I am new to revolvers so please excuse all the questions. If I were to purchase another cylinder for my 686 would it drop right in and fit or is it something a gunsmith has to do?

Thank you,

Charles

A cylinder is the heart of a revolver. It must be fitted, and when it is fitted the old cylinder may not work again. It is not normal to "swap" out cylinders on a double action revolver.

I've done some conversions between calibers and I make it a habit to retain the original hand with the original cylinder. By fitting a new hand with the new cylinder, you could reverse the conversion later if desired, providing the barrel/cylinder gap is acceptable with both cylinders.

Thanks Steve. I'm looking to put an unfluted cylinder on my 686 plus revolver. I won't be swapping back and forth. If I change the cylinder it looks as if I will have to have a gunsmith do this.

I'm certainly no expert, and I think every post I've seen on this topic indicates that the cylinder and hand need to be fitted. However, I switched the cylinder from my 642 with one from a 442 that had been converted to moon clips without any problems at all. Accuracy is good, and function has been flawless after 1000 rounds. Maybe I just got lucky with this one.

Regards,

Dave

Sometimes you get lucky, you may need to adjust endshake with Power Custom bearings.

I have a "tired" 10-10, the cylinder had beat up stop notches and I got a better condition used cylinder and simply replaced it to tighten things up. I had to use 2 bearings to get it "right" but it works fine and I expect it to last my lifetime and beyond.....got lucky I guess. I think the odds of it dropping in are pretty good.

With the newer MIM revolvers, there is less hand fitting involved so your odds of getting lucky are better than with an older, more fitted model. The less fitting the more "drop in" the parts are, I have rebuilt several Ruger GP100's and just dropped in used yokes and cylinders with 0 issues.

You may luck out, but the odds are heavily against it. There are a lot variables in the cylinder of a DA revolver.

As a retired gunsmith, I second the opinion to let a gunsmith do it for you. BUT, I also agree with the chance that by using a used cylinder, it just might drop right in. But, without the use and knowledge of how to use a Range Rod, you still wouldn't know if every cylinder is indexing (timing) properly. You pays yous money and makes yous choice. ....... Big Cholla

I think your best odds are if you retain the old hand and extractor and install the old extractor onto the new cylinder (and use the old hand too).

CAn I ask why you want to trade out the cylinder for? Timing? You are getting it cut for moons? Why Please!!!!