Sold my 2 Ruggers when I left Alaska in 1972 and went with auto's after I got out of the Air Force .. So has been quite a number of years since then !! and with out a revolver ..

Got an itch a few years ago for a revolver .. then my wife said she would feel comfortable shooting a revolver over any of my autos .. needed something for the bed side table ..

Picked up a S&W 686+ Performance Center borne on date of June 2018 .. Everything looks good the barrel is straight and front sight is tight .. no play in the cylinder at all and the DA action is very smooth and feels like its stage able .. SA must break at 2 or 3 pounds .. very little pressure is needed on the trigger in SA .. will check the trigger pull weight later tonight and post them .. Its my first 357/38 special .. but don't think it will be my last !!

Won't get out to shoot it till this weekend .. will pick up a variety of ammo to see how it shoots what I get ..

What can I say other then its very nice .. My first PC pistol though I do have a Sig Legion in 40 S&W which is very nice also ..

Awesome revolver you got right there. You’ll love it!

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Pass it on.
Mark

And thus he stepped out onto the slippery slide.
Don't worry there are a bunch of us waiting to catch you at the bottom.

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Eccentric old coot

Congratulations on a GREAT choice. Load that baby with these and you will be impressed. That revolver will stop any man and 95% of the beasts that walk the earth.

357 Magnum 125 Grain Bonded Jacketed Hollow Point – Underwood Ammo

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Possum—The other white meat!

Or grease the skids for ya

Ha HA .. Already looking for something a little bit smaller but
still in 357/38 .. the 686 a bit heavy for my wife smaller frame including smaller hands ..

Figure if I keep buying I'll never hit the bottom ..

Congrats!

I think a JFrame 38 is in your future!

Might I recommend a 442 (no-lock) or 438?

Been looking at both of them .. and a Model 19 and a couple of others ..

But you might just be right !!

You might bring your wife into your LGS and let her try out a few. I did that a few years ago with mine and she settled on a 3" barrel model 60-15. It's a stainless steel gun so it has a bit of weight to help counter recoil, yet is still light enough for my wife to handle it with no problem. It's real sweet shooting with 38 Special +P but a bit of a handful with full bore 357 Mags. I have it loaded up with some Hornady 38 Special Critical Defense for her for house protection duty.

Just don't buy her a pink gun.

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Bob P.

Not exactly a bedside bump-in-the-night-friendly load. Although, it would negate the need for a flashlight... for a split second anyway

As I have often times said and will say again: "The Model 686 is the most popular revolver on this forum according to my completely unscientific survey." May it serve you well.

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She doesn't like the pink or any colored pistols .. she likes the shine of stainless or the black color and dis-like stippling also !!

She's already had a couple in her hands .. She likes my Sig P238 and shoots it well but doesn't like the way 1911 is to carry it .. more DA/SA is to her liking ..

What ever she gets it will be bed side only .. since she doesn't carry and doesn't want to ..

It always seems to be on everyone's top 5 or 10 revolvers list !!

Have had mine 2 days and already liking it more then usual .. Especially since I haven't had a revolver in so long (1972) .. It will be a joy to shoot !!

Two of the chambers were dirty so 2 rounds fired at S&W ..

I have a Wright Leather Shoppe Cobra holster that is a convertible from IWB or OWB .. have both leather straps and metal clip for attaching to my belt .. all according to what I like .. Will get a Garrett Industries holster for IWB and just 1 clip .. think its called the GTX ..

Excellent first choice. Addictive also.
Walt

Nice revol.S&W 686+Performance Center

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Life is short,live it fully.

Whitwabbit, if that's the case, you probably won't want a J frame, stout even in 38, and a bear in 357. If it isn't leaving the house, there's no reason to go smaller than K frame. 19 or 66 would be fine. I'd almost bet you would find her reluctant to practice with a J frame cause they aren't fun. And I say that even tho that's one I carry in the winter.

Noticed the grips on mine are much darker then all the pictures I've seen of the 686+ PC and for the two I've handled in person ..

