A few months ago I bought a 3" and a 5" 686 3-5-7 series revolver. I shot them for the first time a few weeks ago and both were shooting low using .38 Specials, the 5" lower than the 3".

So, I went back today, with this rest

so that I could sight the gun in properly. The first shot out of the 5" gun was about 12" low with .38 Specials and the 3" gun about 6" low at 25 yards. There was just enough adjustment to get the 5" into the bulls eye. .357 Magnums were grouping about 1 1/2" higher and right. It took a little over double the height adjustment to the 5 inch gun compared to the 3 inch gun.

Now this may be a dumb question but, as far as sight alignment, I was keeping the top to the front and rear sight level. Should I be keeping the bottom of the red in the front sight even with the top of the rear sight? By aiming that way it would seen to help the situation. Anybody else have a 686 that shoots like this?

Marc,

My L frames like a 6 o'clock hold and shoot where the barrel points with 158 grain bullets. Are you shooting lighter weight bullets?

Mike

I prefer sight on, which is what I moved the sights to, and I was shooting 130gr .38's and 158gr magnums.

Marc,

S&W regulates revolvers to shoot 158 gr. bullets. Lighter bullets impact lower. That is part of the reason you are experiencing the lower impact points.

Mike

Thanks Mike, that's good to know.

Now my,new, 686 3in is shooting around 5-6in low at 30ft with a level sight picture and POA center of target. This is with Underwood 357Mag 158gr FMJ and Speer 158gr GDHP.

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Disabled Combat Veteran OIF

Are you shooting out the back slider in your basement? Man I wish I could do that. What kind of grips are those?

They look like the TALO 3-5-7 grips, TALO also has another grip style on their firearms as well.
TALO Distributors Inc. - special limited edition firearms for sale to stocking firearms dealers across the USA.

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Disabled Combat Veteran OIF

My 6" 686+ is dead on the bull at 25 yards with 158 grain SWC's.

Many years ago, I bought a new 8-3/8" Model 14 that I stumbled upon in a gun shop for $144.95. The gun was ordered for a customer who had not come in to pick it up in over a year, so they were selling it with his deposit applied to the price.

I decided to hunt ground hogs with it when the hay was too high to permit prone shooting with a rifle. With 148-grain wadcutters, it printed dead-on using a six o'clock hold on a 25-yard NRA target with the tops of both sights level with one another. But with the 110-grain hollow-points I wanted to use for hunting, it shot very low - at about the bottom of the black bull - even with the rear sight adjusted upward as far as possible.

I contacted S&W and was told to send the gun in for repairs. They installed a higher rear sight blade that permitted the sight to be adjusted to center both loads.

Ed