I finally got bullied into buying a wheel gun by some of the revolver fans at my club where we have a centerfire bulls-eye league (I've been firmly in "Team 1911" for the past 7 years). After days of scouring GunBroker I found what I was looking for, an early 586 (this model is a no-dash) 6" with a Patridge target sight up front. It has not had the "M" recall performed, I am considering sending it in shortly. The gun is in very good condition with only some light handling marks on one side. Several people at the club who own older S&W's believe it likely had a trigger job performed at one point too.

So far I really enjoy shooting .38 out of it and am getting used to the DA trigger (and the very different grip). Much to the horror of the S&W purists at the club, I swapped the grips. I did not care for the wood, it gets hot on the range in the summer and I found when I sweat they got a little slippy. Being a 1911 guy I went straight to VZ and found they make L-Frame G10s which I ordered and really like.

Anyway - one issue: I have shot probably 500 rounds out of it. Mostly Remington UMC (in those handy 250 packs), but I had a 100 box of Winchester White Box I picked up at the local Walmart. Maybe had one issue with the UMC where the round had an issue with the rim wouldn't rotate into battery (sorry about the terminology, did I mention I was a 1911 guy?). But with the WWB, practically one out of every 6 I loaded would not fire due to a light primer strike, which is annoying because I still treat them as hang-fires. A second hit would usually fire the round.

Is there something I should adjust or replace or just chalk it up to "this gun doesn't like this brand of ammo" and keep shooting UMC?

PS - if anyone can tell me the ship date, I'd appreciate it. S/N is ACH0xxx

PS - here's a pic.

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The obvious first: Check the strain screw. Remove the grips and the strain screw is in the front of the grip frame and it bears on the leaf spring. It should be screwed all the way in.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

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Welcome to the Forum

As Pizza Bob mentions, the strain screw under the grip is usually the culprit in these issues. If it is tight, it is also possible that someone has shortened it a bit.

We can not tell you a shipping date from a serial number. You would have to contact the factory for a historical letter to get that information. However you can give you a general year of manufacture.

Your revolver would have been manufactured in 1981.

The fact that there is/ was a recall on no dashes, and some dash 1's had nothing to do with .38 special ammo. There were some problems with 125 grain bullet .357 magnum loads causing cylinder binding.
I have had more than a few S&W Revolvers. Never a strain screw problem. Then, I had 2 in a row where someone shortened them. They were both 10's too. Changed them, and never a problem again. Cheap fix. Enjoy your 586! Let us know how you make out. Bob

Interesting photo of that 586-0.

Perhaps my mind is "playing tricks on me." Does anyone else think the Patridge front sight is the "High Patridge," which was offered on some guns instead of the standard "Low Patridge" front sight?

For those that came in late, when the Distinguished Combat Magnum was first introduced, and for a short time thereafter, the factory offered versions with the Low Patridge for those who shot point of aim, point of impact in PPC matches. The High Patridge was offered for those that wanted to use a "neck hold" at 50 yards, which would drop the rounds into the center of the target. (The taller front sight resulted in the barrel pointing down, so the shooter would have to hold high to make center-mass hits. Some dedicated PPC shooters used a "neck hold" on the B27. By holding high on the body, the barrel was brought back up in line to drop the rounds into the body center of mass.

In any event, the front sight on the OP's 586 looks too high to be the Low Partridge front sight.

In the feature codes on the end label, LP stood for "Low Patridge," while HP stood for "High Patridge." The HP was discontinued as few people preferred it.

Just a thought.

To the OP,many years ago WWB was the gold standard for subgun use.I have read recently that QC @ Winchester is slipping horribly and WWB is no longer the go-to ammo.Friend of mine recently purchased a 929 and with WWB he was getting same results as you are.I can only speculate that poor QC is causing your 38spl issues.If you are not yet a reloader I would suggest it as you control the quality.

Interesting the light primer strikes thread came up. Just yeaterday I was experiencing the same issue with my 586L comp while shooting my handloads. The second hit fired them all.
I pulled the grips and the strain screw had backed out one and a quarter turns. I snugged it up and no more problems. Don't ask me how this happens but it did. Today, it will get a dose of blue locktite.

Sometimes folks change out mainsprings to lighten the trigger pull and they over do it. Factory I believe is 14 pounds (which I keep), but I have gone down to 11 with no problems before changing back because I didn't like the feel. Many folks find that 10 pounds works fine, but 9 pounds starts giving them a bunch of light strikes.

