New revolver

[Brad]

My wife commented that she was surprised I hadn't bought her a handgun for Christmas. Well I can't have that!
We went out today and looked at a few options. She likes the Springfield Range Officer 1911 in 9mm. No love at all for the feel of the Glock 19. ( I was OK with that). She has fired my GP100 a fair bit but I wanted her to try the feel of a 686. The trigger was very nice and the weight was right with a 4" barrel.
She now has her own 357 revolver.

Throats are snug compared to the GP. A .358 pin wouldn't go and a .357 pin is a nice, snug fit. Might need to make a new sizer for this gun. I really want one size for all 357/38 bullets. Will be interesting to see if that will be possible.

 

[Ian]

So she's graduated from the gateway drug straight to the hard stuff

Nice revolver. My wife has one just like it and loves it.

 

[S Mac]

Very nice. Wish my wife would make that request.

 

[waco]

DougGuy on the other site could make those throats .3585" in short order for like $50.......just saying.....

 

[gman]

My 686 has a butter smooth action and is quite accurate. Nice revolver.

 

[Brad]

The throats aren’t getting touched. At 10 yards it piled them up for me. A Lee 158 swc sized .358 over 4.5 gr of HP38.
Will check for leading when I get home but don’t expect to find any. I fired a nice group of 18 after my wife had fired 100 rounds. Bad leading would show up by then.
I was very impressed with how well it shot with a load I pulled out of my arse.

 

[Cherokee]

686's are usually accurate. Mine like 5.0 231 and 140 cast fn in 357 cases. I also wish my wife would make such a request.

 

[Ian]

Don't mess with it. My wife's 686 never has shot very well (3" at 10 yards, rested, is as good as it gets), even with jacketed, and I've given up trying to fix it. The only S&W I have that's really any good was made by JP Sauer.

 

[Winelover]

I'm not much of a S&W fan.....Colt spoiled me. However, a friend of mine, brought a blue version out to the range. I had the opportunity to shoot it. Was very accurate and had a nice DA trigger. He wasn't a gun guy, so trigger was stock. I wouldn't kick it out of my range bag.

Nice revolver, Dawn. Enjoy.

 

[Rick]

I'm not much of a S&W fan either, FA spoiled me rotten. The 624 I sold to Brad was a good shooter though.

 

[Brad]

This is the second S&W to enter our home. The 624 is a good shooter and this 686 is too. I was impressed with the trigger, both double and single action.
I want to see what the trigger becomes once it is broken in. Should get even better.

The bore did show a little lead in the forcing cone, a sign that the bullets need to be a bit smaller. That lead that is shaved off tends to end up in the forcing cone.

 

[Winelover]

I'm not much of a S&W fan either, FA spoiled me rotten.

But, FA's are strictly SA......apples and oranges.

 

[Rick]

But, FA's are strictly SA......

Just the way I like it!
.
.

 

[Winelover]

Expand your horizons......

 

[Rick]

Expand your horizons......

I did and then sold it to Brad.
.
.

 

[Cherokee]

I was a Colt man for many years, the 357 Mag model and then a Python followed by the Diamondback. The two 357 Mags were just a little too big for my hand, then the Python had to be retimed so many times in its 40 years with me, I finally sold them to a collector (nice profit) and bought a 686. The target results were the same (very good) and the Smith fit my hand much better. Still have the Diamondback.

 

[RicinYakima]

Had my "Three Fifty Seven" since my LE period in 1970. Bought it used and needed a new hand to retime, but been fine ever since. Course I have not shoot it that much and took up Bullseye shooting.

 

[fiver]

I have had the Rossi copy of that revolver for,, holy cow, since the 80's anyway,
first new revolver I ever bought.
it does well with 4.1grs of 231 under a 125 or a 158 in one of the two 38 cases.
never looked for leading, never tried any other size than 358.
just some ww's with tin for fill-out and off we went.

it does have one cylinder that likes to throw the holes away from the rest of them though.
not gonna complain about a 179$ revolver.

 

[Will]

I have a 686 my grandfather gave me a couple years before he died

Not only is it great to have his revolver but it’s the best shooting handgun I own. Mine really like the lee 358-158rf and the Mihec 359-640 plain base.

I have a piece of 12” steel 100yds from my bench. Me and my wife can both wear it out with the 686.

I personally feel the 686 is the best feeling revolver to ever go into my hands. Mine balances perfectly with the combat grips.

 

[Brad]

Scheels had a 1968 era Python but 2200 bucks was beyond what I was willing to consider.