These almost appear black in color at any distance but up close its a very very dark brown !! Looks like the same grips as on the S&W web page in design though .. They seem a bit narrow for my hands so will be looking for a set of grips a bit wider ..which should increase the length to the trigger ..which will fit my long fingers better .. right now I have to adjust my grip ..

Any suggestions would be appreciated ..

Congrats on rejoining the ranks of revolver shooters!

Some comments:
- I carry a Model 60 3" on a Garret Industries holster..works great!
-Yes, shooting 357s out of a J frame is not fun.
-If it is just for the bedside, if she can handle a K/L frame that gives alot of options.
-On my 686 6", I put a set of sq butt targets. Yes there is the "butt crack" but they feel good. You could also go with some Pachmayr Diamond Pro grips. They absorb the 357 recoil very well.

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I will respectfully disagree with you about J frames. At least as a blanket statement. I am sure the alloy frame J guns are just as you say, but the steel frame gun like the one my wife has is not hard at all to handle recoil with 38 Specials. It has enough mass to counter recoil quite a bit. BTW, my wife isn't a big woman; she weighs less than 100 lbs with her clothes on and she has no problems shooting that 3" barrel 60-15 with 38 Special. I won't let her shoot 357 Mags in it though as I don't want her developing a flinch. It does get kind of nasty with full hot 158 grain loads. But, if Whitwabbit's wife can handle a 19 or 66 that would be a better choice, but it is around 10 ounces heavier for the 2 3/4" barrel model 66 as compared to the 3" barrel 60-15.

She liked the feel of a Model 60 which is I believe 24 oz so much heavier then a 15 oz Airweight and the kick seems less but not the 35 oz of the 686 .. which she says feels barrel end heavy ..

Her problem is Carpel Tunnel so she has weak wrist and it is very difficult to hold anything heavy one handed .. and has trouble even two handed according to the balance of what she is holding ..

She's a pretty good shot (Farm Girl) but just can't shoot very many with out inducing wrist pain ..

My wife also has carpal tunnel, but the model 60 doesn't seem to bother her too badly with 38 Special. BTW, you also might try her out on a 2 3/4" barrel model 66 (K frame) and see it feels for her, if possible. It's only around 3-4 ounces lighter than your 686, but it won't be nose heavy with the short barrel. I haven't handled one personally but they look intriguing and as a bonus you get 6 rounds instead of the 5 of the J frame.

Agreed. OP, the most comfortable "J" frame grip/combo I've ever known is the stock Magna's and a Tyler-T grip. I have big hands and this combo really tames the recoil of even Buffalo Bore's 158 Grain .38Special+P's Soft Cast LSWCHP's which is equivalent to low-low end 357 mag pressures/velocity. I prefer their 150grain Full Wad Cutters in normal pressure. They make for a soft shooting load recoil/controllability wise but is very destructive on soft tissue. I train my wife with that load to put 2 pills to the naval and then put the other 3 just below the sternum at 6-7 yards.

I got a set of the new target lookin' grips for a 625, didn't like em as much as the old targets. The old ones firstly, sweep forward a bit at the bottom which helps keep muzzle up. Secondly, they were wider with a larger cross section , which spreads the recoil out over more area. Easier on the hand. Thirdly, they just look better

I checked the trigger pull weight and it's more then my 10 pound gage in DA ,, I suspect its around 12 pounds .. The SA trigger pull is much lighter at 3.8 pounds ..

I would like to get the DA pull down around 7-8 pounds and the SA is about the right pull weight .. will put several hundred rounds through it before doing anything to it !!


Will it lighten some ?? what is the trigger pull on your 686+ ??

I have also noticed the trigger reset is much longer then any of my autos .. You have to release the trigger to almost the full trigger travel length before it will reset to fire your next shot .. All of my autos have much less travel then the 686 .. That will take some getting use to ..

Put it in my Wright Leather Shoppe Cobra holster and has a very tight fit .. I couldn't even get it to seat full when I first tried to holster it .. Wax paper wrapped around it over night did the trick .. The holster is still tight but the 686 draws nicely now ..

I did that with a friend of mine, several years ago, and she settled on the same gun. I was impressed enough with it to keep my eye out for used one, which I found a few years ago at a good price.