Thanks for all the great info here!
First, I'd like to apologize for some confusion based on my incorrect terminology - it's been pointed out to me that I have a 586 "no dash," not a -0. I mistakenly thought -0 was short-hand for no dash.
Second - on the sight, it is weird: I had to adjust the rear sight WAY WAY up to get the point of aim right from a bench rest (you can see it in the picture). Some of my friends at the club were stumped too - I figured it was just because our range is small and the targets were close (between 25' and 50'). It looks like there is a pin in there, is it replaceable with a lower one?
Finally, I am going to check out that screw next time I clean the gun and give it a little tightening if needed. However, I have shot the rest of my WWB and it seems to feed on the UMC just fine. I have been on the fence about getting a reloading setup, spec'd out a Dillon press and have been saving my brass just in case (I really want it for target load .45 ACP but I priced out .38splc dies as well). But space is a little tight at my place...
Shame if WWB quality really is falling, it's one of the three factory ammo brands I regularly shoot (Rem UMC, WWB and Speer Lawman [which runs a little hot but my 9mm 1911 loves] are my go-to brands). I found it wasn't too dirty and used to be perfectly reliable.

Finally, although I shoot .38 now, I do want to be able to shoot .357 for some of our "bottle nights," which are informal fun competitions where the prize is generally a six pack of beer (hence "bottle night"). Sometimes they are bowling pin shoots or a race to shoot a 2x4 in half where a larger caliber / more power generally helps. That is why I am considering getting the recall done.

I think you've already got your answers but I'll chime in with my experience: Like you, I'm a new wheelgun owner but now I'm smitten. As you discovered, sometimes tuning a gun makes it a bit finnicky on ammo. At first, I tried lightening the trigger by loosening the screw on the main spring which resulted in many light strikes. Instead, I had a Wilson combat spring set installed and keep that darn screw tightened all the way down. Now, it fires fine on all ammo but the Freedom Munitions reman (which I am a fan of for 9mm). Even Blazer Brass, which is somewhat cheap here, no problem. When I talk to fellow ICORE competitors, they have their guns tuned to their ammo of choice (most of them hand load) and don't vary. Since I don't hand load, I like options so I can take advantage of a good deal.

Good luck with your new gun. Revolvers are addictive!

So if I want to swap out the "High Patridge" front sight for something more in line with a standard grip for target shooting, it seems like SDM gold-beads are pretty much my best option... should I order a .250 or .300?

I found some early parts lists and it seems like the Low Patridges were forged but the High Patridge sight guns are pinned, guess I lucked out in that respect. I'll have a gunsmith swap the blade.

Are there target rear sight options? I like the rear blade, seems adequate - just wondering though.

And I don't have the 'M' modification. The gun works fine. What they replace is the firing pin and the bushing the firing pin sticks through, plus some other little tweaks.

What was happening was the in some heavy loads the primers extruded around the firing pin and locked the cylinder up. They suspected that some really soft foreign primers were to blame, but S&W wanted their guns to shoot any half decent ammo. I use all domestic primers...CCI, Winchester Remington and I could fall back on S&B or a few others but I'm not getting any 'cheapie' primers and if I do, I'll use them for range and plinking fodder.

BTW- Congratulations on your choice of weapon. My 686 will be the last to leave my collection.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Most L frames seem to have a .146 high rear blade. Smith makes (or maybe made) a .160 and one around .190. The tallest seems to be rarely seen.

My early 586 with integral front sight is .168 high, with .146 rear sight blade. I have seen one other gun like yours and the high blade was replaced with a .168 for satisfactory results. The blade is not drilled and must be done to fit your gun. Use a number 54 drill bit. A drill press is preferable to doing with a hand drill. The small drill bit is fragile and easily broken.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

shawn mccarver – I think you are right about this being a “High Patridge”; My 586 no-dash has the HP feature on the box label.

The other thing that gives it away is the rear sight on the OP's revolver is cranked up high for a normal center hold at 7, 15 and 25 yards. I believe on my revolver it was 2 and-a-half turns to change to a neck hold at 50 yards.

Two other guys that I shot PPC with ordered these when they came out in the 80’s (we referred to them a “tall post” 586s) and they were just the ticket for an out-of-the box PPC revolver.

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