S&W 686 plus the review and a big surprise for me

silverstring said:

I have been trying to write this review for 3 months. But I had to be sure the range results were repeatable first. This last Sunday did it, I am convinced this is the most accurate handgun I have ever shot. Let me back up a bit, I have run through 3 range sessions with this beauty. In each case using standard Fiocchi 158grn 357 JHP brass the accuracy was amazing. 38spec isn't bad either, but not as predictably accurate as 357. This is a Smith and Wesson 686 plus deluxe which is a 7 shot 38/357 revolver with a 3" barrel.
View attachment 393761 For years I convinced myself that I didn't need to shell out $700 for a revolver with all the good lower priced alternatives. Well I was wrong. I got this from GrabaGun for $679 + a $5 dollar shipping fee and a $15 4473 fee. All together this cost me $699. The revolver arrived slightly tarnished from storage, but with a wipe down using Hoppe's it turned out beautiful. The out of the box trigger pull was very nice, a smooth 10lb DA pull with a short 5lb SA pull. I dis-assembled and cleaned the internals, polished the rebound slide and all friction surfaces. Did a light lube and put it back together. Now I have an amazing, easy to stage 8lb DA pull and a perfect 4lb SA pull. A quick side note here - as many of you know removing and reinstalling the rebound slide spring is tough. I found a neat tool from Smithmaster that makes this job much easier, the tool is available at Welcome to Gunsmither? Tools for about $40.
View attachment 393777 The slotted end is what you use to seat the spring, the forked end is used to remove the spring. You can get the details at the web site above. Now back to the revolver.
View attachment 393785 The 686 weighs in at 36.8 oz's with an overall length of 8.2 inches. It has a 3" stainless barrel, and a stainless frame and cylinder. The front sight is a pinned red ramp style and the rear sight is an adjustable white outline type of sight. The internals are well fitted, with a case hardened trigger and hammer.
View attachment 393793 The trigger is so easy to stage, just pull back slowly and you will feel and hear two light clicks. On the second click realign your sight picture and your round is on its way running very close to your POA. So lets talk about my accuracy surprise. My first range session was at 15 yards and all shots using Magtech 158grn 38 special were in a 4 inch circle, I mean every dang one of them. Then the big surprise , 357 rounds found the center every time. Ok maybe that was a fluke, so on my second range session I backed up to 25 yards and had the same results. I rarely have two good range sessions with any gun, well except for my Glock 19 and Sig P320CC.
View attachment 393801 Ok, so this is what happened last Sunday. I backed up to 50 yards and other than a few initial flyers 38 special found the 7 and 8 rings on this 8 inch sticky no problem. But the 357 rounds found the 9,10 rings and the red bullseye every time. Now I wish I could have recorded what I did next, so you will just have to believe me. I moved out to my steel range , set my distance at 80 yards on a 8 inch plate. Using 357 ammo I hit the plate 12 out of 14 times. Now maybe for some of you young guys that may not seem like a game changer, but for these old eyes it was. So my suggestion is, save up your money and go ahead and pick up this version of the 686 model line, you will not be disappointed. The balance, weight, and amazing trigger dynamics make this gun the most natural shooter I have ever touched. Did you notice - not once did I mention actually shooting this in single action, that is because I haven't even tried it in single action mode yet. I don't need to. Thanks for taking some time with me today, and seriously consider getting one of these.

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