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
Last edited by Ed L; 08-24-2021 at 07:39 PM.
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.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
my issued piece in 1989. I polished it with flitz on my days off. I bought it in 1993 for $129.
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.
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
While not a Lframe... this was my dads 66-1 that I used in the academy in 1988.
If you're going to be a bear….be a GRIZZLY!
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.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!