Years ago when the Talo versions of the 686 came out I had a -4 that I wanted to put a 3 inch barrel on, I called S&W and ordered a 3 inch barrel and had my gunsmith install it. It was simple and easy. I currently have a 686-4 and want to make it into a 986-4....I called Smith&Wesson and they said they have never once sold barrels or cylinders to customers, it was frustrating yet pointless to argue with the girl as it was not going to go anywhere. Anyone know where I can obtain a cylinder and barrel for a 986? The cylinder I could have machined, but its mainly the barrel I am wanting. Any help would be appreciated.

Well.......you can have the cylinder cut for 9s. That solves that.
But, the barrels on a 357/38 are the same as on a 9mm of current production. Did you want the barrel to say 9mm on your -4? There's no difference.
For years there's been warranted speculation that those 986 barrels are bigger. I, myself used a 357 pilot for my 986 barrel to cut a 45° on my crown. It fit. It shouldn't really have.
Many years ago, I wanted to shoot 9mm bullets out of my 357s. To solve this problem: I load 38 short colts with 9mm bullets! All I do is make the bullets with 9mms and have the rim to shoot out of any 357s without any permanent modifications done to the gun itself.
Just saying.

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Call again and hope you get someone else. I can send you copies of receipts for barrels I bought from Smith to show 'the girl'.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Lou,

I'm confused, you said many people speculate that the 986 barrels were larger.....don't you mean smaller? a 9mm is .355 as opposed to .357 correct?

Larger.
986 owners had noticed the barrels were larger. Some even using 357 bullets. I did too. I used .357" dia.125gr and loaded it on a 9mm case. They shot good and were accurate. The barrels ARE larger.
Although now I like FMJ for it. Cheap and plentiful. Gives me enough accuracy.
I used a 357/38 cal.pilot to insert in the barrel on my 986 9mm after brownells sent me the wrong 9mm one. The only thing you have to think about, is that even if the barrel says 9mm on the outside, it's a 357 barrel on the inside....


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I don’t get it.

The 986 and its cousin the 929 are 9 mm revolvers with .357+ chamber throats and potentially 357 barrels. This basically makes them a 38/357 with cylinder chambers cut to load the smaller 9mm case.

9 mm works but you will not get the best accuracy without handloading. At the same time Smith & Wesson states in their manual to only use commercially loaded ammunition.

Even worst when you handload you best use .357 or .358 bullets instead of the standard 9mm .355 or .356 bullets to avoid leading or accuracy problems. This also potentially introduces ammunition compatibility issues with other 9mm guns you own.

These are not insurmountable problems for the experience reloader and may be a desirable feature for a serious competitor who wants to use heavier bullets than are normally available for the 9 mm. But it does add a level of needless complexity and frustration to the more casual shooter/reloader.

What was Smith &Wesson thinking?

It would so much easier if these guns were true 9 mm.

I know I've bought barrels from the factory as recently as maybe 6 years ago. Pretty sure I bought cylinders directly as well.
I bought the 8-3/8" 16-4 barrel from them for my custom .327 Mag.

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Chris
SWCA #2243 SWHF #292

I tried to order a 617 barrel and was told they don't sell barrels. I found one at Brownells. They sell them to someone.

If using jacketed bullets it doesn’t really matter. Most/all commercial loads are jacketed. If using cast bullets than .357 allows for many more options.

If in fact the barrels in a 986 are nothing more than a 686 bbl stamped 9mm, that would explain why my 986 has achieved nothing but mediocre accuracy with all of the commercially loaded 9mm ammo that I've tried with it since purchasing it. I need to slug the bore one of these days to see what I have.

It wouldn't surprise me at all that S&W did that to use existing tooling and/or barrel stock. After all, why go to the bother of making "odd man out" 9mm revolver barrels when you have an available supply of .357 bored L-Frame barrels... and "close enough" seems to be the current S&W manufacturing tolerance.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

I bought this stainless Mod 63 .22 barrel directly from Smith 3 yrs ago.

I installed in my son’s Model of 1955 J frame (pre Model 43); 3” shrouded barrel and bead blasted it.



Quite likely their barrel selling policy has changed, but they can't truthfully say they never sold them!

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Factory ammo accuracy in my 986 also could be better. It doesn’t shoot near as good as my 686. There are lots of comments on the internet about 986/929 accuracy concerns.

The few .356 coated bullets I loaded show signs of leading. This is due to the oversized cylinder throats. I will be trying .357 and .358 coated bullets soon. This should help but it’s a needless complexity. There are a lot of great .355 and .356 bullets of all types and weights available. Standard factory 9 mm rounds are .355.

So, what was Smith & Wesson thinking?

I can’t imagine a design parameter was poor factory ammo accuracy, especially since they discourage reloads.

I hear alot of people talk about the 150gr syntech.

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Wouldn't surprise me if S&W 9mm revolvers use .357 barrels as they supposedly sold a small number of Model 547's at the end of the run that came with a spare fitted .357 cylinder .



As we all know S&W didnt waste good parts,
Guessing they ran out of the 9mm cylinders but had some left over RB frames as IIRC at the very end a few were sold with just .357 cylinders as the Model 547-M

I used to order parts all the time from S&W until 2016 when suddenly there was a policy to send in the gun. I was given the part number to order for an XFrame hammer which wasnt in stock at the time. Tried to order not 2 months later. Nope wouldnt sell it. Need to send in the gun. Questioned me on how I obtained the part number and from whom. Frustrating.
Maybe if you had a FFL/gunsmithing business you could order some parts.

I found this tread on the Brian Enos forum about the 986/929 bore size.

929/986 Bore Diameter - Revolver Forum - Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!