After looking at various second hand ones, shopping around for the best price available in Oz and taking the pick of those in stock where I settled on buying one - I've gone for a good old bog standard 686.

Although all of the new ones that I've looked at in each shop had a very slight, what I could only describe as "scoring", in the first 1/4" of the barrel where there's no rifling, the one I settled on had a lovely straight alignment down the barrel - i.e. no canting, where the others each seemed to have just a very slight, almost unnoticeable one. So I'm quite happy with my choice.

The trigger felt just perfect for me as it is out of the box , just as my M41 did. Now I just need to wait on the vagaries of getting my application to have it added to my license processed before I can pick it up. Fingers crossed that it will be relatively quick so that I can get out and start playing with it and start to learn the best loads for the competitions that I'll be shooting with it.

I'll more than likely add some wood grips and may even have a crack at making some up for it myself (I've got no shortage of lovely timber to choose from - mahogany, ebony, huon pine, scented rosewood, New Guinea rosewood, english oak, teak, crows ash, black-bean, cypress and more others than I can remember without looking ....too many options really )

Congratulations. So much fun to shoot.

Yes, a big congrats to you. I'm sure you will be very pleased with your choice. I've never had the opportunity to shoot a new 686 as my two 686s and one 681 are now 34, 33 and 20 years old but hat alone tells you what a fine gun the 686 is.

Congrats! I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Make sure to post pics with your new grips. Congratulations!

Last year, i thought my most precise handgun is my .44 Magnum Mod. 29-5. But this year i tested thousands of rounds from ransom rest, .44 and .357 and my new 686 Competitor does the smallest groups at 50 meters. Less than half the diameter as the .44 does.
I love nill grips (Karl Nill Maßgriffe | Maßgriffe, Revolvergriffe und Pistolengriffe).
And the best powder so far (i tested 13 different brands!) is RS30 (Reload Swiss RS®)
Yes, i am swiss, and happy to get this stuff around here.

Nothing wrong with 'bog standard'...give those rubber grips a fighting chance, they actually do pretty well. When you are holding them and firing the revolver, you can't really see them.

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Ed

Congrats to you! Wise choice and I'm sure you will enjoy shooting it. I keep on trying to figure how I can make it me everyday carry as it is the gun I enjoy and shoot the best. Forgot to mention, I did change the grips once but ended up putting the rubber OEM back on as the felt the best in my hand.

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CONGRATULATIONS, AND WELCOME TO THE CLUB. ENJOY YOUR NEW REVOLVER. DON'T FORGET PICS, IF AND WHEN YOU MAKE A SET OF STOCKS FOR IT. YOU KNOW HOW WE ALL LOVE OUR GUN PORN…..

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

Welcome to the club!

686 no dash

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Congratulations, excellent choice!

I just started shooting mine again last week, it has been years. Mine is ported and I have shot thousands of rounds through it, mostly lead RNFP 158 grain with 3.5 grains of 700 X. It is delightful to get to know her again.

Thanks for the comments all.

Re the OEM grips/stocks - I've been shooting the club 686 and although the rubber grips are nice and no doubt would suit many just as they are, I find them just a little small for my mitt, whereas the M41 grips out of the box were ideal for me so I'm thinking of perhaps trying to emulate them somehow. I'll be happy to shoot with the OEM ones for a while anyway and changing them isn't a priority, but it's a project that I'm interested in having a play with.

Nice gun. I have the 686 Plus with a short barrel and I love it. It isn't quite the gun as my TRR8 but it was much cheaper. I have a 629 with a six inch barrel and I must admit I can't imagine doing anything with it other than planning a hiking trip in Alaska. I got a four inch 629 afterwards and that suits me better. But if you can use the long barrel, you got a beauty. If it is used, there are videos online for inspecting a revolver for push off, timing, lock up, cylinder shake and spacing. Personally I put Wolff springs in mine and did a good cleaning and a tiny bit of polishing inside. It is smooth as silk.

Let me echo everyone above by saying congrats. I got my 686 6" two years ago. The reason I got it was that it just looked soooooo good. Unlike the Ruger. Anyways, I had some trigger work done and now its one of the most accurate and just fun to shoot handguns I've ever had. As far as the grips go I think factory is fine.

I could probably look it up in my files, but my best guess is that I bought this gun around the mid-1980's. It was the first 686 to hit any of the local gun shops and I bought it at first sight. It has the Patridge style front sight which was different from the standard K and N frame ramps sights, and I liked that. Since I already had a couple Pythons that I shot in competition and a couple M19's, I decided to put a scope on the 686 and use it for shooting woodchucks (really!!!). At that time the old Weaver "clamp it on the front yoke" mount was the only game in town, so I went with that, and although it ain't pretty, I must say that it has withstood many hundreds/thousands of .357 mag shots without budging. Bottom line is that this gun will shoot clover leaf groups at 25 yards and 1" groups at 50 yards all day long, with the old Leupold 2X scope on it. It is still my "go to" gun for testing any new handloads I am working up to test for accuracy. Besides a hundred or so woodchucks, I took probably a dozen whitetail with it before I moved on to the .41 mag, which I still use today for deer. In reality, the 686 (and 586) are equal to the Pythons in quality if not in price, and I wish I bought a bunch of them in the 80's when you could buy them for $300!

