S&W 586 vs Ruger GP100

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Willyboy

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I have been thinking about getting a 586/686, but a LGS has a new Ruger GP100 (blue) for $529, a pretty good price. Does anyone have side by side experience with these two revolvers? I would plan on putting a new spring set in the Ruger if the trigger is too rough out of the box. I shoot informal bullseye only, mostly reduced 357 target loads at indoor ranges.
Thanks, Willyboy
 
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Three or four years back I had new samples of 686 & GP, four-inchers.
Side by side testing & comparison.

Bought the Ruger, sent the Smith back.

Just my choice.
Denis
 
joe44va said:
Traded my GP100 for a 686. Better trigger, lighter and smoother even after spring changes.
Click to expand...

This is my experience with owning several of each. The GP100 WILL need springs and some polishing to get decent. I've done a 1/2 dozen or so and it's hard to make a Ruger DA trigger as smooth as a S&W DA trigger though. ( Not impossible but it usually takes professional intervention. ) SA is a different story. Both can be made nice without much effort.
As for the rest of the gun/features. Both are very accurate and well built.
 
Like Denis, I had both a M-686 (pre-Lock) and a GP, stainless. I preferred the balance of the Ruger.

I did no action work on either my GP-100 or my SP-101. Both "wore-in" nicely. So did a Security-Six that I once owned. The SP does have a very heavy trigger pull that I wish was lighter, but I'm afraid to go to lighter springs, as I need reliable detonation if the hammer encounters a tough primer.

I feel the M-686 is nose heavy with four-inch barrel. And it just felt heavier in the hand, with both guns wearing Pachmayr Gripper grips. Holsters were identical Bianchi Model 5BHL in black, and the guns carried about the same on a Bianchi River belt.

I do have a lighter, livelier M-66-3 for most carry, but if I'm firing many heavy loads, the GP-100 has its place. I do NOT fire hot 125 grain or lighter loads in .357 in the M-66 or other K-frame Smith .357's. But some loads, like Winchester's 145 grain Silvertip, are so destructive in human tissue that I don't feel a need for lighter bullets. That load will give about 1200 FPS in even a three-inch barrel.

I think the GP-100 is a better engineered gun than the M-686, and the overall layout and the crane lock are inspired features.
I also think Rugers hold cylinder timing better than S&W guns.

But the M-686 is a very nice, refined 357 that will endure more Magnum loads than most owners should fire. This isn't "range ammo." It is meant for killing animals: four-legged, two-legged, and no-legged.
 
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Really should boil down to which one fits your hand/ hands better. If you like removing the cylinder to clean it then you want the Smith:)
As far as trigger goes a competent gunsmith should be able to give you want on either.
I prefer the disassembly procedure of the Smith. I’ve had both, I really appreciated my 686-3.
Karl
 
GP 100 vs S&W 586/686

Thanks for all the input. I will let the Forum know if I make a purchase
one of these days. Willyboy
 
I have owned numerous GP100 and 686 revolvers. To me, the 686 revolvers are more consistent, where GP100 revolvers will vary more from one particular revolver to another, particularly so in recent production. Once broken in, I prefer the double action pull on the GP100, it is easier to stage the trigger. In single action mode, they are just different, the Smith will be very crisp and the Rugers will be quite smooth. I currently own just the GP100, and I have done some spring changes to it.
 
This ad sums it all up:
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Rented a Ruger GP100 at the range and a friend let me shoot his 686 with a 4 inch barrel and after shooting them both several times I just bought a 686+ PC 2 1/2 inch barrel which isn't as nose heavy as the 4 inch ..

Smoother trigger .. The S&W 686 just feels so much better in my hand and seems to handle the recoil a little better then the Ruger !!
 
I have both a 686 and GP100. Neither have had the bubba treatment of springs or widgets.

Fit and function are great on both. The GP seems to fit my hands a little better and it just feels like a more solid well built gun.

I've kept each but probably haven't shot the 686 in 2 or 3 years. I shot the GP today.

Personal preference thing really ..... you can't go wrong with either one.
 
Different guns.
One is a tank, the other is a luxury car
One is in my nightstand. The other is in the safe
 
Everytime I see that ad, I get hungry. :)

The S&W and the Ruger are both tough as nails. The post that says that one is a tank and the other is a luxury car is just not my experience.

Both are like tanks. The S&W has a better action, in my opinion. The Ruger has no screws to work loose.

On the other hand, when the cross pin that holds in the rear sight decides to be contrary, there is no way to tighten it up.

And, in my experience, the 1970s gun writers who forever complained about S&W sideplate screws working loose were greatly exaggerating the issue.

In the first place, the screws are long enough that if they loosen (and it is exceedingly rare that they do), you notice it LONG before the screw backs out far enough to do anything. Just snug it back.

Secondly, you do not and should not EVER use loctite on the screws on an S&W revolver. It is just not necessary.

So, I view them both as good quality duty weapons. Neither are safe queens, and both are "fit for duty."

The only revolvers that are safe queens are Pythons and Korths (neither of which I own). I suppose a discontinued S&W for which parts are no longer available is also appropriate for putting away. That said, at the time the original owners bought their Registered Magnum or what we now consider a collector's item, they were bought as workhorses.

So, use them both and enjoy them while you can.

Your biggest factor is not wearing out either gun - it is affording the ammo!
 
Sorry, but I absolutely hate Ruger's disassembly push pin system. I finally drilled a hole in the back of my GP-100 stub grip frame. I still need to use a hammer to break the trigger group loose from the frame. (I have a Security Six that is much better in this regard.) Then I have to use a rubber mallet to install the trigger group back into the frame. I gave up on Ruger's single action revolvers because of their ridiculous disassembly/reassembly procedure and I'm about to give up on the GP-100 also.

I can completely disassemble/reassemble a S&W double action revolver blind folded.
 
Here's a question for the mechanical engineers out there. When the S&W side plate is in place, is it not as though the frame is one solid piece ?

Built like a tank...yeah, a Sherman tank.
 
Ford truck vs. Chevy truck. Which do you prefer ?? I prefer the 686. But that said, the new Smiths with the Hillary hole ( I own none) could send me the other way.--just sayin' :)
 
Arquebus357 said:
Sorry, but I absolutely hate Ruger's disassembly push pin system. I finally drilled a hole in the back of my GP-100 stub grip frame. I still need to use a hammer to break the trigger group loose from the frame. (I have a Security Six that is much better in this regard.) Then I have to use a rubber mallet to install the trigger group back into the frame. I gave up on Ruger's single action revolvers because of their ridiculous disassembly/reassembly procedure and I'm about to give up on the GP-100 also.

I can completely disassemble/reassemble a S&W double action revolver blind folded.
Click to expand...

I’ve owned a GP100 and a SP101. I currently own a Police Service Six and.n SP101 in .22. I have never needed a tool to take them down or put them back together. Trigger group snaps in with a firm squeeze. I keep all paperwork on guns I own or owned. The GP cost me $299 used 5 years ago. Some security outfit out West was dumping them for semi autos. Gun looked brand new and even came in factory serial numbered box. I miss those days of great deals.

I’ve owned 2 686’s. Fine guns and I wish I still had them. I’d probably take a pre-lock 686 over a GP, provides rhwy werw the same price. A newer more expensive 686 over a GP? No thanks. I know they’re still fine guns, but not fine enough to justify the price difference and I just don’t like the hole for the lock.
 
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