hello,

I've recently purchased my first handgun, (used), and it's and old stainless s&w 686-1 square butt revolver. I got it for dirt cheap because it was all covered in carbon and lead and dust, as well as some surface rust on the trigger and hammer.

Today I took off the side plate, (probably for the first time ever) and it's nasty in there. it's full gunk and it smells like wd 40. I think the last owner though he was preserving it with wd but it attracted all types of grime in there.

Can anyone point me to a good source of info on disassembling the 686-1. This is my project and I'd like to do as much work myself as possible. It shoots great, it's just dirty!

"The S&W Revolver A Shop Manual" by Jerry Kuhnhausen. This may the best one of them all.

DirtyLarry - Welcome to the Forum.
on a modern stainless steel revolver that is dirty like this....................
I buy a cheap can of carb cleaner at walmart and use air chuck on compressor. I completely disassemble and then lightly coat guts w/ rem oil.
You can make that gun look like new.
Go to the smithing section on this forum and read the FAQ's - bunch of good info.

i'd like to see a picture of the guts and gun before you clean it. then you should post the after pics.

I second this, probably more detail than you'll ever use, but for only $16 from Midwayusa, just an incredible manual!

The Kuhnhausen book has got to be the gold standard for detailed information on S&W revolvers... but for "newbies" a video showing the technique of doing the disassembly is better and there are plenty of reliable ones posted on Youtube for your viewing pleasure, just do a search on "smith and wesson disassembly".

I also recommend Jerry Miculek's "trigger job" dvd video to fine tune that action while you have it apart, if you so desire.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

+1 on the Jerry Miculek video. Vew it a couple times and you will have no problem. A rebound slide tool will help, or you can make one by bending and grinding an old flat tip screwdriver to fit. Once everything is out, a soak in acetone can cut the gunk of the parts. You can also use acetone in the frame. An old toothbrush or a dedicated gun cleaning brush is helpful. Then some compressed air to blow it all out. If you do use the acetone, be sure to wipe all down with a CLP or good oil as it will remove all the lubrication from it. I use Break Free and have for years.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Here are a few things that will make life much easier and wont hurt your cleaning at all.

You should be able to thoroughly clean everything without removing the cylinder stop and its spring, so just leave them in the frame. That way the only very small parts you have to watch are the bolt plunger, bolt plunger spring and sideplate screws all of which should be placed safely aside.

Leave the hammer and trigger assemblies alone after taking them out and just soak them and the interior of the frame with ed's red, break-free CLP or something similar.

The same can be done to the cylinder just remove it from the yoke and soak it.

After you've soaked the parts for a while brush them with an old tooth brush and they should clean up nicely. If not, soak them some more.

You can also spray some gun scrubber or carburator cleaner to flush out the gunk and dirty solvent. This will remove all the lubrication and oil film so just remember to re-lube (sparingly) and wipe the parts down with an oily patch before reassembling.

Flush the oil and solvent from the cylinder's center extractor hole, and instead of re-oiling through there, lube the yoke's bearing surfaces where they touch the cylinder wiping off the excess with your finger. This way you can lubracate the cylinder's rotation on the yoke without having excess oil pool under the extractor star, where it'll attract crud like a magnet. One drop on the ejector rod ahead of the yoke and a couple of plunges of the ejector is all you need to coat the extractor spring and the internals of the cylinder. If it pools under the star you over did it.

/c

Thanks for the info guys. I wish I took a picture before I cleaned the outside. it's like night and day. The rags and patches were completely black. As for cleaning the inside, I have acetone, I just wasn't sure if it was safe to use on delicate parts. But I'll try a good soak with that and then I'll oil all the contacts with the oil that came in the Hoppes cleaning kit. Is the Hammer block supposed to be loose. it's in place but it's easily shaken out of place. I'm going to film the dis-assembly and put all removed parts in a wooden box on my work station and bag the screws. And I'll look for some video's like you say.

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FYI: I recently read on another forum that Rem Oil may not be doing the best job possible. I had two cans and I threw them out.
I have no idea if it's true or not but I'm not going to risk any harm to my weapons.

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Life Mbr:DAV-USMC-DAV-NRA-MOPH

As owner of a 686-1, you should read this thread which is also in the Revolvers 1980 to the present section-----"586-no-dash-question"

Keep close track of the screws. Each should be returned to where you removed it.

I'd like to second what Chuck Jones recommended in his post...I take apart the same things and don't take apart the things he recommended you not disassemble, like the hammer and trigger sub-assemblies. A solvent soaking or carb-cleaner spray is sufficient at that point and I do that same procedure with every used S&W I buy. The only other things I do is stone the rebound slide, put a lighter rebound slide spring in, and look for any signs of parts rubbing, and of course a light lubrication prior to reassembly.

OH my eyes! OH my eyes!!

Man that's disgusting.

You started with one of the really bad 686's I've ever seen.

Yes, the hammer block should be loose, it fits over the little stud on the rebound slide. A container (or a few) to place small parts in when disassembling is the best way to go. There are lots of different plastic and metal containers that are suitable. Since a former hobby was photography, I happen to still have several 50' and 100' film cans from buying bulk film. Than, and airgun pellet tins make great parts containers for small, medium, and larger parts.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Carb & choke cleaner, brake cleaner, or Gum Out is your friend. Removes, dissolves, flushes away all that nastiness without disassembly. Q-tip for scrubbing, air dry, and a drop or 2 of oil -- you are good to go. Some assembly required.

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S&WHF 366