I have been thinking of having a local gunsmith cut my 4 inch 681 down to 3 inch and round butt it.
Having spoken to him today, he suggests getting a 3 inch 686 barrel and fitting it to my 681 instead of cutting a barrel, crowning it and trying to center or remove the barrel markings.
My 681 is a ND, so what dash 686 barrel would match up best? I like the FS look of the 681, just want a 3 incher.
I have confidence in the gunsmith whichever way I go.
What are your thoughts?

To add: I’ve been tossing this around for at least three years now, lol.

I hope the situation has changed, sir, but when I called the mothership late last year they did not have any 3-inch barrels. My plan was to convert one of my 686 snubs to 3-inch then sell the removed BBL on that flea site (to recover some of the cost). That said, if you find a source for 3-inchers them my credit card is coming out within five minutes…

No idea the difference between dash numbers. A 3 inch 681 would be one of the coolest revolvers on the planet. Do it now and post pics.

They were all over the place a few years back but they seem to have dried up. Weird because S&W is still making a 3 inch 686.

The barrels do pop up on Ebay from time to time. I picked up two their recently, I way over paid but eh, what are you going to do.

I have them with Mark at Pinnacle at the moment being swapped on to a pair of 686s. Can't wait to get them back.

They have 3 inch 686 barrels, I just called, at $120+ shipping. No PC barrels left.
The only issue might be where the 686 barrel meets the 681 ND frame, and it required some “fitting”. No clue, maybe someone will chime in.

Thanks, sir, for the update on 3-in barrels! I called today around 3PM and sat in queue for about 20 minutes. Then, it was time to roll out to pick up the woofey from the commuter lot. Hope to get a barrel next week then wait until after their block leave (in August...?) to send it back with either my 4-inch or 2.5-in 686-6. The snubbie has peened lock notches so I think I'll cry about that at the same time. Just a barrel swap - on a 4-in M64 - was $95 including shipping in 2016 ...

Here's mine. I did all the work except the front dovetail.


Great handling gun, I had traded it to my brother, but missed it, and got it back.

Hardest part was contouring the shroud. Cutting and crowning the barrel was pretty easy, as was the round butt conversion.
And cost was minimal, just the dovetail and the tritium front sight, as all I used was a dremel, files, sandpaper and a crowning bit.

Not quite the same, but I recently bought this:

Attached Images

'686 Plus 3.jpg (179.7 KB, 89 views)

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Foster Positivity.

my thoughts on the matter.


Quit wastin' time & get 'er done

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Devil's afraid I'll take over.

Mike,

You can send it to me. I have a hacksaw and a dremel




On a serious note - I actually bought a 4" barrel that was a take-off and was planning to send it out for shortening. It is just sitting on my desk at work if you want it for an experiment. I got distracted and bought a 681 3" quad port

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On the Oak Savannah

Thanks much Scott, but this is serious business, no experimenting..

Come on Nedroe, it’s only been 3 going on 5 years.

Here's my cut down model 64. Also round butted.

A couple of 64's that I had cut by Lewis Throne.

One RB and one SB.

Attached Images

DSCF2464.jpg (121.6 KB, 98 views)

^^^^^^
Wow..Those are really handsome looking. What I like the most is the beautiful finish. If I could duplicate that on my "bubba" custom jobs, I would be a happy camper.

Nice grips too, nicer than my "topographical map" appearing Altamonts.

One additional issue with using a 3" 686 barrel is the ejector rod.

The 3" 686s were manufactured with both a full length ejector rod and the snub nosed length ejector rod.

So you might need the ejector rod parts as well depending on which barrel the factory has available.

If I was planning to shorten the barrel of a 686, I would cut off at the point that would allow me to retain the standard ejector rod and it's locking mechanism. I may not end up with an exactly 3" barrel but I wouldn't really care. I don't own 686 so I'm not sure of the measurements but it would be easy to figure out even with the full length underlug.