What Older N Frame Do You Recommend?

zogger

zogger

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I presently own a 686 6" and also a Model 60 3". I am considering my next SW purchase to be an blued N frame in .357 Magnum with a 4" or 5" barrel. While my other guns were bought new, I am leaning toward buying an older gun this time. If I buy a used gun, I'd buy it locally so I can check it before I by it. So this reduces my options to what is available locally but since I am not in a hurry, I can wait to find the right gun.

This will be a range gun not a safe queen.

Suggestions as to what model to look for?

I will also post this in the 1961 to 1980 section of the forum.

Txs!
 
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Range gun a 6" 28 (1955/56 to IIRC late 80s) or any vintage 27 from the 1935-40 Registered Magnum if you wallet can handle it; to a mid-90's dash-6; or my personal favorite a 586...... the blue steel version of the 686.



Note: the 27/28 is a larger N-frame than your L-frame 686 with a longer trigger reach...
 
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The 28-2 is the same gun mechanically as the 27-2 and the differences are the 28-2 doesn't have the 27-2's checkered steel top strap or the 27-2's high luster blue. This was done by S&W to lower the cost of the 28-2 for sale to police which led to the name of the 28-2 being the Highway patrolman.
 
Ultimate N .357

Zogger52:
You are setting yourself up for a great experience! You have already been given some really good advice by other members of this forum. You have many choices, to arrive at your goal. You could look for the ultimate choice in N frame .357 magnums, the best looking, best trigger & action, perfect bbl. length, and good recoil absorbing weight, the S&W Mod. 27 3.5" Revolver. It is considered by many folks, myself included, to be the nearest to perfect .357 Mag. revolver in existence. You could also start with a lower grade .357 revolver, and enjoyably work your way to the top. ether way you will enjoy yourself. When you get up to the Mod. 27 revolvers, there is no bad length, and they were available in more different lengths than any other revolver that I know of. You could spend a lifetime deciding on the one best for you. Get started, and enjoy yourself.
Chubbo
 
27-2 would be great, if you can find one. I'm hoping to get a 5" myself pretty soon, but holiday expenses are getting in the way.

No one has mentioned a 27-3. Sure, you give up the pinned barrel and recessed charge holes, but mechanically they are fine and usually considerably less expensive as the collectability just isn't there. No one but an expert will know the difference watching you shoot at the range.
 
I've got a nickel 5" 27-2 for gazing at, and a 27-6 for shooting....

-2, thru -6....any of them, it's not like the endurance package benefited the .357 like it did the .44.
 
As others have said, the model 27 or 28 (Highway Patrolman).

Model 27's, particularly the 4 inch variety, are quite costly. In 95%+ condition, you're talking over a grand, probably ~1200+. The 28 is getting up there too. In like condition, they are going ~800 or so.

Here's a really cool one to look for: model 520. It's a model 28 with fixed sights. Those were only made for the NYSP in 1980, then the order was cancelled. It's a very cool gun in my opinion, and like new ones seem to go for ~900.

Now, you say you want an older one. Consider the new 'Classics' models too. While they do not have the pinned barrel or counter-bored chambers, and they do have that key lock, they are still VERY nice guns. The Performance Center makes them, so they are the best production guns you can currently get from S&W. From my own experience, the Performance Center makes VERY nice guns. Honestly, the PC guns that I've owned were TIGHTER than all the older P&R revolvers I've owned.
 
Is the .357 magnum caliber your main criteria? I ask because your 686 can handle anything an N frame .357 magnum can. I can understand if you do not want to invest in another caliber. But an N frame to me needs a caliber starting with the number 4. Don't get me wrong, I had a beautiful 5" 27-2 that I gave to my son. It had the best blueing of any S&W I have owned, and I can still look at it or shoot it whenever I want!
 
viceunit said:
Is the .357 magnum caliber your main criteria? I ask because your 686 can handle anything an N frame .357 magnum can. I can understand if you do not want to invest in another caliber. But an N frame to me needs a caliber starting with the number 4. Don't get me wrong, I had a beautiful 5" 27-2 that I gave to my son. It had the best blueing of any S&W I have owned, and I can still look at it or shoot it whenever I want!
Click to expand...

I agree. When the original Registered Magnum came out in the 30's, the metallurgy at the time required that the .357 mag pressure be contained by the thick-walled cylinder of the N-frame.

Advances in heat treating and metallurgy made the N-frame .357 with 6 chambers 'obsolete' in the functional sense. Some even point out that the heavy cylinder 'batters' itself with fast shooting prematurely.

I'd say that the N-frame is best suited to the .41 magnum or the .44 special. Full-throttle .44 magnum seems to beat up the yoke tube.
 
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