This thread has brought back a TON of memories - all good, too!! If I were shooting PPC today, I believe I would be competitive with my nearly stock 6" 686-4 (all else being equal), or at least my GUN would be competitive. Back in the day, a few of the more affluent shooters did quite well with a stock Python. Some had a Smithon built (a Smith revolver with a Python barrel). I'm a bit surprised I didn't see one in this thread. At any rate, the full underlugged barrel of a stock 686 gives the extra barrel weight desired for better holding and recoil recovery (even with the light wadcutter loads used, less recoil is always better)...

Oh well, speculation as those days are pretty much gone, anyway...

Thanks for sharing your treasures, folks. It has been good to remember.

Dale53