Hello everyone,

I'm the very proud owner of a brand new 686 6" 7 shot revolver. My first ever revolver and first ever S&W.

Being new to revolvers, and buying guns in general, I have admit I don't quite know the ins and outs and am in the learning phase of buying firearms.

Perhaps ignorance is bliss, but when I gave the downpayment for this revolver (to start the 10 day wait period) I looked it over and liked what I saw.
Days later the internet smacked me in the head, IL malfunctions, canted barrels, QC going downhill, etc. - suddenly I was concerned about my $799 pistol before I'd even received or shot it.

Once I finally received the 686 yesterday I noticed two issues I missed when first looking it over, granted I knew to look for these issues now because of these very forums. I don't consider the IL to be a problem I'm concerned about.

1. Slightly canted barrel
Admittedly I didn't (know to) check the barrel "clocking" or "canter" close enough at my local dealer. Upon more careful inspection the barrel is slightly rotated to the left., which I didn't notice until I carefully viewed my gun from a birds eye perspective. From there I could see that the grooves on the top of the barrel weren't perfectly aligned with the grooves on the rear adjustable sight. They are barely off, but still are off. For example, looking through the sights I see nothing out of whack, but do notice a discrepancy where the barrel meets the frame (see pic 2).

2. Slightly loose hogue grips
When gripping the pistol tightly if I shift the pressure from up/forward to down/backward and vice versa the grip will slightly move and click. I assume I can perhaps tighten the grip or lay down some filler underneath it for a more snug fit.

This being said, I still think this gun is awesome and don't regret purchasing it. Also, since this is only the second gun I've purchased (other being a Glock G21) I really didn't expect firearms to be perfect (at least the types I'd be looking at).
However, after getting sucked into S&W internet reading, I can't help but wonder should I expect it to be perfect? Should the barrel be absolutely straight even if it fires true as is?

I'd like to share the pictures that show where the barrel meets the frame, get your opinions on if I should expect (demand) perfect alignment or what.

I do not mind sending it back to S&W for warranty work (if it falls under such), but I don't want to nitpick on something the general gun (or S&W) enthusiast has dealt with for decades with no concern.

What say you?

I'm hoping to hit the range next week and put some 357s and 38s through it, I'll follow up here on my thoughts. I'm really looking forward to firing this new beast and enjoying it for the rest of my days.

Welcome to the forum! We're glad to have you!

Nice gun. You just cannot go wrong with a 686.

Take a deep breath... your gun looks fine to me. What looks 'off-center' may be the 'line up' with the sight plate. If you're still worried, send that pic to S&W and ask them what they think. Your new S&W has a lifetime warranty (that's my understanding though I could be wrong).

Maybe it's just the downside of the internet; but companies sell a million products and the few complainers make it sound like all they make is junk. New S&W's are great guns and worth what you pay.

Another thing to note; lots of people 'attention focus' on minor issues with otherwise really nice stuff. Like getting that first door ding on a new car.

IMHO; take that bad boy out and shoot the heck out of it. Put some targets out at 75'-100', focus on the front sight and squeeze that trigger gently....BOOM...you're going to be really happy with your gun when you see how accurate it is!

Again, welcome to the forum!

__________________
But then, what do I know?

First, congrats on a fine weapon. I once had one of those myself and it was joy in every way.

Well, that cant is a tough call. If you can live with it, I think it would be alright because it's very mildly canted.

That being said, if it was mine I would send it back because I'm way too fussy with stuff like that.

I am quite positive that if you send it to S&W, it'll come back perfect.

Not much to complain about there, you'll find that smith to be inherently more accurate than the glock and with the added sight radius should be driving tacks in short order. Plastic autoloaders are a good place to cut your teeth then your tastes develop.

welcome to the forum... my 686, and many new ones, have the canted barrel... over torqued, tightened whatever you would like to call it. I look at new 686's every time I am in a gun store and see it over and over again. I did not send mine back but I think you should send it in if it makes you unhappy about your new firearm. I will also add that even though my 686 has "the cant issue" it does not affect its accuracy and I just love shooting it at the range.

now those grips are another issue... they should fit snug, try tightening them up or taking them off and sliding them back on to get them to fit better with your new revolver.

