Hey guys,

I picked up a new 686 + 3" today, and I think there's a problem with the trigger. Single action pull is fine, very nice. But, double action pull has a weird binding at the end of the pull. Right before the end of the pull, the trigger stacks suddenly, and comes to a stop, then requires an additional 3 or 4 pounds to break. It breaks after that like a nice semi-auto single action pull. It reminds me of a Sig, like "breaking a glass rod," only much, much heavier. My friend has a 686, and his does not do this at all. His has a consistent and smooth pull from front to back, and the hammer drop surprises me at the end of the pull, because there is no stacking at all. I'm pretty sure his is functioning properly, and there's something wrong with mine. With my issue, after the initial pull, when I hit that wall, the sudden stop causes the sights to jump, and when it finally breaks, I'm no longer on target. It seems to happen at exactly the time that the cylinder completes its rotation into lock. It doesn't occur when I pull the trigger with the cylinder open.

Now, here's the really strange part...

It only happens when I pull the trigger with my right hand. When I pull the trigger with my left hand, I only feel the faintest stacking at the end, and it is much easier to pull the trigger through from front to back smoothly. Unfortunately, I'm not left handed, so that's not really helpful.

Any idea what could be causing that?

Thanks guys.

Maybe the strain screw is loose. ?

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

Nope. It's tight.

Forgot to mention that I put 100 rounds of Magnum ammo through it today hoping it would "wear in" and maybe get rid of the problem. No such luck.

Only an idea. My 686 has a great trigger. Has since new. My new 69 had a really heavy trigger. So I checked the trigger rebound spring. It was an extra power spring. Both l frame guns. A couple years apart. Maybe you have one of the extra power springs. That’s the next simplest thing I can think of.

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

Same thing with ammo or dry fire? Does it feel like there's any binding when you cock the hammer for single action?

It's time to contact the Mothership and send it back. Continuing to do that could screw up the hand.

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Foster Positivity.

I know that the rebound spring must be pretty heavy, as I've already given myself a sore finger from dry firing. I might try to replace that and see if it helps.

It happened when I was shooting, and I threw some empty cases in it to double check dry firing. Happens when loaded or unloaded. And yes, I do feel it when I cock the hammer.

Is there something obvious that I could see that would tell me if the hand is being damaged?

Listen and LOOK for the cylinder stop dropping as you pull the trigger on an empty cylinder. If your binding takes place AFTER the cylinder is locked in place you have a HAND/Cylinder Stop Bind. The correction for this condition is to have it repaired at the Factory. NOTE: if your revolver was manufactured post 1989 it has a Lifetime Warranty and this repair won't cost you anything except the gas to get it to Fed Ex.

I took it apart this morning and gave it a stoning on the frame under the rebound slide and around the hammer and trigger studs. I also stoned the rebound slide. Didn't help, but I thought it was worth a shot. I didn't notice any burrs in the rebound slide, and the spring looked normal.

When you say "cylinder stop dropping," you mean when it pops up into its notch on the cylinder, right? Yes, that happens before the binding, and it seems that the binding starts at exactly that time, right when the cylinder stop pops up and locks. Guess I'll be sending it back to Smith. This is the part where I complain a lot.

Oh, but before I do that, allow me to thank you all for your helpful feedback. I really do appreciate your time and knowledge.

What you have is an issue with the way the hand is fitted to the ratchet, the lock comes up into the notch while the hand is still pushing on the ratchet. When you shoot left handed the torque on the trigger is just the opposite and serves to "shorten" the stroke of the hand. I've seen guns that lock up fine right handed but don't lock up left handed unless the trigger is pulled briskly and centrifugal force helps out.
Time for a trip to Springfield!

Ah, of course. I've shot it 100 times, and dry fired it who knows how many more. Is there a chance I've damaged the hand and ratchet by doing so?

Is that "flag" next to the hammer interfering somehow?

Probably not. Even if you did the factory will replace the hand and the ratchet during the repair. I just bought a PC 686+ with the vent rib that would lock up solid to the point where you couldn't even get the gun to cycle. I filled it with empty cases and dry-fired the snot out of it to maybe loosen things up, it helped a bit but didn't cure it.
Sent it back to the factory, got it back in 3 weeks to the day, new hand and new ratchet. Now it works perfectly.

I sent the revolver back Wednesday. Yesterday I recieved the new holster and ammunition I ordered for it. I really wish S&W would stop selling revolvers with defective triggers. This is 2 out of 2 revolvers I've bought from them that had to go back. The first one had to go back twice. Here's to waiting.

Sounds like a classic case of the hand being too wide for the ratchets, creating a bind at the end of the trigger stroke.

A .002 thinner hand usually is enough to fix the issue.

Also, most Smiths will not time as well left handed as they do right handed. This occurs on most of my Smiths. Some are about equal for both sides, but I have never figured out why or how to get them both the same.

I'm interested in how it works when it returns, please report on the repairs. Thanks

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Have no answer, but I got one better than that. I bought a new M18 years ago TT, TH. Everything was fine but you couldn't get the trigger to move in DA with the left hand, SA was ok. Local Smith fixed it but he didn't tell me how.

Left-handed, right-handed and binds on only one side? While there may indeed be something wrong with the revolver, this probably means you're not pulling the trigger straight back. With all due respect, you need to work on your shooting technique!

IMO, too many suggestions here. I'd quit messing with it and send it to S&W. Frustrating I know, but why proceed further trial and error. ? Just sayin'

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John

I'll admit that I skpiied righ tto the bottom...so this may already have been said.

Open the cylinder, pull the trigger, does the end of pull issue still happen?

The reason for this is because my 627 Pro purchased new in late 2016 was doing that and it was a timing issue. My gunsmith went over it, adjusted it, and everything works fine now.

Happy ending. I received my revolver back today, and it is fixed. The trigger is much better at the end of the pull. There's still some hesitation at the last 1/4" of pull, but it's nothing like it was, and I don't think it will throw my sights off target like the wall that was there before repair did.

I'm overwhelmingly relieved that they fixed it on the first trip back. The only way I could be happier is if the defect hadn't been overlooked by S&W quality control in the first place. Oh well, after these 2 experiences, I guess I can either come to grips with this being a necessity for purchasing new S&W revolvers, or just not buy them. I like this one, so maybe the former will win out.

Thank you guys for all of your advice. I feel blessed that I live in an age where knowledge is available upon request just by pressing buttons on a keyboard, and that there are people out there willing to share theirs.

The service bill said:
Defective trigger
Evaluate/Repair
Replace hand
Replace Extractor
replace Hammer
Repair Sear

For your next revolver purchase maybe you might want to look for something older and already used. Any problems like that were cleared up years ago in a used revolver. Just saying, The past couple I have purchased were over 50 years old and have the sweetest triggers and not a single problem-even S&W's up to 100 years old. They don't make em like that anymore! Enjoy

just ran up to the range and fed it 120 rounds to test it out. Point of impact was much better, and group was tighter. What a blast to shoot this is! Shot mostly 125gr magnums, but bought a box of 158gr magnums to see what they felt like. They were strong! But, not unmanageable. I'll stick with 125gr for carry, though.