686-4 7 shot 3 inch ????need good advice please

twomoons · Jan 21, 2012

guys,i was at our local gun show today. i spotted a 686-4 7 shot with a 3 inch barrel. ithe gun also has the same night sights as the 666-4 carry comp guns.the rear sight has the dovetailed base.the smith wesson letters on the left side of barrel are the larger style letter like the newer production guns.the dealer swears its a lew horton gun.because of the 3 inch barrel.guys,i just about bought gun,but put it on hold,untill i can get some advice here.i wish i would have had pictures..my questions are ,does anyone know if smith wesson made a 686-4 3 inch shot gun??the gun is not ported,and there are no lew horton letter on top strap.,or in the serial number.i would love to buy gun,but part of me thinks the gun has been rebarreled.i though all the 686-4 guns had the older longer,not inletted sight base???.anyway, i sure would appreciate any advice guys,as i have to let the guy know when i go back to show in the morning.the gun looks great,but i sure have some questions about if it is all factory original.there is no box.thanks for advice guys

18DAI · Jan 21, 2012

PM sent.

Regards 18DAI

twomoons · Jan 22, 2012

guys, i was up to midnight trying to find and info on this gun.the the barrel looks eactly like the 3 inch barrel on the curent production 3 inch gun. the left side is s&w 357 magnum,in large letters
.thats almost a clincher its a rebarreled 686 7 shot gun..now the next part,what is a good value on this gun.its got a lot of neet features all of us love.is the rebarrel to 3 inch a big problem.??
and the heavy duty night sights from smith wesson are not cheap either.someone paid a lot of money for this gun to be put together.what are your guys thoughts on a fair value.cosmetically the gun loooks 98% ,in mint shape

bassoneer · Jan 22, 2012

I have a 4" gun exactly as you described...686-4 7 shot. I have been craving a 3" barrel of the same model, but if it was made (like the Horton model) they are scarce. If the gun was re-barreled and it shoots well and it looks like they did a professional job, then I'd say it is a probably a great gun. You are certainly on top of things to put in as much research effort as you have done...if this is for a pure collection effort, and it was re-barreled, then maybe it has less value - but only to a collector. For me, a 3" barreled 686-4Plus would be a fantastic gun to carry and have fun with at the range. Hope that helped, but if the price was reasonable, and I had the money to allocate for it, I would give it serious consideration because it sounds like a very good and fun gun. Probably no way he would let you shoot it is there? And how much is he asking for it? I would guess it is worth $650 or maybe more. Good luck, B

twomoons · Jan 22, 2012

bass,,
i agree.when i first looked at gun,it looked 100% factory.all the work done to it was that nice..the owner swears its a lew horton gun,but from my experience,and with the great help of the sw pro's on here.it can't be a lew horton gun,as the stampings on barrel are a current production size letter .and the 686-4 was made in the mid to late 90's.but the gun looks like someone fulfilled a dream of wanting to have a 7 shot 686 with a 3 inch barrel with heavy duty night sights.the gun is tight,and as new.i wish i had one day to call smith wesson,and see if anything was done to this 686 at the sw factory.i would get it in a heartbeat if the work was done at smith wesson.anyway bass,thanks friend.i have to meet the dealer at 8 at his table.it will be interesting to see if he can see what i can see.some people,and deaolers,put blindrs on to reality,just to make a buck.the gun also havs a set of finger groove combats that are some of the nicest i have seen also.just beautifull.the wood combats are worth 150 to 175 .

one eye joe · Jan 22, 2012

IMHO. originality be damned ! ! ! It's a great sounding revolver with very desirable features. If you like it, buy it and shoot the snot out of it. I have a no dash fitted with a 7 round cylinder by S&W. NO, it's not original and NO I don't care. It's a GREAT revolver........

18DAI · Jan 23, 2012

twomoons, did you get it?

Regards 18DAI

Centurian77 · Feb 10, 2012

Check the cylinder gap and lock. Check for timing issues. Call S&W with the serial number and see if it came through them for the re-barreling. Otherwise S&W will take the low road and void any expressed warranty. Trust me, get this one verified that they did the barrel work otherwise you will be on your own if something is wrong additionally mechanically.

I am very leery of seven shot revolvers now that I ran into an issue where S&W cut the timing incorrectly, then S&W damaged the revolver after it was sent to them for repairing the timing issue. S&W then sent it back to me in non-working condition along with taking the low road to tell me they won't warranty a revolver if it had ANY custom work done on it. A barrel change would count as custom work and if they didn't do the barrel swap and you run into timing issues, you are on your own. Not to many gunsmiths know how to re-cut timing on a seven shot revolver.

C77

686-4 7 shot 3 inch ????need good advice please

twomoons

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18DAI

Absent Comrade

twomoons

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bassoneer

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twomoons

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one eye joe

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18DAI

Absent Comrade

Centurian77

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