686 Plus Unfluted date of Birth

[rduke]

First, thank you all who take the time to assist us with our questions... very much appreciated.

I have justed aquired my third S&W revolver... geez I love these revolvers.
Its a 686 Plus Unfluted stainless 5 inch barrel. The grips are rubber.

I bought is used, but it has been well taken care of. I wonder if anyone may know additional information regarding these beauties. It has a serial # of CNZXXXX
Thank you
Rob.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

July 2010.

 

[bananaman]

First, thank you all who take the time to assist us with our questions... very much appreciated.

I have justed aquired my third S&W revolver... geez I love these revolvers.
Its a 686 Plus Unfluted stainless 5 inch barrel. The grips are rubber.

I bought is used, but it has been well taken care of. I wonder if anyone may know additional information regarding these beauties. It has a serial # of CNZXXXX
Thank you
Rob.

Pictures??? Bob

 

[rduke]

Hey Bob, I most certainly will as soon as I pick up from the store.
Here in Canada, as most of you are aware, we have to purchase the gun, then wait as the Cheif Firearms Officer actually transfer the gun to me. Then I have to apply for an Authorization to Transport to get it home.
Cheers,
Rob

 

[rduke]

Finally - pictures

The 686-6 ...

 

[BLUEDOT37]

That's the 686+ TALO model. Your box's SKU# is 150854, right?

It would have come with "black/silver" 3-5-7 wooden grips from the factory.

Those TALO models came with either a 3", 5", or 7" barrel & unfluted cylinder.

Mine's an excellent shooter.

Enjoy your's.

.

686-6(+) TALO (w/Hogue grips)

(-01)


.

 

[ars1876]

My 5 " has a serial # prefix of CVB42## and the date on the fired case envelope is 01-03- 2014 and has the black & silver wood grips.Hope this helps.

 

[rduke]

@Bluedot37
I bought it used, si I'm not sure what the SKU would of been. How you see it is how I bought it. I thought it was just a 686 Plus. Is there any additional marking to indeitfy it as a TALO?
You have a nice revolver there sir.

That's the 686+ TALO model. Your box's SKU# is 150854, right?

It would have come with "black/silver" 3-5-7 wooden grips from the factory.

Those TALO models came with either a 3", 5", or 7" barrel & unfluted cylinder.

Mine's an excellent shooter.

Enjoy your's.

.

686-6(+) TALO (w/Hogue grips)

(-01)


.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Model 686 Plus 3-5-7 Magnum Series

So the S&W box the 686-6 is on in post #5 is not the factory box for that revolver? The box's label does not match your SN#? The SKU# would be on it too.

From the date the Kernel gave above, July 2010, that would make your 686-6 one of the first ones as they had an introduction date on Oct-2010.

TALO was a distributor that ordered them, to their specifications, from S&W. The fact that it's a 686-6 with a 5" barrel & unfluted cylinder, from the factory, makes it one of the TALO special purchases. At that point in time S&W wasn't making that combination for their standard production revolvers (they do now because TALO dropped them from their line-up & S&W has continued them without "TALO" in the model's description/name). The wooden 3-5-7 grips were the last unique item for them, besides the SKU#.

Personally I (and others) didn't like the feel of the 3-5-7 grips. I took them off right away & stored them, never even taking a picture with them on the gun. I wouldn't let it bother you not having them.

The 3-5-7, in case you didn't catch it, is a .357 Magnum offered only in a 3", 5", or 7" barrel. Catchy.

.

Model 686 Plus 3-5-7 Magnum Series | Smith & Wesson

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[HOUSTON RICK]

When I heard unfluted, I thought TALO which would mean relatively recent (I think). I wanted one. but lost patience and bought the standard 686 plus instead. Congratulations. I imagine a fee comes with each step of the Canadian paperwork?

 

[rduke]

Bluedot37, yes you are correct. I really didn't even notice that on the side of the case... thanks for pointing that out. I guess I was more concerned with whats inside
The SKU is 150181 and of course the SN# matches. I only have the rubber grips, so based on your previous comments... this wouldn't be a TALO?

