Was wondering about the feasibility of lengthening the stock 9x19 cylinder to the 9x23 and if it would be strong enough for the increased pressure or where you could get another cylinder of the proper strength made for this revolver? Thanks for any recommendations.

If I were you, I'd look up TK Custom and ask them. They are experts at this sort of thing.

Ive got a 986 and it sure isn't chambered for 9X19, got mine when they first came out, and if you drop a 9mm round into the chamber it almost goes flush. I think they are chambered for 9X21 or 23 to start with. Never could get an answer from S/W if the cylinders were an overrun from a foreign contract or what. I believe it hurts the accuracy of the gun. But please check yours and see if it is chambered for 9X19 or what. I never pursued it further, kinda waiting to see if they changed it later. Maybe they made the cylinders different since the 2 inch version came out. Thanks Bob


Also aren't the cylinders titanium, somewhat harder than steel,maybe good for pressure. Im no machinist, but that could be an issue in reboring.

^^^ Doesn't the 986 REQUIRE the use of moonclips to hold the cartridge in the proper position for the firing pin ?

My memory is fuzzy today. Does the 986 have a steel or titanium cylinder?

There is zero doubt in my mind that the steel cylinders work just fine for the 9x23 Winchester.

I have been shooting them in this 627 for many years now
However, I only use Winchester brass. The Starline 9x23 is known to be softer and thinner.

The problem is Winchester has not made a run of 9x23 brass in several years. I got lucky and bought the few crumbs left over from the last run, but that was only a few thousand pieces.

Give Mark at Pinnacle a call. He has done several 9x23 Winchester convertions for our Forum members including the one pictured above

The 986 has a titanium cylinder.

Ok. I may make Santa's naughty list for this one, but.....

You can use 38 short colts . The case is slightly longer than the 9mm and you can use longer bullets!
Pictured below, my 986 with 38 shorts- loaded with 9mm bullets anyway. Starline brass. Ranch products 686+ 7 shot clips. And they fit good. Another advantage is being able to load .357 dia.bullets. Anything from .355-.357". At any length.
Check yours for "heavy dimples ". Or you can also use them without clips!
Why machine a perfectly good cylinder....

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Yes, but you are loading light loads in those 38 short Colts, correct?

The 38 short Colt brass can not take the kind of pressure that would be required to reach 9x23 Winchester performance

On that thought, CALREB mentions that his chambers are long. It might be possible to chamber and shoot the 356TSW cartridge in an unmodified cylinder

Unless of course our OP is looking for cartridge compatibility with other firearms that he owns that are chambered for the 9x23 Winchester

Personally I would not rechamber the OEM Titanium cylinder, I would locate a second steel cylinder if planning on using the higher pressure ammunition.

Thanks for the replies gentlemen, yes I do own a Colt 1911 in 9x23 and have been shooting and reloading for years with it plus probably 2000 factory Winchester ammo that came with the Colt when I bought it. I have actually been loading the same 200 or so pieces of brass for several years because it's just about indestructible...I find that you'll end up losing it long before you can wear it out.

I do load my 38 shorts starting 9mm loads using the 9mm tables. I do not load to 38 short colt loads as they are too weak on the PF side.
It didnt occur to me, that the op may want to share ammo between guns. I thought that he was trying to maybe correct a perceived inaccuracy that the 986's tend to sometimes have. And being able to use longer bullets or larger diameters sometimes helps that.
I use starline 38 short colt brass. Load em every 3 months depending how much I use them. And have recycled the same batch for the last 6 years. I am wearing out 357 brass much quicker as they loose their annealing and must be scrapped much quicker. Especially using 125gr and smaller bullets.

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Went back and looked at the thread from 2015, these guns are chambered for 9X21, one guy even had the S/W ad in Italian that advertised it in 9X21. No big deal to some , but I feel that S/W should have marketed it that way instead of being chambered for 9mm which I expected to be 9X19. I may shoot it some more and see if maybe a heavier bullet will make mine shoot better.

I am missing something in your post.

What difference does it make that your revolver is capable of chambering 9x21 ammunition? How does diminish the firearm

There are tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of 38 special revolvers that can chamber 357 Magnum out there or 44 specials that can chamber 44 magnum. Folks have been getting along, mostly not knowing, for the better part of a century now.

My first 9x23 Winchester firearm was one I built up off of some Kits that Colt sold with a slide, barrel and one magazine.
I used one of my older 45ACP 1911s. It gave me the chance to play with stippling the front strap and a few other things that I wanted to work on.

I have been shooting that one for probably 20+ years now

WAP is the only powder I have ever used for hand loading this cartridge. When Winchester dropped WAP I was luck enough to have a supply on handd that lasted me until Western released Silhouette which is WAP.

I have been running 8.9 grains with the 125 JHPs or FMJs this whole time

What loads does your Colt like?

WAP = Silhouette.

colt_saa...your opinion please...

I have a 686-7 .38 Super...you think it is ok to run 9x23s in it? As I recall they will fit the same as .38 Supers will...

Most on my 1911s will run 9x23...great round that is too bad it never caught on.

Bob

I can not imagine why it should be an issue. Are you using the Winchester brass as opposed to the Starline?

I have been shooting it in my 627 for years. I think WC145 has even run some in one of his J-frames

I agree it is a great cartridge. However the Law Enforcement community was transitioning to firearms with a shorter trigger reach and the 9x23 needed the full length grip so they wee not going to be using it.

The 356TSW should have been what filled that gap. With it's 357SIG performance in a 9MM sized cartridge it had the edge in magazine capacity. However at that same time S&W was pushing the 40S&W to the LE community.

I'm running 8 gr. of VV3N37 or the same of N350 behind a 125 grain bullet and getting a factory duplicate of 1450fps. Hell of an accurate load and the typical 9x23 straight back recoil.