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Seriously this Gentleman is CORRECT! When the 686-3 6" was acquired new in 1993 it came home with Hogue's , a box of .38's and .357's and a Gould & Goodrich soft black holster. The bullets are long gone but the rest remains. I never shot it with the original wood grips; they are in the original box. I have small hands and with the Hogue's it is perfect with all types of loads. We all have our preferences...that's the great thing about FREEDOM!!!

PS - you chose very well. Do not ever , ever , ever sell it if it you love it after shooting it. I do not sell S&W's. Lot's of folks here have way more than I (some are simply beyond incredible) yet the one thing you'll read time and time again is that they wish they'd never sold one they had before. I ain't joinin' that club unless life dictates otherwise...

Good choice in revolvers. My first revolver was a Model 686 Plus with 4" barrel. Really fun to shoot. In fact my favorite gun to shoot. I've got some Ahrend wood grips mounted on which I refinished a couple years ago. Nil walnut grips are really nice and I have these on a couple other Smith and Wesson handguns. Enjoy.

Looking to join the club with a 686+ in the Fall.

I'd swear at first look, i thought it was a Taurus Raging Bull with the two separate cylindar releases. If it had the ported barrel, it could be it's twin.

You won't be sorry.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

what do you mean by the two separate cylinder releases Fred?

Congrats! and welcome to the 686 club!

I've had my 686-1 6" since the late 1980s. I couldn't tell you how many rounds have been down the barrel, but it is still my favorite.

My 686 was shipped with the wood target stocks. My hands are medium sized and I find the target stock just a little bit large. I can handle the 686 ok with the target stocks, but for me they are not the optimum for shooting. For pure looks, however, they beat anything else! Target stocks may fit you better than the stock rubber grips. I believe your 686 is a round butt and if you mount target stocks you may need a spacer to adapt the square but targets to your round butt frame.

For shooting the stocks/grips that fit me the best are Bill Davis stocks/grips. They are sized in between the current stock rubber grips and the old target stocks. Davis grips have a coke bottle shape with one finger groove. I find they give a better purchase than most mass produced rubber grips.

Bill Davis is a member on this website and built many top notch competition revolvers in the 1980s-90s, and quite a few on 686 frames. He recently recovered the molds from the company he sold the molds to and is again producing his very fine grip. When I ordered my last pair of his grips he said his favorite 686 was the 5" he used to build. I'll see if I can post a photo of the Davis grips on my 686.

Thanks for the comments, I'd be quite interested to see that photo when you get a chance to post one.

Congrats on the wheel gun. Its a great gun, pre hilllary lock. New ones arent the same even 7 shot. The SEALS still use this model in UDT training and missions, but not the 586. The main difference is the blued version-586 vs. the chromed 686 lol.

I personally love my 586-3 6", groups are always tighter with this old gal. I will never part with my 586.

Sure I have all the semis, glock, sig p226, etc....but nothing compares to the full loads at the range when I take out my old 586 and show the young bucks what a real piece of art does.

Take care and shoot the snot the snot out of it...586 is a prettier gun though..but then again my harley is blacked out cause I hate chrome(it dont get ya home).

UGLY, but COMFY! My 586 has a worn set of Herrett Grips on it. Bought them used on ebay. Were taken off a NYPD Officer's gun. My 686, has factory target grips on it. Enjoy your 686! Bob

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Congrats. I bought a new 686 Classic Hunter back in 89 I think it was, and I have never fired another gun that touches it. Including a friend's Python (although it is close) Best decision I ever made. I will be buried with mine I think.

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yes I know what you mean about selling a S&W, I have sold two and I want both back..One was a mod.41 the other a mod. 28.

Nice find. Love my 686. Go ahead and make some coke type rosesoox grips up. If you dont like the look pm me.

I like my 686 so much I had to have two of them.

Bob

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Mine is a 7" TALO. Like shooting it so well I am taking up handloading. Lots to learn.

The only revolver I own.My local smith gave it a great trigger job.Double action as smooth as silk.Smith makes great revolvers and they sure got everything right on the 686.

Enjoy your 686 mine is 4 inch bought several months ago new. Shoots so well I have no plans to do anything with it except shoot and clean it. In time I'll find a 586

Congratulations and welcome to the 686 club! Good luck and happy shooting!

Sorry for the delay Larks, quite busy at work lately. I'm finally uploading the photos of the Davis grips.

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Great looking 686s everyone. I will be bringing my 4" 686-6 home next week (California) and pictures will be forthcoming.

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RudyN
NRA Patron Life Member

Thanks Tim, very much appreciated mate - looks good.