Years ago I owned a 7 shot Taurus .357 mag with a 6" barrel. It was a great shooter, but I never got very attached to it. One of my buddies fell in love with it & had to have it. He offered a straight up trade for his S&W .357 mag. He told me that it was given to him by a retired LEO family member. That's all I know about the history of my 686. Of course, I took the trade! That was 8 or 10 years ago.

So I've owned this 686 for a long time without knowing much about it. It's a great shooter, and it goes with me everywhere. This is the gun I used to qualify for my CCW permit.

Then I found this forum & started reading. All this talk of "no dash" and serial number date matching, "M", and so on really had me wondering, so I took a couple of pics & decided to ask about it here. Is this an early 686? Should I be worried about shooting it?? Any and all info & recommendations would be appreciated, on to the pics!

With the Houge grips, these grips work great for me.


Pics of the serial & model numbers. Decided to try some Magnas, recieved them yesterday. Undecided on them...




These Pachmere Presentation grips were on it when I took ownership. They don't feel right in my hands, removed them for the Hogues.


Sorry for the long post & ****** cell phone pics, but I appreciate anything I can learn from you guys & gals.

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-Roger

Man, that thing is begging to be shot. It has the M stamp above the model number which means that the recall work has been done to eliminate POSSIBLE problems.

Problem was with heavy loads and soft primers, they primer could flow back into the firing pin hole and lock up the cylinder. No need explaining that further because the work is done and you don't have to worry about.

The 686 is known to be a great shooter, usually it comes from the factory with a really good trigger. It's strong enough to handle continuous full house magnum loads.

Oh, and yes it is early. The lack of a 'dash number' after the model number shows that it is a first edition.

Probably, rwsmith's answer is all you need.

GREAT TRADE!!!!

***GRJ***

PS:

My 686 is my bedside gun; they're fabulous.

Yeah, if you look too close at my pics, you can see she's a bit grungy. I've never hesitated to shoot this thing, it's a blast! She definately gets used. Glad to find out I have nothing to worry about.

Is this an early 686?

__________________
-Roger

You have one that has the "M" so it has been modified. If it was a law enforcement weapon it would have been modified. The modification refers to the replacement of the hammer nose and hammer nose bushing which on some weapons would lock up the cylinder with certain brands of magnum ammunition. The primer would flow back into the hammer nose bushing and lock it up. Mine did it with Federal magnums and the only way to open the cylinder was to force it open.

You have a nice revolver enjoy it.

Mike

In addition to the "no dash" indicating that it's an early 586, the AAB serial number prefix means it likely shipped in 1980-1, the first year of production. The 586 was the first S&W to bear the new "three alpha+4 numeric" serial number, starting with AAA0001, that's used for all S&Ws now. The "no dash" was made from 1980/81 to 1986.

Were the 586's AAA, and the 686's AAB? Forgive my ignorance...

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-Roger

Sorry, my mistake. As I read through the thread I forgot we were talking about a 686, not 586. But, the information I gave is basically correct anyway. Numbering of 686s started at AAA0665, and the same sequence was used for both, and the production dates for the "no dash" models were also the same for both. SCSW indicates that "regular" production of 686s started with "AAD", so an "AAB" prefix must be very early indeed.

Thank you for posting. I'm learning a lot so far today.

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-Roger

"Should I be worried about shooting it??"

Uh, no. They were made to be shot. Go. Shoot it all you want for as long as you want.

You have a beautiful, well-made revolver. Now, go and shoot. A lot

It's a beauty. Earliest 686 I've ever seen.

S&W's name for it was the "Distinguished Combat Magnum".

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

No worries at all about shooting your 686. I have a Md 681 (1982) and a 686 (1984) that get regular use. The 681 is exactly the same as your 686 except you have adjustable sights and mine are fixed. As a matter of fact my 681 has become my favorite shooter and like you with your 686, I used it last week to re-qualify for my CCW. The whole family (581/586 and 681/686) of L frame magnums are just wonderful! I have no idea whether I'm right or wrong, but I'd guess the 686 is one of the best selling revolvers of all time.

