Is this an anomaly? I had always thought prior to the -4 all 4" and longer barreled revolvers were square butt. I have a 4" dash 2 with what appears to be a round butt.

Can the experts here take a look and see if this is indeed a factory RB or is it a custom job?

The lines on the backstrap and inside appear normal and factory. Serial number does appear centered. To me I just think it is a bit 'off' when looking at it and although I can't put my finger on it, the grip doesn't feel like a real round butt should.

A photo of the backstrap would help. Is the SN centered and complete on the bottom of the grip frame? Any chance it had the barrel replaced? A 2.5" 686 would have had a RB frame.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

The -2 would not have had a flash chromed trigger and hammer, I don't believe. Will standard round butt grips fit?

I'm leaning toward a barrel replacement.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

What is the s/n?

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Hi OP: Below are pictures of my 686-1, 6" revolver with round butt and original box. 100% serial number match between the revolver and the box. So, a 4" -2 revolver with a round butt is a possibility. One thing I am learning when it comes to S&W is "never say never" when it comes to some configuration you would never have thought possible.

Enjoy your beautiful 4" revolver with a hard to find round butt grip.

Exiled Cheesehead

Is that strain screw in all the way?

I'd never seen that product code, 104204, before. But, then again, I don't think I'd ever seen a 6-inch round butt -1 before, either, in the box. That is an uncommon arraignment. Thanks for sharing. BTW, 104206 was the pc used for the 6-inch square butt no-dash with red ramp insert and black rear blade. Close cousins. S/n puts it into late 1986 to early 1987.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I wish that S&W would make more 4 inch round butt revolvers. I changed the barrel out on a Model 66 with a pinned barrel from 2.5 to 4 inch. Really liked it. I moved from 357 to 44 and 45 Calibers and my son has the 66 now. Loved the looks of it.

Product code 104229 was 4 inch round butt from 1988. Code 104204 should have been before that. Wasn't Lew Horton having S&W do allot of round butt SS models during the 86 87 88 time period?

Your wish has come true! Starting in about 1996 S&W began a transition to ALL round butt production. Irregardless, of barrel length. Since that time, I'd estimate something like 95% of all revolver production has been round butt. It's only been in the past few years that S&W has deviated from this practice (of all round butt production), and starting making a few true square butt models. The new 4 & 6-inch M586 is an example of this, and there are others.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

S&W adopted all new product codes after the no-dashes. The product codes used with the no-dashes were ONLY used with the no-dashes. It's kind of strange, because that was not S&W's typical practice.

Cheesehead's unique 6-inch round butt is the first -1 I've seen that uses an "old style" no-dash like product code. You're right about the 104229 pc. Except it was in use as early as June of 1986 with the introduction of the first -1's.

Lew Horton is a good hunch. A call to them with these s/n's would clear it up. It's certainly possible, exept LH's thing was shorter barrels (but not always). Other than that....

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

So the gun is a true factory round butt. Thanks. With that said, I tried dressing it up a bit. Got some nice Hogue Pau Ferro bantam grips for the L frame and it doesn't seem to fit correctly on the top.

The 'shoulders' seem to be a bit higher on the grips. Is this normal or does my 686-2 have a different contour than the recent makes? I'm wondering if this had changed.

Anyway, I'm a bit hesitant to take a chisel or a dremel to the grips as I paid alot for them. I don't want to ruin a perfect set of grips but yet, the wood will cut into the web of my hand if I keep them this way.

Is it normal to need to modify grips to fit?

I believe the frame did grow taller in that area when S&W adopted the Internal Lock System. Hogue should know that an offer a caution about these grips not fitting older guns. The other possibility is they could be N-frame grips.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Thanks for your insight.