New revolver

[Will]

I know I’ll make a bunch of people mad saying this but I wouldn’t trade a 686 for a colt snake gun if I had to keep it.

After having several buddies who had them I believe they are more trouble than they are worth. They do have very slick actions but don’t hold up to lots of shooting.

One buddy had a anaconda that shot really well. We spent a whole summer slinging 44 magnums in preparation for hunting season. I was shooting my Blackhawk bisley. That summer his anaconda had to go back to colt twice with hand wear to the point that the cylinder wouldn’t spin to the point of locking up if the hammer wasn’t cocked very fast.

None of the loads we were shooting were very hot. The Ruger never had the least of problems.

 

[Brad]

If I was going to buy another Colt, I have a Gold Cup, it would be a SAA.

 

[Will]

The gold cups are nice. If I could shoot a 1911 is have one.

Over the years I’ve had several and never could shoot one good. Not that there is anything wrong with them I just can’t shoot one as well as I can other handguns.

 

[waco]

I have a 6" Colt King Cobra That is pretty nice. Good action and trigger.

 

[fiver]

that's a good looking bullet.

 

[Ian]

Ruger and Uberi are the only revolver manufacturers that have gotten my money in a long time, and it will probably stay that way.

 

[Winelover]

Bought my Python in the mid 70's.....and it's been shot a lot. There have been at least 6K full house 158 grain J-words loaded over maximum charges of Bluedot. There are significant dents in the recoil shield. Has never been out of time. I did have the barrel replaced and then switched over to cast, exclusively. I never shoot 38's, in it, and I always shot it DAO. I did have to have the V-shaped hammer spring replaced, due to light primer strikes, after about 20 years.

 

[Winelover]

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

For that kind of money, I would be considering a Korth.

IIRC, I gave $360 for new 6" Royal Blue. I bought the HP, less than ten days latter. HP was very close to the price of the Python.

Several years latter, I bought one of the first Redhawks, to become available in the Detroit market.....@ $300, if memory serves.

Premium guns were similarly priced.

 

[waco]

that's a good looking bullet.

I still need to find a load for it. http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-185E-D.png

 

[Ben]

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.

View attachment 4521

I really like my two Smith 686's , I have a 3" and a 6". Both are " nail drivers."

Ben

 

[Pistolero]

686 of current manufacture are superb firearms. The first couple of
dash numbers had a softer alloy in the crane than would be ideal, would
compress the cylinder pivot after 5000 or so max pressure loads. This
caused a bit of end shake to develop, easily fixed by a smith with a crane stretcher.

Since a whole lot of folks never will shoot 5000 rds, let alone 5000 max pressure loads, it is
not a problem for most. From something like -3 or -4 onward they either changed
alloy or heat treat, doesn't do it anymore.
I have a 586 +1 6" that is an absolute joy and a tack driver. I have shot better groups,
this just a pic I had handy. The top one is no doubt due to the 'jerk behind the trigger'.

The powder charge is 16.3 gr of H110, a hot but not max load which has proved to be very
accurate for me with several guns.

She chose well in taking a 686 over a G19. Artistry over a industrial appliance.

Bill