This is all a very interesting thread, as I have several 686's and have been thinking for quite awhile to do this very modification to one of them. While I love the 686s and find them to be the most accurate handguns of any type that I have ever owned, the full lug makes it a bit tiresome to carry all day long. These days I spend a lot more time hiking in the wilds than I do at the range, so carry weight is very important. The 6" barrel is perfect for sight radius and max velocity, but the lug is unnecessary for my purposes.

The question is, whom do I send my pistol to to get this done? I saw Cylinder & Slide mentioned earlier. Anybody else that I can entrust my 686 to that comes recommended? One reason I want to chose a gunsmith very carefully is that a few years back I was talking to a master gunsmith about this mod and he said it needs to be done VERY carefully because if it's rushed, it can overheat the barrel and ruin the accuracy. A little metal needs to be milled off then wait for it to cool, then a little more, etc.. This is very laborious so a not-so-good gunsmith may be tempted to do a hack job.

By the way, I carry my 6" 686 for protection against bears, mountain lions, and 2-legged meth monsters up here in Idaho, and feel is it about perfect. Sure a .44 mag would be good too, but I just don't want to carry all that weight. I want max velocity out of my 686 so I won't go shorter than 6".

Any recommendations for a good gunsmith would be much appreciated.