Confusing.
I take it the 686SSR for 964.00 is MSRP, likely to be a good deal lower "on the street" while the 686SSR in the link is a "club 1852" offering and really costs 779.00 with S&W getting paid directly and the "club members" having to provide a FFL from a transfer dealer...
?
Also, the one in the link requires 50% down but I don't see when it's scheduled to actually ship.
I don't see any other obvious difference apart from the stamp / etching...
The 627 times 8 is 6 oz heavier - "N" vs "L" frame?
For us relative newcomers one of the responses to the "You might be a gun nut" threads has always been: "If you understand S&W model numbers". I can't see this going very far in reversing that observation.
Still, it's interesting. I can feel my lock horror gradually fading ... fading. After all, the hammer / trigger are non-MIM. This gratifies some of us older sorts for reasons I can't quite pin down.