Any S&W 686 guys in here?

[GmanVP9]

Ive wanted a revolver for the past year +. I Finally picked up a 686-6, 4", 6 shot. These things are awesome, I totally get the revolver love.

[RevolverJIM]

The L frames are where the revolver curves cross!

[FrankB]

Only the first minute is worth watching. I tend to ramble….



https://youtu.be/N9iX5gDng3w

[Inspector71]

686-2. Bought it used twenty years ago for PPC duty matches. Got me some pretty trophies with that gun (slicked up action).

[GmanVP9]

Only the first minute is worth watching. I tend to ramble….



https://youtu.be/N9iX5gDng3w

Thats you?? Ill watch tomorrow!

[jetfire]

I have a 586 L-Comp and a 686+ Deluxe, but they're...a little different than the stock guns (https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/is-this-the-ultimate-modern-fighting-revolver/).

[Super77]

I have a 586 L-Comp and a 686+ Deluxe, but they're...a little different than the stock guns (https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/is-this-the-ultimate-modern-fighting-revolver/).

Giddings, what are your thoughts on Ti cylinders for non-competition revolvers?

[Stephanie B]

686-1 (M):

76248

I've shot it in USPSA matches. I was planning to shoot .357s in it and go for major before the pandemic hit.

[jetfire]

Giddings, what are your thoughts on Ti cylinders for non-competition revolvers?

It depends on the application; I am not a big fan of them in guns like the 329PD, the pressures involved with that make my butthole pucker up. I like it for small guns if you're trying to shave every ounce possible off the gun. However having said all this, I own exactly zero guns with titanium cylinders that I bet my life on.

[FrankB]

76250

How much weight do you save with a Ti cylinder?

[03RN]

686-1 (M):

76248

I've shot it in USPSA matches. I was planning to shoot .357s in it and go for major before the pandemic hit.

Im kicking myself for not picking up a couple used 686s for $400 when the PDs were dropping them.

They really are the g19s of the revolver world. Rugged

[Stephanie B]

Im kicking myself for not picking up a couple used 686s for $400 when the PDs were dropping them.

You and me both, brother. You and me both.

[Ed L]

A 4" and 3" CS-1--a special run of round butt #" and 4" versions for the US Customs service in late 1980s with a round butt


76266

[TC215]

My CS-1 that I sold to my dad like an idiot:


https://i.imgur.com/WVXoSqd.jpg

[TGS]

My CS-1 that I sold to my dad like an idiot:

Ha! And you sold the 3" 66 to me, as well!

[TC215]

Ha! And you sold the 3" 66 to me, as well!

I sold the CS-1 to help fund the damn 66. I’ve got issues.

[Rex G]

L-Frames are high on my nostalgia-motivated to-buy list. I started LEO-ing with a pair of L-Frames in 1984, but let them go, to finance bigger-bore weapons. My 686 was not one of S&W best efforts, but my 581 was wonderful.

As is the case with many revolver guys, who started before the key-holes started appearing, I am looking for pre-keyhole sixguns.

[GmanVP9]

L-Frames are high on my nostalgia-motivated to-buy list. I started LEO-ing with a pair of L-Frames in 1984, but let them go, to finance bigger-bore weapons. My 686 was not one of S&W best efforts, but my 581 was wonderful.

As is the case with many revolver guys, who started before the key-holes started appearing, I am looking for pre-keyhole sixguns.

The Hillary hole! I want a 3" .357 without the key hole. They make a delete kit, but Im not gonna mess with it. What did you like about the 581 over the 686?

[SW CQB 45]

my issued piece in 1989. I polished it with flitz on my days off. I bought it in 1993 for $129.

https://i.imgur.com/ZG8IVbJh.jpg


This was an extra 686 that our dept transferred to the police academy in 1993. I took over as the firearms instructor in 2009. These guns were not being used and the director said to trade them in. I bought it and sent it to Bob Jones (Jacksonville MS) for an action job. The center pin hole was egg shaped and I waited two years for C&S to bushing the center pin hole. Its been my competition piece for accuracy matches in our area. The cylinder stop notches show heavy wear but the action job Jones did is about perfect for me.

https://i.imgur.com/ex9DmYVh.jpg

I bought this 586 as a back up to my 686. This one has a funny story. I watched it on Gunbroker for quite some time. The reason it did not sell, the previous owner scribed their SS# on the side plate, under the trigger guard and on the cylinder. I decided to buy it as it was cheap and it was going to be a back up competition piece. I stone off the numbers on the cylinder and trigger guard but the slide plate was too deep for me. I sent it to Fords who removed the scribing and master blued it. I was introduced to a police revolver gunsmith in California who tuned this piece. The action is incredible.

