About three weeks ago, I bought a 686-7 in .38 Super from forum member me1234 (Charles in Glendale, AZ). The gun was even better than he had described, and the deal was flawless. Due to work and the weather, I hadn't been able to get out and shoot it, but this weekend, everything came together.
Charles had sent the gun with Hogue "Big Butt" grips, which I really didn't care for. Luckily, I found a set of the S&W/Hogue grips for sale on the forum and Jughed was kind enough to send them to me (thanks again, Jughed).
The photo shows the results of 24 rounds at 25 yards. I was using the same load I use for my .38 Super autos: a MBC IDPA#6 hard cast 124 grain SWC over 7.3 grains of AA#5; it goes about 1245 fps.
Recoil was very mild, about the same as a .38 Special. I did get a little bit more barrel leading than I've experienced with my autos; I think I'll make some reduced loads in the .38ACP range just for the 686. 5.5 grains of AA#5 with the same bullet should yield about 925 fps.
The front sight is a little higher than I'm used to, and I didn't want to crank the rear sight too high, so I was shooting lower than I aimed, which was the red dot on top of the front sight. However, I was really happy with the accuracy, as well as the smooth action. After I shot for accuracy, I started hitting the steel plates, double action, at 7 and 15 yards. As long as I kept the top of the front sight at the top of the gong, I was swinging the plate non-stop.
Of all the years I've owned S&W guns, this is my first Performance Center model, and I'm proud to say I couldn't be happier.
New (to me) Performance Center 686-7 .38 Super
Linear Mode
