slickracer, if your 686 takes pinned on front sights, may I suggest you getting the gold bead patridge front sight instead of the regular blade patridge sight. I have a 27-5 that came with one and I found it much easier to pick up the front sight with over a red ramp or regular patridge sight. I have also bought 2 others for my 629-3 Classic and the 627 Pro I just bought in April that came with red ramps and they are world's better than the red ramp sights that came with those 2 weapons too. My brother has a 6" barrel 27-2 that came with the regular style patridge sight and while it is nice, the gold bead style is easier to pick up to me. S&W makes one and I bought mine off of Brownell's but they are of the quick change variety that the 627 Pro and 629 Classic take. They do have a pinned type gold dot bead made by SDM Fabricating that should work with your 686 if it takes pinned front sights listed on Brownell's. The SDM is a bit more expensive than what I paid for my S&W sight blades, but it also uses a real gold bead instead of a brass bead like the S&W sights use.

Here's a link to the SDM gold bead sight for you to examine. <<<LINK>>>