2nd from the right
https://i.imgur.com/2iZKDtLh.jpg

While not a Lframe... this was my dads 66-1 that I used in the academy in 1988.
https://i.imgur.com/9DaKpHwh.jpg

[Rex G]

The Hillary hole! I want a 3" .357 without the key hole. They make a delete kit, but Im not gonna mess with it. What did you like about the 581 over the 686?

My 581 was, quite simply, better-built, with a wonderful trigger pull. The 686 had a grittier action, and the barrel was “clocked” wrong, with the resulting sight picture featuring a leaning front sight. The armorer said it was close enough, and not to worry about it. I reckon that I could have lived with it, but as I indicated, earlier, I thought that bigger bores were better, a feeling that persisted, for several years, and my first three .357 revolvers, two L, and one K, went away, to finance N-Frames. Sadly, the N-Frames were actually just a bit too large, for my less-than-loing fingers, but it took me a while to get that figured-out.

[Archer1440]

Mine gets worked out fairly regularly, mostly to keep my trigger work more honest.

It’s a 4” 686-5 P with no keyhole and Hogue grip, from circa 1997 or so. Action work by SPC is really slick, one of the smoother DA’s I’ve shot and a ridiculously crisp SA- it is truly a tack driver if I do my part.

I think it cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 back in 2000 or so.

[GmanVP9]

Well worth the $600!

So fun to shoot. My first -6 I wanted new. But my next one will have no lock

[rm06]

No x81s? I love this one, gets to go to the range frequently
https://i.ibb.co/tH3sFW0/1.jpg

[Rock185]

I've had one 686 or another since shortly after they were introduced. The last, a -5, has an auxiliary cylinder fitted by a gentleman named Vito at S&W, who has since retired. I had one of the cylinders rechambered for 9MM. So I guess I'm one of those 686 guys;)

[arcticlightfighter]

I dont get to shoot it as much as I want lately but it is a tack driver.

The 642 has a fresh cerakote and hardchrome refinish, street action job and cylinder chamfer by APW Cogan. Excellent work and a wonderful trigger. I beat the crap out of it as an EDC and BUG as well as many rounds.

76674

[lwt16]

76678

686 my mom bought for me in the mid 80s. It’s in my son’s safe now.

I have a ton of good memories tied to that revolver.

[MEH]

First gun purchase was a 686 (-2 I think) for $350ish brand new back in the early 90's. Other guns have come and gone but this one will never be sold by me.

[fatdog]

First gun I ever bought as an adult was the 681 no dash in the early 80's, it made the recall trip but has never given a moment's trouble and the accuracy is so consistent I could never find a way to rank the chambers and stamp one. Gave it to my Dad and eventually came back to me when he went to heaven.

If a full power .357 round is the thing to be launched I find these to be the best balanced hand launchers out there.

76685

[jh9]

Nice seeing all these -5s. Still pre-lock, but after the new frame cutover so current production parts will work. The hammer will show a gap where the lock engages, but at least S&W will still service them. Also when they started pinning the front sight so it was replaceable.

If you got an early enough -5 there was a brief period where the new hammers (no nose) that work with the frame mounted firing pin were still forged even on the non-PC guns.

[GmanVP9]

Guys, whats a good sized carry revolver (for winter)? So big jackets etc

[GmanVP9]

Also 76708

[PNWTO]

Guys, whats a good sized carry revolver (for winter)? So big jackets etc

A 3” in the K/L/GP size spectrum is pretty good for daily use.

[GmanVP9]

A 3” in the K/L/GP size spectrum is pretty good for daily use.

Thanks!

[FrankB]

I can easily carry a 3” 686 in my casual pants pocket, and it’s a breeze in a light jacket. I use a Hogue Bantam grip, and that makes it much easier to conceal/fit the grip.

[mmc45414]

I guess I am sorta, traded (here) for this 3" Plus, but no sooner did I get it sorted with the C&S sight and Apex hammer/springs and Altamont grips and JMCK AIWB and a couple HKS loaders (it came with the plug) the primer drought occurred. Recently caved for some triple price primers, so now I am in the process of getting some loads loaded. With the fixed sights I want to settle on a load, then sort out a Dawson FO front sight.

76728

[jetfire]

I guess I am sorta, traded (here) for this 3" Plus, but no sooner did I get it sorted with the C&S sight and Apex hammer/springs and Altamont grips and JMCK AIWB and a couple HKS loaders (it came with the plug) the primer drought occurred. Recently caved for some triple price primers, so now I am in the process of getting some loads loaded. With the fixed sights I want to settle on a load, then sort out a Dawson FO front sight.

76728

Those Altamont stocks are really nice, and also answered my question of where S&W OEM'd the grips for the SSR model from. Neat.