This is a 686P-6 and, as you can see, there seems to be some erosion in the forcing cone. I'm wondering if it is time to have the gun serviced by S&W.

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That's what you have, alright. Usually contracted with long use of 125 gr. Magnum loads. I had two Security Sixes that got worse than that. They eventually started spitting to an unpleasant degree at which time I sent them off to the factory. Ruger rebarrelled both; one gratis, the other at a reasonable charge.

It's likely that S&W still has replacement barrels for 686s. About a year ago I sent in a 19-3 with similar erosion and some endshake. They were able to turn the original barrel back about two turns, remove the eroded portion of the throat, and recut the forcing cone area. Presto-change, "new" barrel breech and throat.

I still shoot 125s but much more sparingly nowadays. I'm thinking of trying 140 grain loads one of these days and reserving the 125s for TEOTWAWKI scenarios.

Hi,
This is normal erosion from shooting light grain 110 to 125 at high velocities. Most rumors on the internet link it to the model 19 because of the flat cut on the forcing cone at the bottom. Any revolver no matter how strong is going to suffer erosion at the forcing cone soon by shooting this kind of round. I have seen split forcing cones on Ruger GP100, SP101 as well as Security Sixies.
Bottom line: Don't shoot this kind of round. Stay with the 140 heavier and clean the revolver at the forcing cone. Left over lead deposits on the forcing cone results in hot spots when shooting which can further wear on a forcing cone.
Howard

Looks just like the GP100 forcing cones I've seen wearing out from firing lots of low weight bullets.

Only thing I ever shoot in my GP100 is 158 grain magnums.

I am positive S&W will fix that up for you.

Thanks for the information.

I was pretty sure it was erosion but I wasn't sure nor was I sure if it was all that bad. This gun has never had light magnum rounds put through it. Maybe a hundred American Eagle 158 gr JSP and a couple dozen handloaded 158 gr XTP over a stiff load of 300-MP. I have a six inch 686 that gets the heavy magnum loads but even there I only shoot 158 gr or 180 gr bullets.

This gun has been fed Speer 158 gr 38+P (Lawman brand), 38 +P handloads using Bullseye or Power Pistol under 158 gr plated bullets or 148 gr DEWC. It has had about 10,000 or so of those through it.

I'll contact S&W and see what fixing it will take.

Nothing special to report. S&W put a new barrel on the gun and sent it back to me. I took it to the range and shoved about 250 rounds through it. The gun went bang! Bullets went downrange. Holes were poked in paper. A wonderful time was had by all.