I took my new 686 to the range today to shake it out. I first tried a cylinder full of 38 sp then one of 357. Nothing blew up or bent. So far so good. However, after about 20 rounds the action became very stiff. At first I thought maybe dirty cylinders but brushing them made no difference. After it happend a couple more times I correlated it to revolver being warm from firing. If I let it cool off, everything was fine but once it warmed up it started hanging.

Once I got home I stripped it and checked the internal lockwork just to be sure there was nothing stuck in there. The ejector rod is not loose. The cylinder gap looks good. The only thing I can see that looks wrong is if I put some empties in the cylinder and dry fire, the gap between the cylinder and the recoil shield is barely enough to let the cases pass cold. On my other S&W revolvers there is some room there

Unless someone has a suggestion for something else to try it looks like I will have to call Smith and Wesson and arrange to return it for warranty work.

Put a empty case in it and put it under the firing pin, now take a set of feelers and measure the clearance and we will see. while you are at it measure between barrel and cylinder to. Plus there is one place most never look at, where the cylinder end that goes on the yoke is there a gap between the two or rubbing agaist it?

Carry an old tooth brush in Your range bag, and every so often, clean the unburnt powder from between the extractor and cylinder, using that soft tooth brush.

Hope this helps!

there is a recall on the older 686 and 686-1, they hang up with high pressure ammo, what vintage is your gun?

0.004 to 0.005

0.004 to 0.005

There is a gap of about 0.024

I also measured between the case head and the recoil shield where I think it is binding. The gap there is <0.0015 to 0.0025.

686-6. I just bought it new about two weeks ago.

Para I just took my new 686 out this weekend as well and noticed the same exact thing, it turns out the ejector rod was loose. When it loosens it makes it tough to swing the cylinder out. So it's worth a check..

Whoops read past the fact it's not loose...nevermind.

You don't have enough head space on your baby, it should be .006 from the case to the shield. I set mine up to .006 in the front (casing end)and back (barrel)of the cylinder. You need to give Smith & Wesson a call on this one, befor you do make sure there is nothing on the back side of the extractor, because stuff will stick to it and not seen at first.

.006 is the lease that you can have between the case brass and the recoil shield and the most is somewhere around .009 . Any more or less can cause problems for you. I had the problem with the first match gun I built, after the fix I shot 250 rounds as fast as I could reload to test it. Could cook eggs on that barrel .

I also measured between the case head and the recoil shield where I think it is binding. The gap there is <0.0015 to 0.0025.[/QUOTE]

Is this area ruff and marked from the cases going across it? Boy a picture would help. You may need to take a file and cut the high area, but don't do that till you can show where it is. If nothing else draw a picture of the full recoil area and shade the area in question.

Yes and there are scratches following the path a case head would take as it moves upward. I'll see if I can get a picture that shows it. The light has to be just right to see it.

Is it:
Heat
Burned or unburned powder

I been thinking about the gun, how well does the cylinder open and shut? The yoke may be bent, if you have to give it a little push to shut is a give-a-way. Plus you didn't say anything about the file - just don't use it - if it needed it they would have done it at the factory . I know you don't have the toolbut to get a Idea take a straw from Micky-D's and cut off 2 1/2" and split down the side and take cylinder off and roll the straw up and put into the yoke and install it- eyeball it with the center hole.

Near as I can tell, the yoke is aligned true.

As promised (pictures link to hi-res image):

I see it, has to be the yoke or one other thing - did you buy the gun new or used? If used someone may have swithed the cylinder out for some reason. and cut the surface of the cylinder to get it to fit. On the extractor you have the lugs to turn the cylinder, dead center is a pin to hold cylinder closed. Now does the area between the two look higher than the lugs or the same level as the lugs? On a regular smith you should have almost a 1/16 of a inch clearance on the side where it is rubbing on it (GUESSING). A big gap anyway. Check it out .

Also to check the yoke, remove the extractor rod and inter rod and install it and yoke and hold close the cylinder and shin a bright light in the recoil face and cylinder and look down barrel and see if the firing pin is dead center in the hole. PLUS you have to excuse my poor typing and spelling.

