I fear we're showing our respective ages, AveragEd. The PPC game was of course developed for LEOs, but got a pretty enthusiastic following here in the civilian community as well. Some of those guys involved in it were rabid in their participation, and as with all things, competition bred spending! Some of the guns that showed up were pure "race guns" with only limited usefulness "on the street." The closest non-PPC revolvers were those developed for the Steel Challenge, the Bianchi Cup, etc.

IIRC, the standard course of fire was 60 rounds, starting with 12 at 7.5 yards, then another 12 at 15. Then the targets were moved back to 25 yards and we shot 24(?) at that range (it seems barricades and weak hand shooting may have been involved - or maybe that didn't happen until 50 yards?) then the rest of the course of fire was at 50 yds (outdoors) or 25 yds on a reduced target. The center of center of mass was a 10-X so a perfect score was 600, 60-X. All sequences were shot from a start with 6 in the gun (revolver or pistol) with mandatory reloads every 6 rounds. It's been many years since I shot this event, but that's generally the way it was done, allowing slight discrepancies for aged amphibian memory!

Back to the OP's question, we thought the 6" Model 686 with adjustable front sight was specifically designed to fill the needs of this game, and whether it was or wasn't, there were a bunch of them sold in these parts for that purpose. I can see how the silhouette boys would have glommed onto them as well, so I am a little surprised to hear that they are regarded as relatively rare. Seems like they were pretty common around here.

I would definitely stand behind my contention that the 581/681/586/686 series was developed in response to the market wanting something a little heavier than a K-frame but not so big as a N-frame. The "Smolts" and "Cougers" from the custom shops showed there was a market for them. Thus ends my hop down memory lane!

Regards,
Froggie