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Life span models 686/586 S&W

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Hannibal Barca

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Good afternoon everyone, I have a doubt and I hope anybody culd help me with this information:

According with the Smith & Wesson factory, What would be the life span of a model 686 or 586 made between 1985 to 1996 with full power loads of 158 grains of .357 Magnum loads?. How many rounds of 158 grain .357 full power loads could shoot before they need to change a piece or goes to maintenance with a gunsmith?

And even is not parte of the tittle: What would be the life spam of a model 27 or 28 of any age?

Thanks in advance,

Hannibal Barca

Forgive my bad English.
 
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Your English is fine; far better than my Spanish. In both cases I think the answer is "thousands and thousands" of rounds before you wear them out. Probably the 27/28s would last longer but I think any of those you mention would outlast me. Good luck and enjoy.

Jeff
SWCA #1457
 
Like all mechanical things, parts wear and need replaced. A lot is going to depend upon exactly how fast you're shooting those rounds. Quickly rotating cylinders eventually batter the cylinder stop and cylinder stop notches. High temperatures from rapid fire speed erosion of the forcing cone.

Because of the many variables, the factory really doesn't have a projected service life.
 
I have guns that have over 20000 rounds and still in time.I also have my dads 29 44 mag that has many more than that through it.It is still tight,accurate and almost 60 years old.You pay a few hundred for a gun and spend thousands on ammo in its lifespan.The guns i shoot the most have a 4 or 6 inch barrel.All will outlast me.
 
Unless you are at the range on a daily basis and are a young person I doubt you would ever wear one out.
 
The L-frame gun was developed by S&W because the older K-frame guns were getting battered by heavy use of .38 Special +P and .357 Service loads. The L-frame gun is slightly beefier where necessary just for that purpose. Unless you beat the hell out of it and fire more full power loads than your hands or wallet are comfortable with they will last a LONG time.
 
I think you can figure it should go for maintenance inspection somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 rounds. If it has been properly cleaned and lubricated on a regular basis it probably won't need anything done. The most common problems are timing and end-shake.
 
I bought my M586 L Frame 6" barrel new in 1983, shot it to hell and back and it's still in perfect condition. I have shot Magnums, +P's and tens of thousands of regular 38 specials - no problems. So in answer to your question, unless you are shooting thousands of super hot Magnums a year I doubt you will wear it out.

Not saying you won't need normal servicing from time to time with parts like a Spring, Hand or other small part, but I am talking about the integrity of the Frame, Cylinder and major components. The vintage Smiths were built well and the L Frame was made to take a whole lot of Magnum shooting.
 
If you can get full blown 357 ammo for $.25 a round you might have some wear after about $5000 worth of ammo, probably a bit of forcing cone erosion, maybe a bit of end shake. If that is the case a good smith could turn the barrel back one turn, rework the forcing cone and add a end shake shim for maybe $200 and you would be good for another 20,000 rounds. Good luck.


That is why I have multiples of most calibers, because they wear out so fast:D
 
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The 158 grain full power loads are less harmful to a 357 Magnum than the light weight bullet full power loads. As to how many rounds of full power 158 grain 357 Magnum ammo a Model 586/686 or Model 27/627/28 will digest before requiring the replacement of parts, I don't really know. I'm sure there are some out there that have suffered a broken part in less than 1000 rounds, while there are others with 20,000 rounds and no parts failures.



Your style of shooting also influences wear on a revolver. Rapid double action and rapid single action shooting put a lot of stress on the cylinder hand, ratchet, cylinder stop and cylinder stop notches. Slow double and single action shooting put very little stress on these parts.


Rapid fire will also heat the barrel to a greater extent than slow fire. Hotter barrels tend to erode faster.
 
When the U.S. Customs Service put the specifications out for the last duty revolver they bought in 1986, the service life with full power .357 magnum rounds was to be 10,000 rounds.

S&W offered the standard 686 and stated that it would meet or exceed the 10,000 round service life. The Customs Service changed the specs a bit and then purchased several thousand CS-1 revolvers in 3 and 4 inch barrels.
 
If kept clean and lubricated, I doubt a person could afford to shoot it enough to wear it out. Pretty sure I would wear out first. 😳😁
 
One factor not yet mentioned in the other replies is the errosiveness of the powder(s) used. Some powders, particularly with lighter weight bullets, are rough on barrels. This would particularly apply to .357 Mag loads.

Fast double action use will cause wear eventually, as has been already mentioned. First replacement would be a cylinder stop. Many ten's of thousands it might require a new cylinder.

In IDPA competition and practice, I've run at least 30k .38Spl +P's 158 gr lead RN's through a 686 with no noticeable wear to the revolver. No parts replacements yet. It's a used LE gun so who knows how many rounds went down the barrel before it came my way.
 
RE CS 1 686

Customs issued CS 1's by 1988. There are still a few survivors left although not many. I still own several, incuding my original issued revolver. After 5-6 thousand rounds of hot ammo over the years mine never faltered nor showed any signs of wear. With normal cleaning and upkeep you wont hurt it.
 
Thanks everyone for your answers. I really appreciate it.

Even I have a model 586 made in 1992, I am not planning waste it or do some torture tests with it.But I was corious about the lifespan of a L frame revolver because in recent days Beretta re-introduces the Manurhin MR73 in a stratospheric price.

And revisiting the Manurhin MR73 and Raymod Sassia history I understand why the French Gendarmerie and the special forces of the GINGN needed a stronger and tougher revolver than a S&W model 19. I know that maybe the models 27 and 28 are bulky and the L frames didn´t exist in 1973.

But now that we have the model 686/586. Why does anybody need to pay an insane amount of money for a more resistant -357 revolver.

And I want to know if in the current days the L frames 586/686/581/681 could meet the needs of the French gendarmerie and GIGN.

So Smith & Wesson never have published the expected average lifespan of its L frames .357 revolvers, have they?

Such would for example, be the case of the Colt 1911 .45 ACP have a expected lifespan of 50,000 rounds, even there are some with more rounds when its owners take care of them. But the lifespan expected for a colt 1911 would be 50,000 rounds. Are there such a quantity like this published for L frames revolvers?
 
The life of 1911 pistols varies a lot depending on when they were made and how often the recoil spring is changed.

I recall WWII trainers saying that a typical 1911 would develop a crack in the frame above one of the slide stop holes at around 8,000 rds. That was probably without ever replacing the recoil spring and with full power GI ammo.

With the better steel and heat treating that came some time after the war, and occasional spring replacement, and perhaps slightly reduced loads; I'd expect at least 30,000 rds without major parts replacement.
 
With proper care, a little luck and modest use, they can last several lifetimes. Every once in while, you can get bad metallurgy or assembly that may accelerate repair or replacement. I own a number of guns that I like to shoot, so the wear on any one is not so concentrated. Even my first purchased guns operate as well as hey did when I bought them decades ago.
 
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