional .2'' of barrel to make it legal in Canada. It probably boils down to S&D. Everyone tells the OP about the great price they got on a used 4 incher and to keep lookin' for a used one, but that's illegal north of the border. The price he states for the 6'' is not that far out of line considering the location he is in.
 
Well, Like said a bunch of times already, that price seems overly high even for the longer barrel. I HIGHLY suggest you look around at several stores and Canadian online gun sites and see what the going price is for those guns in your area. We may be wrong and that price might be right for your area or even less that normal. (but I find that hard to believe)

do your homework before you jump in Sir, I hate to see any fellow gun lover get hurt on prices.
 
buck460XVR said:
I think part of the reason for the high price is the additional .2'' of barrel to make it legal in Canada. It probably boils down to S&D. Everyone tells the OP about the great price they got on a used 4 incher and to keep lookin' for a used one, but that's illegal north of the border. The price he states for the 6'' is not that far out of line considering the location he is in.
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Damn, a 4 inch barrel on a revolver is illegal in Canada?!?! Hawaii gun laws are really bad but Canada laws really suck:D.

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I just negotiated for one on armslist for a price of $425..American that is. And it was a 686-4 missing a rear sight assembly.
 
I have both Gp-100 and 686 (the GP WAS a Canadian 3 incher sold back into the U.S. after the Canadian cops went to simi-autos.. turns out they can't own a 3 incher, even if they are cops!)

Now the 686 is nicer but only somewhat.

For field use in Canada I'd take a 4.2 inch GP-100 and be quite happy.

If I ever go to Alaska via the Canadian Highways I'll get my Ruger Super Redhawk and maybe have the barrel shortened to 4.5 or 5 inches. .454s will do nicely for anything out there.

Deaf
 
mauiglide said:
Damn, a 4 inch barrel on a revolver is illegal in Canada?!?! Hawaii gun laws are really bad but Canada laws really suck:D.
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It's really not all that stupid. Canada uses the Metric system and their laws require a barrel length of 105mm or more. A 4" barrel falls below that 105mm number so the barrel has to be lengthened for Canada. I'm sure if they were on our system the 4" barrel would be just fine.
 
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