586-7 Performance Center

[David Sinko]

A local store has an interesting revolver called the Model 586-7 Performance Center. It's a 7 shooter, cut for moonclips, with a 3" "carry comp" barrel and black finish. Very nice for a .357 Magnum. I was surprised to see these, since the store has a hard time getting ANY S&W revolvers, let alone these. I don't see these on the S&W website, but apparently they have been introduced a few years ago. Being Performance Center items, do they have all forged internals? And what exactly is the finish? Is it a simple matte blue or something more durable?

Dave Sinko

 

[SmithNut]

M586 L-comp

Sounds like a later version of the M586 L Comp, first introduced on the -5 Engineering change for Camfour, the originals had all forged parts, can't help with the later version, but I hear that folks are seeing MIM on later PC guns.... bummer.
As for the finish, no exotic coatings just a matte blue.

 

[JParanee]

Fantastic gun

What are they asking for it ?

 

[David Sinko]

Yeah, that's the one. I guess they're making these again? The store has three of them, but the owners and employees grabbed them all before they hit the shelves. They told me their dealer cost was just over $900. I thought I saw a MIM trigger but I'll have to check again more closely to be sure. As far as .357 Magnum revolvers go, this is the best one I've seen in a long time.

Dave Sinko

 

[JParanee]

I just paid 1218 for one and I don't regret it

 

[DJINCO]

Wow. That is one nice gun.

 

[The Highlander]

I love mine!

 

[David Sinko]

I looked at it again today. It definitely has MIM hammer and trigger. And the case is plastic, not aluminum. Is this what the Performance Center has become? What exactly is a PC revolver these days? The non-standard barrel configuration is nice, but other than that I don't see anything else to justify the high price.

Dave Sinko

 

[The Highlander]

Mine has a lock, honestly don't recall if it has MIM parts or not, it isn't really important to me one way or the other. The gun is very accurate, light recoiling especially with .38's, easy to carry, etc. The front night sight is dead, one day I will get around to replacing it maybe. This might be my favorite carry revolver if I didn't also have an 8-shot 627 Pro Series. Just fantastic action on mine, and it still looks like new after 10+ years. I am ashamed to tell you what I paid, I really think the dealer just priced it as a standard 586. I bought it literally 90 seconds after I saw it on his shelf!

 

[Dave T]

What exactly is a PC revolver these days?

At the risk of offending the loyalists, today's PC is a mear shadow of it's former self. Not much more than assemblers of limited addition parts.

As always, YMMV!
Dave

 

[colt_saa]

Camfour had the first 200 L-comps manufactured in 2000. My L-comp is the 200th revovler from that 1st run. Since then there have been several additional runs. I have lost track on how many have actually been produced, but it is a popular offering and a VERY fine revolver.

All PC firearms are manufactured in the PC and not on the production floor. The CNC Mills have slightly modified code on some of them, tooling is replaced more often so that tolerances stay much tighter than production firearms, barrels are usually air gauged match grade and configurations are usually unique to the PC. What type of box or case it comes in is solely the decision of the Distributor that commissioned the exclusive firearm, not S&W.

 

[NRA DOC]

MIM

MIM is great, I love MIM, nothing wrong with MIM. Nice and smoooooth triggers.

 

[Dave T]

I have one of the original L-Comp guns (bought used) and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite L-frames.

I also have this one:

which also is a "-7" like the OP gun. Oddly enough it has no IL but it does have the other signs of it's later production (goofy cylinder stop, frame mounted firing pin and MIM hammer & trigger).

In comparing it (which was un-fired when I got it) to the used L-Comp there is a big difference in the feel of the trigger. The earlier gun is both lighter and much smoother. The GIGN (French Terrorist Police) wanna be has pretty much a standard feeling trigger, much like over the counter production guns. Not terrible but hardly a custom tuned action job.

I also have a 3" 681PC done in an ugly Birdsong 2-tone finish by the factory. Like the L-Comp it has a very decent trigger. It is early enough to not have the IL but it has the other later production features listed above for the 586-7.

My point is, all the earlier PC guns I have examined and owned are pretty nice. Particularly when it comes to the feel of the trigger. They are what you would want a supposedly custom gun to be. Later PC revolvers I have examined, and the one I own, do not seem to me to have the same attention to detail, fitting and smoothness of earlier models.

I will not pay the inflated asking price for a late (current) PC gun but would not hesitate to buy an earlier one if it had the features I was looking for.

My $.02 worth,
Dave