I posted a this question a couple of days ago on a local gun forum and was nicely told I didn't have what I have.

My question was how common were round butts on earlier 686? I have a 686 no dash with a 4" barrel and a round butt. S/n in the yoke matches the s/n on the butt. Begins with AFA47XX. There are no special markings in the yoke. I was told that no 4" 686 got round butts until later in production....the only early round butts were shorter barrels.

I suppose the barrel could have been swapped but it was done well if that was the case.

So....how common were no dash 686 4" round butt guns?

In 1988 there was a 4" with round butt made for the U.S Customs, (Product Code 104229). This might be a little late for an AFA47xx s/n, but as we all know, S&W didn't mfg or ship in strict numerical number. Only a letter will confirm what you have.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have a 686 no dash CS-1 4” that is a round butt. Post some pics if you don’t mind.
The S/N is AZH21XX 1988 I believe.

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"Happiness is a warm gun"

I've never seen an early no dash 686 4" with RB. Not saying it might not exist but the only way to really find out is if you still had the original box or got a factory letter. Also it's not too hard to have a good gun smith round out the grip frame. This was common back then and I have seen a lot of square butt revolvers that were converted to round. You should post a picture.

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Ephesians 6 (Armor of God)

Here’s my CS-1.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

My 686-4 round butt

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John

There's a 686 CS-1 over on gunbroker that's at $1326.00 with 2 days left.
It's a beauty.

I know it is not a CS-1 revolver. Trying to attach a pic. Pic also has my 65-3 3".

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if it was converted....they did a fantastic job. When I got it, it has Pachmayr grips on it. I had an extra set of Smith grips and they fit perfectly and there was no sign of machining on the grip frame. If it was converted, I lean toward a barrel swap but it fits perfectly too.

I believe all of the CS-1 revolvers had a lower profile black front sight. Those are 2 fine revolvers you have.

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"Happiness is a warm gun"

Likely that your 686 began life as a 2" snub and had the barrel swapped,

If you compare Pilgrims CS1 you will notice the frame topstrap steps down to the barrel rib on his 4".

The snubs frame mated to the back of the front site ramp so S&W didnt "Step" the frame down,
they also used a longer rear site leaf that goes to the end of the frame for cosmetic purposes.

Model 19's and 66's are the same way until the introduction of the new rear site with rounded leaf.

There were no 4" factory round butt 686-nuttin....... round butt 2 1/2" guns introduced in 1990...... would have been -3s Per SCS&W p.324

Looks like some Lew Horton 2 1/2" guns made in 1984..... would have been no dash (p 324)

I had one made in about 1986/87 .....great configuration.

I will have to check the butts of my 3" and 4" 686+s, the former I thought was round but the latter I am pretty sure is square, but I always thought this 2.5" was a round butt. I think it is a dash 4 but I would have to check.