__________________
pax

Like the others have said, try it out if it shoots good don't worry about it, I have seen bigger issues if that helps you in any way, post up some pics of your targets

686's are great revolvers and the two I've owned are tack drivers.

Loaded up on ammo today and will look for an opening this week to hit the range. Can't wait to hear that boom. Appreciate the thoughts and comments.

Welcome to the forum. The 686 is a great gun but (and I'm sorry), that one would be in a box and sent back. There's no reason for a barrel to look like that and I make them make it right!

Welcome to the forum! Sorry about your 686 barrel being a bit outa whack. I would send it to S&W and they will make it right.

If you just bought a new car & the hood wasn't aligned properly, What would you do??

Same basic concept here, IMHO

Good way to check a barrel is to take a 12 inch stainless ruler and hold it against each sise of the rear sight and check the gap on the front sight. If it shoot right and the rear sight isn't all the way to one side - it should be ok. It is still better than the tupperware you were talking about.

I'm returning my 686SSR tomorrow for FTF and a canted barrel. It appears all the barrels are canted to the left. I tried to live with the canted barrel but it was really obvious when I switched my front sight to a fiber SDM. The FTF was the last straw. I expect the pro and PC series to be better built. Nylon guns place thin profits on our steel guns and manufactures are obviously retiring the skilled worker. Why a 6" 357?

Congrats on your purchase. I myself like revolvers AND Glocks. I believe both have a place in our gun collection.

Welcome to the Forum also!

My son just sent his new SSR back because of an over rotated barrell. The turn around time was 13 days.

Steve

Both of my early 80's production 581's have canted barrels and those guns will eat up the X-ring at 25 yards all day long.

My 10-14 also has a slight cant to the barrel and I have shot cloverleafs in DA with this gun at the 25 yard line.

There is WAY too much stressing about barrels that are slightly off center. Unless it was so way off that the sight picture was affected or it caused POI issues, I wouldn't worry about it.

There's a lot of stressing over on the Ruger forum with canted SP101 barrels and the vast, vast majority of these "canted" guns shoot just fine.

10 day wait period? Must be Kalifornia

Sorry "stantheman" but I just had to respond to your post. To me, that's alot like saying although the frame on my new car is twisted a little, it still goes down the road straight! S&W must be held to a higher standard than that because believe it or not, some of us not only like the way they shoot, we lik the way they used to look. Why is it that this problem has grown to this proportion but, when one sends a gun back because of it, the gun returns as it should have been in the first place?

Don't let them get off the hook that easily "JotaDe" - you and everyone else deserves better!

Just took possession of a new 686+ 4" a couple of weeks ago and love it. Can't say I've noticed a canted barrel but the first thing I'm going to do when I get home is check it out. Love the action. Way smooth in SA with a really light trigger. Not nearly as notchy as the GP100 in DA. The stock Hogue grip was a little loose too, and slightly too big for my hand so I switched it with a Hogue Bantam grip which fits perfectly and looks great.

...and over on the Taurus & Rossi forums they lament quality issues as well: >20lb DA, <1lb SA trigger pull on the same gun, timing issues, can't dry fire them, rough, unfinished, internals.... It just goes on and on and on. But hey, they cost a lot less too!

__________________
But then, what do I know?

That's a pretty minor cant. If it shoots fine, I would not worry about it.

I bought a 686+ and found out that the grips were lose also. I bought another style grips from MidwayUSA and it fixed the problem.

Congrats on your fine acquisition. I bought a 5" Talo 686 in December and it also had a canted barrel, very similar to yours as well as a timing issue. Called S&W, they emailed a prepaid FedEx label and had it back to me in two weeks with the barrel perfectly straight and the hand and extractor replaced. Locks up bank vault tight now. Hope all works out for you and happy shooting!

Every new 686 I've looked at is canted. My new Governor is not, though. I wonder if the 686 barrels are made with one to many threads?

PA Reb, the whole point of my post is that even when they were made "the way they used to be", they had canted barrels!

