Is it normal to have brown/orange color in the bore of new revolvers that have only been factory fired? What's the bore supposed to look like? all of mine have color stripes in the bore??? Its not a rust thing.

Copper fouling.

Have you cleaned it?

So then do they always have some color in the bore?

the one 686 showed more visible color stipes on lands and grooves than the others so I cleaned that one.... it took some color out but not gone...

Does what you see look like this,

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Yeah...some. Not that much. No build up, just color

Then it is likely copper fouling from factory test firing. Stop worrying and go shoot the guns.

Welcome to the S&W Forums. S&W, like other manufacturers, test fires each firearm before boxing them for shipment. You should see "burn rings" on the cylinder face, but probably not around all of the chambers, but certainly 1/2 of them. There will be some powder residue and either some light leading or copper fouling streaks in the bore.

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If the factory test fires all guns, doesn't that make buying a gun and never firing it for investment reasons so you can say "never fired" kind of pointless?

NIB condition excludes the mandatory factory test firing. As for me, the few firearms I have purchased as new are definitely no longer NIB. I may still have the box and papers, the firearms are in good condition, but they were definitely not purchased as investments.

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so what do we do about copper fouling?

There are several solvents that are copper specific. Pick up one of those and run a couple of saturated patches through the bore. Let it set for half an hour, then run a brass brush followed by clean dry patches. That should do it if the only residue is from three rounds fired by the factory.

Many copper solvents contain ammonia or ammoniated compounds. S&W warns to not use those on their current (year 2000 to today) blued finishes. If you chose to use such a solvent on one of these revolvers, I would be very careful to keep it off of the exterior of the revolver, only use it in the bore. The issue is S&W's EPA friendly blueing process, the blued finish can turn plum colored when ammonia is applied to the surface.

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Ok. thanks. This one is a 686 but good to know on other guns. I plan on trying Bore tech copper solvent. Heard good things & a more user friendly product. Not so "dangerous" as others.....

I have not found the strong copper solvents necessary in revolvers. IMO the copper comes out much easier. Perhaps the lower velocities keep it from depositing as firmly in the bore. My new Model 19 shows copper very quickly but so far a quick brushing and a few Hoppe's patches and it is gone.
My Model 69 after several hundred rounds stopped collecting copper and also smoothed out enough to greatly reduce lead build up with cast bullets.
That has been my new S&W experience.

Was it actually NEW from a dealer? Or was it from an individual who sold it as "like new in the box"?
Yes, like everyone said, the factory is supposed to, or does rather, test fire any new gun though usually a few rounds, maybe a cylinder full for a revolver
How bad is the fouling? A well made bore really shouldnt have that much copper buildup from so few shots.

New from dealer. Burn marks on 2 holes on cylinder face. No build up just color. Just trying to get an idea of whats normal & what a "clean" bore looks like.......my OCD kicks in pretty hard when it comes to gun cleaning and it pisses me off cuz it makes me shoot less.