The gun is new. I picked it up about a week ago. I called S&W and they are sending me a shipping label so it will be going back in a few days. I hope the turn around time is not too long. It's brother is at Clark Custom getting a "Service Action Job" and moon clip conversion.

For the 38/357, SAMMI specifies the headspace should be .060 to .074 but, IIRC, S&W specifies .060 to 0.069. I don't have a headspace gauge but checked it with my blade gauges and it is about 0.057. If I can find my calipers before I box the gun up I can get a more accurate estimate using an empty case.

I checked that the firing pin is centered.

Head space is the problem, knew that yesterday. They won't take long, shame a new gun has to go back. Let us know what they find wrong, sorry it wasn't a easy fix . John

Me too. I'll let you all know what S&W has to say.

One good thing from all this is I learned about headspace on a revolver.

Gun came back from S&W today. It looks like the recoil shield was machined back a bit. According to my feeler gauges, the headspace is now .065 inch. Cylinder gap is a uniform .008 inch.

I won't be able to test fire it until Saturday.

Back from the range. No binding at all. I only had time to push 200 rounds through the new gun but I think I can say that any zombie which dares get closer than 75 feet is dead for good.

Hello all...this is my first post... I am just starting out in the joys of owning a gun as I just purchased my very first firearm last week. I did a ton of reading to pick what I wanted and decided on a new 686+. I fired it for the first time yesterday and put about 150 rounds through it (.38special)... as it warmed up I began to notice the cylinder "sticking". The cylinder would not spin very well at all. (Forgive me if my terminology is off.) After taking it home and cleaning it I still noticed the cylinder does not spin true all the time... 9 out of ten times it will... but every so often it seems to come in contact with the frame? Anyways... it sounds as if I may have the same problem as listed by others in this thread. I do not have the tools to measure between the cylinder and frame like the previous person. Should I just contact Smith and ask them to service it? Any suggestions to how or what I request so that it gets done right? I am disappointed to have to send it back... one of the reasons I picked this revolver for my first gun was quality... price was not an issue to me because I wanted a firearm like a Smith and I still do not regret my decision but I am disappointed. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

You might want to start a new thread for this

When "in contact with the frame" is the cylinder open or closed? If open, is the muzzle pointed up or down?

If it drags while firing it could be from powder residue collecting in the cylinders. When the cylinder started dragging, did the empties eject easily? Were the reloads hard to insert?

It is possible that crud is collecting under the ejector star -- that's the part that pushes the cartridges out when ejecting. (To be honest I've never seen a revolver jam from crud under the star but I've been told it can happen). Push back on the ejector rod and look under the star -- be careful because the edges on the star can be sharp!

I'm just a bubba-smith so, hopefully, some of the folks here who know what they are talking about will weigh in.

Thanks for the feedback... the cylinder opens up just fine. I read in another thread that if the revolver is tilted back that the rubbing of cylinder to frame is normal. I cleaned under the ejector rod star, no crud build up. I failed to mention that I did put one cylinder of .357 magnums in it at the range, 125g Buffalo Bore...after all seven rounds the cylinder opened up just fine but the brass would not come out, the ejector rod would not budge. I did not want to damage it so I let it be for a while. An instructor helped me out... after it cooled down a bit. From what I read .357 is no problem for the gun... I also read that the fouling from the 100+ rounds of .38's may have had an effect on the .357 brass sticking because of the size differnce. .38 ammo went in and came out with no problem at all and it does not seem to drag while firing. Still... not what I expected at all from a Smith... maybe my expectations are too high? Do most revolvers have a break in period? Send it back for service or keep shooting it?

This sounds exactly like the used model 14 I bought. The recoil shield was not flat and square around the circumference. The headspace was OK at the point where the firing pin comes through, but got tight at two spots around the perimeter and fired cases would drag there. I ended up having to file the face of the recoil shield and reblue it.

Put fired brass in the cylinder and check headspace all the way around the recoil shield and find the tight spots.