I am in the market for a .357 mag, but was thinking of putting a red dot sight on it. Is this feasible?

Yes. Here's my 629 with a Burris Fast Fire 3 and an Allchin mount.

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Foster Positivity.

I have an Ultradot on my 686.

TRR8 or R8 come from the factory ready to go

I don't have any red dots on my revolvers, but have a Trijicon RMR on a Glock 19 and a older doc 3 on a Glock 17. If your of the age that the front sight is fuzzy, it's a great option. The ability to just focus on trigger control, grip etc... not worrying about sight picture is really nice.

I have a J point on my 625, just wish you could turn it off when not in use. Other than that it's great

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NRA Life Member
CPO

I have red dots on several revolvers:


ndPistols-1728.jpg.html][/URL]

Dale53

Jpoint on a 986 using their S&W mount. I think the Alchin looks better.

like this??

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Dave T

My 686 competitor and vortex SPARC on an American Defense QR mount.


Standard 686 with same optic setup except I used a Warne Maxima rail.
Both guns I could remove the optic for iron sights and quickly put the red dot on and it stayed zeroed.

My 627 Pro Series has the FFlll and Allchin set up. I love it.

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I like the Fast Fire III on an Alchin mount. I also like the C-more. C-more with a 16 minute dot for Steel shooting is the best I've found.

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I have decided that I want to buy a 4-5 inch barrel and a competition quality gun. I will be carrying it in open carry so I am looking for something I can holster. How do I find the right rail? Alchin? FFlll? Which gun?b686 or 627?

Went to their site but could not figure out which mount you have on the gun pictured. I like that setup. What's the part number?

On the Allchin home page click on STS scope mounts at the top left of the page. You're looking for the S&W mini STS scope mount. Available in silver or black.

BTW any factory gun you buy won't be competition ready. In the last two months three friends have purchased 9mm Performance Center revolvers and all three have needed a little action work to be ready to shoot. My 627 pictured above had a terrible D/A trigger when purchased. It really doesn't take much work on these new guns to get a really nice 2lb. S/A and 8lb. D/A trigger but it needs done.

My R8.

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I have a 625 with the J Point using the J point mount... sits very low on the frame.

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Randy
Provenance nerd

I have a JPoint on my hunting handgun, it sits right in the rear sight channel.

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

Do you use the hood when not in use, it saves on battery life.

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

I found the Allchin mount, thanks. One thing I noticed is that it uses two screws to mount it. The Allchin description mentioned that some pistols come pre drilled and tapped. Is this true or do I add that to my list of things for the gunsmith to do?

I did go back to the S&W revolver section and didn't find any pistols that looked like the had pre drilled holes near the rear sights. Am I missing something?

Any S&W with the rounded front on the rear sight will be factory drilled and tapped.

Right around 1994 S&W started drilling and tapping new revolvers. As mentioned in the last post, if the front of your rear sight base is rounded, it is drilled and tapped underneath. You need to remove the factory sight.

Thanks, now to pick out a pistol. I was hoping for a .38/.357 mag in a med sizes frame, (to carry non CCW), that would be relatively accurate out of the box. I am willing to pay for a performance weapon, but they seem to be only available in a larger frame. Should I buy a "standard" gun? Or am I missing something?

I've found the L frame guns to be scary accurate with some pretty nice triggers right out of the box. You can buy a 686+ that holds 7 rounds. But I do like the fact that the 627 holds 8 rounds and is set up for moon clips from the factory. For non CCW I wouldn't let the few ozs. difference bother me.

Is the 627 an L frame? I did like the looks of the 686ssr, but it only holds 6 rounds. The pictures in the catalogue do not give you a good idea of the difference in size. Any idea where I can go to actually see or hold it?

Here is my 617-6 (22RF) with a Burris FastFireIII in an Allchin mount. It was already drilled and tapped.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Most of the top shooters at the Steel Challenge Nationals competition were using a C-More Railway red dot.

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Thanks, I have decided on a 686 Pro Plus and will use the Allchin rail with the Burris FF3. Does anyone make a holster that will fit this rig? Non CCW of course, something I can wear in the back country.

I have a question for you red dot experts: why do all the Bullseye shooters seem to prefer those large tube style red dots? You hardly ever see them using the smaller ones like J-point, etc. What do the tube sights do that the small ones don't?

Bullseye and Bianchi shooters are learning to use the smaller dot sights. Doug Koenig who has won Bianchi more than anyone else now recommends the Reflex sights.

Holsters are available from a variety of manufacturers. I use a Safariland. I also have DDAlpha and CR-Speed. All work well with a dot mounted sight. There are many other holsters that work as well.

I have been looking at numerous websites and called a few custom holster companies, but can't seem to find one tha will fit a 686 with a red dot. I would appreciate model numbers, if you have them. Thanks.

Look into Safariland

Mine ain't pretty, but it shoots damn well.
20151116_084317 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Which Allchin mount fit the Burris FF3? I'd like to do the same on a Model 29-3. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Don't go big and don't go cheap.

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Smith & Wesson mini STS mount from Allchin works well with the Fastfire III.

Forum member revolver_ph makes a mount for the mini red dots and sells them on the forum. Your gun has to be drilled and tapped. I just received mine and put a Burris Fastfire III on my 617. I don't have a photo but it is very small, sturdy and non-intrusive. It is great. Check him out.

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SWCA #2922

When thinking of your red dot, think about the size of the dot. The standard dot in a Burris FF3 is a 3 minute dot, and they offer a larger 6 minute (?) dot. For action shooting the larger dot is highly recommended, as the small dot can be hard to pick up in bright light

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

My 617 with Raptor Engineering (my design/fab) mount and clone sight:

Hi Dale...what model Smith is that in the top photo of the 3?

That's pretty Dave, those woodgrips look good...Should do that with mine.