So the S&W box the 686-6 is on in post #5 is not the factory box for that revolver? The box's label does not match your SN#? The SKU# would be on it too.

From the date the Kernel gave above, July 2010, that would make your 686-6 one of the first ones as they had an introduction date on Oct-2010.

TALO was a distributor that ordered them, to their specifications, from S&W. The fact that it's a 686-6 with a 5" barrel & unfluted cylinder, from the factory, makes it one of the TALO special purchases. At that point in time S&W wasn't making that combination for their standard production revolvers (they do now because TALO dropped them from their line-up & S&W has continued them without "TALO" in the model's description/name). The wooden 3-5-7 grips were the last unique item for them, besides the SKU#.

Personally I (and others) didn't like the feel of the 3-5-7 grips. I took them off right away & stored them, never even taking a picture with them on the gun. I wouldn't let it bother you not having them.

The 3-5-7, in case you didn't catch it, is a .357 Magnum offered only in a 3", 5", or 7" barrel. Catchy.

.

Model 686 Plus 3-5-7 Magnum Series | Smith & Wesson

.

 

[rduke]

When I heard unfluted, I thought TALO which would mean relatively recent (I think). I wanted one. but lost patience and bought the standard 686 plus instead. Congratulations. I imagine a fee comes with each step of the Canadian paperwork?

No additional fees with the paperwork. Just wait times. This recent purchase took 10 business days to transfer to me, then I returned to the shop to pickup (with a Authorization to Transport).

 

[BLUEDOT37]

The SKU is 150181 and of course the SN# matches. I only have the rubber grips, so based on your previous comments... this wouldn't be a TALO?

It seems your's may be a model that came out a few years before the TALO 3-5-7s.

According to the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson #4, SKU# 150181 was made for "Sports South" in 2006. Looks to be the same as the TALOs except for the grips.

If you Google "Sports South" you find their website & it says "Welcome to Sports South, the country's oldest and largest single-source distributor of firearms and ammunition."

Apparently they placed an order, for this configuration, from S&W and distributed/sold them. Another picture I found for that SKU# shows the revolver with the same rubber grips, so it seems they shipped that way. The brown envelope, with the fired case in it, looked like it had a 2006 or 2008 year on it.

Does yours have a fired case envelope with it? It's date is when it was tested & packaged for shipping. The box end label has the date also. It's in a (4) digit Julian date format: yddd, possibly under the SKU#.

Can you post a picture of the envelope &/or the box end label?

.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

The box label will have a 4-digit date code.

OP, is there a number somewhere on the label, like: 0190?

Likely begins with zero. What is that number?

 

[rduke]

Thanks for that information Bluedot37, appreciate it. There was no envelope with the case.
The 4 digit # is 0193.
I have attached a photo.

cheers,

 

[BLUEDOT37]

That date code, 0193, is July 12, 2010.

I rotated the pic for you.

.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

rduke,

Like the Talo guns, does your M686 have both the front sight with the red ramp insert and the rear sight with the white outline? (Can't tell from the pictures you posted).

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

The box label will have a 4-digit date code.

OP, is there a number somewhere on the label, like: 0190?

Likely begins with zero. What is that number?

...The 4 digit # is 0193....

 

[rduke]

rduke,

Like the Talo guns, does your M686 have both the front sight with the red ramp insert and the rear sight with the white outline? (Can't tell from the pictures you posted).

My apologies for the delay in this post, I suddenly got very busy.
Yes, that was certainly close on the date!

It does have the front site white outline with the red ramp on the front.

 

[rduke]

Okay, I'm interested in replacing the grips on this revolver and I have heard lots about the square butt or round butt. Can someone elighten me on whether this has the square or round? I also noticed some grips have the screw in the middle of the grip, where mine currently holding the rubber grips has a screw in the bottom. I want to get it right when ordering.
Thanks