By the way, I see you are experimenting with grips. I finally settled on grips made by Kim Ahrends called Retro Targets with no finger grooves for my 681. They are a little smaller than the S&W Target grips and a little bigger than the S&W Magnas and they are absolutely perfect for me. Check them out on the 'Bay from the seller known as "gripseller" She usually has a nice supply in stock and she's real nice to deal with.

A trade I'd make any (every) day. I have a 6" 686-3. I really like that gun
I don't have large hands, but all of my k's, l's, and n's wear target grips. They just work for me, and look sexy too! Can't have too many wood grip sets. Bob

love my 686 ill never give it up

Your Buddy traded his 686 no dash for a Taurus?

I've got a bridge in Brooklyn that I'd like to sell him!

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'Merica!

I'll check out that eBay seller when I get some time. Please post a pic or 2 for me. I think I'm going to look for a grip adapter for these Magnas & try that. The Magnas by themselves just don't feel natural, so we'll see...

__________________
-Roger

At the time, they were both just a couple of nice 357 mags. Ignorance is bliss??

__________________
-Roger

307-Niner,

Here are a couple of not so good pics of my 4 inch, Md 681 no dash. It is wearing Ahrends Retro Target Smooth grips. These are the ones that approximate the factory targets. They work perfectly for my medium sized hands. Please check out the Ahrends grips website and Gripseller on the 'Bay. Lots of forum members are devoted Ahrends customers.

Did somebody say 686?

Looking good guys.

Is there a reason my 686 has the S&W on the right side instead of the left, like those 2 pics recently posted?

__________________
-Roger

I'm not sure why S&W moved the logo, but it may have to do with using grips that obscure part or all of it. Look at the pic with your Hogues, half the logo is covered. It seems S&W has moved the logo and changed its size on several models over the years. There are many members here on the forum that study, know and understand all these little moves that the company made. Maybe someone will be along to give a better answer.

The logo went to the left side and got smaller around 1980/81 or so...some say to allow for commemorative markings but I'm not sure. As with most S&W's changes there was some overlap time and you can find examples of models and dash changes around that time with most any combination of characteristics. BUT, that is the first time I have EVER seen a 686 with the large logo on the right side like the older P&R magnums...VERY early 686 IMHO...maybe others have seen this before but a first for me.

Another example of why you have to be careful if you say "Smith never made one like that" in regards to their guns...you'll eat crow at least half the time!

Quick question.

Am I supposed to call this a 686 No Dash? Or would it have some other name?

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-Roger

Roger: while I'm no expert, my understanding of the unofficial rules of S&W nomenclature indicate that you can call your Model 686 either a "Model 686 no dash", or a "Model 686-0". I owned one of the early ones with a 6.0 inch barrel and traded it later for a Model 625. I missed it so much that I eventually found and bought another Model 686 with the adjustable front and rear sights set up for silohuette shooting.

Great trade you made with your buddy.

Regards,

Dave

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Update: Roger, I've added a photo of my Model 686-3 - a super accurate revolver with a nice 2X Leupold scope.

Regards,

Dave

Attached Images

686-3 #1.jpg (82.9 KB, 16 views)

I'm coming to this party late, but let me add my congratulations on your wise decision to take the trade and make a few observations. First and foremost, if S&W ever built a gun that could be fired a lot (in this case there is no such word as "excessively") you own it! It's built like a tank and the SS finish might be scratched, but can almost always be cleaned up to appear nearly new. You may wear out the "innards" but you would really have to work at it. As for the grips, I would humbly suggest you try on a pair of the factory "Smooth Combat" grips with finger grooves that were current production about the same time as that gun. If you don't want to pay the freight on originals, somebody is making a good copy of them now (Ahrends? Altamont?) that I think would also do nicely. To me, they are just about perfect for the K- and L-frame guns (see attached picture of my custom K-327.)

Regards,
Froggie

Attached Images

Charlie's Custom .327.jpg (112.8 KB, 42 views)

I called S&W today with this 686's serial number. It was shipped in 1980. He was unable to give me a month.

It now wears factory target stocks, and it's still a sweet shooter.

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-Roger