I had an M&P from 1922 with a slight cant in the barrel, as well as the 581's from 1982-83 with noticeable cants. I'm sure if I broke out the micrometer many if not all of my older S&W's would have cants in the barrel. I also have a 1978 64-3 with a forcing cone that was fitted too tight. Not every older S&W is perfect either.

S&W makes them to be "within spec", and we pay $6-700 for them. If everything was perfect to within .0001" they would cost $2,000 or more and S&W would no longer be in business. If we're not happy with a gun, we can send them back.

My Dodge Magnum came with a bad transmission mount from the factory, so under warranty it was repaired. Was I ticked off? Sure I was, I paid $35k for a car with a defect. But, it's not a hand built Maybach, it's a mass produced assembly line made vehicle. Mistakes and errors do happen. New cars have uneven body panels, and other cosmetic imperfections.

If you want absolute perfection, you need to spend $10,000 for a hand built Korth.

Mailed the gun to S&W today.
The timing made the decision easy, I'm on vacation next week, and slammed with work this week (ie. no range time). So if I can't shoot it for 1.5+ weeks I might as well have S&W do their thing.

Hopefully shortly after I'm back from vacation I can pick it up with the aligned barrel and fixed grips.

If I needed the gun now I'd have no regret with keeping it as these issues (IMO) are minor and can be lived with. The gun is not my HD weapon, nor am I shipping off to a dangerous area where I don't have time to get this issues worked on.

My biggest regret is not knowing what to look for when purchasing a firearm. I assume most of you are comfortable in gun shops and can take your time, but I'm still getting there. When I was holding the 686 with customers waiting around me, and staff waiting for me to make a decision, well I'll just say I didn't feel like I could take all the time I needed before saying "I'll take it." Add that to not knowing everything to look for when buying a revolver and that's why I'm in this boat. I'll chalk it down to a learning experience and it won't happen again.

Appreciate all the replies and opinions, and will update the thread on the turnaround time and work done by S&W.

I really can't wait to shoot this badboy!

S&W will make it right, that 686 will last you forever

I did the same thing when I bought my 617, it was an impulse buy and it was a good gun, but I never fell in love with .22's. I should have thought it through but I had cash burning a hole in my pocket and the sudden need for a match grade .22 revolver.........I had fun with it, but ended up selling it. And yes, it had a slight cant in the barrel But that gun still ate up the X-ring at 25 yards.

I wouldn't worry about the 'cant" on the barrel. I just purchased a 686 last month. Mine looks exactly like yours i guess that is within tolerances. I took mine to the range and sight picture is dead on.

I had the same grip problem as well. Called up S&W and all I got was attitude. However I sent them an e-mail with a picture and they had new grips to me in the mail the next day.

I love those Dodge Magnums but I disagree with you and any others that believe getting the barrels straight the first time around would add a tremendous cost to the already high prices.

Lotsa luck with that beast you're driving !

The follow up.

Sent the gun to S&W on 4/24, and received it back today - 13 day turnaround door to door.

Both issues (barrel alignment, loose grips) have been corrected and I'm fully satisfied.

Customer service was great for me. I decided to not discuss the problems in detail with the rep on the phone, and instead succinctly detailed what I wanted fixed in a letter with the gun. Hoping that approach would take away the potential disagreement on what was within tolerance and instead put the focus on making me a satisfied customer. It worked.

Today, I purchased a brand new 686 with Hogue grips. The grip is loose and the firearm moves while holding the grip.
I tried tightening the allen set screw on the side of the grip but no benefit. I also tried a washer under the set screw but no benefit.

I fixed the loose Hogue grip by adding a small piece of gortex in the slot of the grip where the frame meets the two piece grip. By the way, the dealer said he never heard of the loose Hogue grip problem = O

Thanks Jotade for sharing the photo of the misalignment barrel. I am on the 10 day waiting and if mine 686+ looks off like yours, I will send it back to SW to get it resolved without hesitation. SW quality control needs to do a better job - both in cosmetic and functionality. This is unacceptable in my book.

my barrel to reciever fit is the same as your's . my grips arent loose though. shoot it and have fun. let me say if it shoots as good as mine you will be very happy happy happy. be safe