Late last month, I picked-up a good condition 1987 586-1 from a local shop for around $550. It came with the Pachmayr grips as shown, which are the same grips I use to run on my duty 686 in 1990/91 before switching to a Glock 17. It has some minor rust freckles, but otherwise a solid gun. For some reason, the side plate is polished more than the rest of the gun.
I noticed after I got it home, it didn't have the "M" stamp above the serial number. I've known about this recall for years, but never really looked into what it was about. After searching the internet, I found this excellent article by Revolver Guy detailing the work. If I understand correctly, shooting .357 ammo could pop out a primer enough to hang-up into the oversized firing pin hole and lock-up the gun. They replace the firing pin plate and hammer pin stud with a smaller one. I know people have shot thousands of rounds through these models without issue, but having plenty of other guns to shoot, I decided to send this 586 in for the recall.
Revolver Guy Article link:
The 1987 L-Frame Recall
I emailed S&W and asked if they still do this recall modification. Without even answering yes or no, they just sent me a Fed ex 2 Day air return label. So, I assumed that was a yes. I removed the grips, boxed it up in a generic box, printed out the return label, and took it to my local Fed ex Hub to ship. S&W received it on June 2nd and sent a confirmation email. On June 19th, I received an email from Fed ex that SAW (S&W) had a package coming to me and it required an adult signature. It arrived back from S&W today in a S&W cardboard box (less than 3 week turn around).
The work had been performed and an "M" added above the serial number. The work performed just stated "within recall serial number range". It also showed signs that it had been test fired. The side plate didn't seem like it was fitting flush, so I disassembled it to look inside. What was weird was the hand (the part that pushes-up on the cylinder rachets to rotate the cylinder). It was attached to a stud that had been fitted into the trigger. And the hand was kind of loose on this stud. I've been inside 50+ S&W's over the years and haven't seen anything like it. Every hand I've seen has the pin attached. This was two pieces (hand loosely fitted to the pin/stud). Based on post #2, I guess this is a floating hand used by S&W for a few years. I put everything back together and everything worked as intended. With solid lock-up and timing. And now the side plate was fitting flush.
Once they remove the Stage 2 fire restrictions from my local area, I can finally get out and shoot this gun (along with a few other S&W's I've acquired recently).
I decided I'd share this info. for anyone that has an older 586/686 that falls under the recall serial number range & may want to send it in (if it doesn't already have an "M" stamp). Or you didn't even know a recall existed. I can't guarantee the turnaround time will be as quick as mine, but I was happy I didn't have to wait months to see this gun again.
I noticed after I got it home, it didn't have the "M" stamp above the serial number. I've known about this recall for years, but never really looked into what it was about. After searching the internet, I found this excellent article by Revolver Guy detailing the work. If I understand correctly, shooting .357 ammo could pop out a primer enough to hang-up into the oversized firing pin hole and lock-up the gun. They replace the firing pin plate and hammer pin stud with a smaller one. I know people have shot thousands of rounds through these models without issue, but having plenty of other guns to shoot, I decided to send this 586 in for the recall.
Revolver Guy Article link:
The 1987 L-Frame Recall
I emailed S&W and asked if they still do this recall modification. Without even answering yes or no, they just sent me a Fed ex 2 Day air return label. So, I assumed that was a yes. I removed the grips, boxed it up in a generic box, printed out the return label, and took it to my local Fed ex Hub to ship. S&W received it on June 2nd and sent a confirmation email. On June 19th, I received an email from Fed ex that SAW (S&W) had a package coming to me and it required an adult signature. It arrived back from S&W today in a S&W cardboard box (less than 3 week turn around).
The work had been performed and an "M" added above the serial number. The work performed just stated "within recall serial number range". It also showed signs that it had been test fired. The side plate didn't seem like it was fitting flush, so I disassembled it to look inside. What was weird was the hand (the part that pushes-up on the cylinder rachets to rotate the cylinder). It was attached to a stud that had been fitted into the trigger. And the hand was kind of loose on this stud. I've been inside 50+ S&W's over the years and haven't seen anything like it. Every hand I've seen has the pin attached. This was two pieces (hand loosely fitted to the pin/stud). Based on post #2, I guess this is a floating hand used by S&W for a few years. I put everything back together and everything worked as intended. With solid lock-up and timing. And now the side plate was fitting flush.
Once they remove the Stage 2 fire restrictions from my local area, I can finally get out and shoot this gun (along with a few other S&W's I've acquired recently).
I decided I'd share this info. for anyone that has an older 586/686 that falls under the recall serial number range & may want to send it in (if it doesn't already have an "M" stamp). Or you didn't even know a recall existed. I can't guarantee the turnaround time will be as quick as mine, but I was happy I didn't have to wait months to see this gun again.
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