586 Arkansas Municipal Police Association Commemorative

[Borderboss]

Yesterday I was high bidder on a 586 in the Rock Island online auction. I bought the gun to use as a shooter, but I'm curious about its origins. All I have are the auction photos right now, which are attached.

This 4-inch 586 is one of 100 guns commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Arkansas Municipal Police Association (AMPA), from 1936-1986. This particular gun is serial AJJ11##, which would place its manufacture in the 1985 timeframe according to SCSW 4th ed. It's coming in a glass-topped display case.

Has anyone every seen or heard of this particular commemorative? It's not listed in the SCSW 4th edition. The roll marks sure look factory done, but I'll know more when I have the gun in hand.

Since my plan is to shoot it instead of making it a safe queen, I'll likely need to send it back to S&W for the recall work, since I'm guessing this is a dash-1 from the date range.

Thanks for any help you can offer on information.

 

[Borderboss]

Oh, I should mention that I've dropped an email to the AMPA and I'm waiting to hear back.

 

[Erocksmash]

I'm not fimilar with the "edition" , I am with the gun... I have a 686 no dash and have fed it everything from the hottest. 357 to the crappiest .38 and never a hiccup with all different flavor brands.

Imo I would run the gun see if you get failures then re assess...

 

[oysterer]

very cool, I shoot 38 spl in mine and I would not bother with that firing pin bushing unless you plan to shoot really hot 357s hot enough for brass to flow back. I think such hot rounds are not great for such a more precious shooter. Enjoy it! 586 are my favorite!

 

[Borderboss]

I agree with you guys on running it first before sending it to S&W. It'll get mostly a diet of standard pressure .38 Spl.

The .357 load it'll get will be the Remington 180gr SJHP round. I really like this round for shooting in my Marlin Cowboy II, so I wanted a 4-inch revolver to go with it. I've seen some YouTube videos that this round expands well and penetrates well even out of a 4-inch barrel.

If this gun hums well, my 1981 Python will go on the market, which will pay for this new gun more than twice over.

 

[colt_saa]

Congratulations on the new edition

That is a nice looking piece

The SCSW does not contain everything, just everything that has been reported to them.

It is easy learn about and be familiar with a Commemorative when 10,000 are produced, but when it is a run of 25, 52 or even a 100 sometimes they slip through the cracks.

BTW, I am fairly certain that was a Factory produced Commemorative. The roll marks are a big give-a-way plus that presentation case is the correct style for that era

 

[Borderboss]

I got the gun today and generally am pretty pleased with it. There are 4 areas of very light surface rust (no corrosion/pitting) in a couple of hidden areas such as under the grips and on the yoke right were it meets the barrel. All will come off with some 4/0 steel wool soaked in oil, with no harm.

The gun is a 586 no dash, and there's an "M" on the yoke. So it's been back to the factory to get the firing pin recall work done. That's a good thing.

The double action trigger pull is outstanding. It doesn't look like the mainspring has been futzed with at all. It could just be a smooth, fairly light pull. I'll know more after a range trip next week. The good old days when trigger pulls weren't set by lawyers.

I pulled the grips and there are some interesting stampings, as you'll see from the photos. There's the date "Sept 24, 1985", which corresponds with the "AJJ" serial number and is a year before this commemorative of "1936-1986".

Then there's the stamp with the "W" over "C10" over "18" in a circle with two lines in it, which I have no idea what it means. I'll have to look that up.

 

[Erocksmash]

Very nice glad you happy with her and no down time on a turn around... I learned the 4/0 steel wool and 50w trick on a 581 although to no avail certainly a neat trick..

If you dont mind the ask how many flowers did you give for her .... I'm a bit intimidated by rock island auctions

 

[Borderboss]

Very nice glad you happy with her and no down time on a turn around... I learned the 4/0 steel wool and 50w trick on a 581 although to no avail certainly a neat trick..

If you dont mind the ask how many flowers did you give for her .... I'm a bit intimidated by rock island auctions

$650 plus all the add ons. $748 out the door, plus $20 to my FFL for the transfer. I'm happy with the amount for an almost new 586 no dash.

 

[Borderboss]

I finally got the gun to the range last night. I really liked shooting it, up to a point.

Everything was great with the .38 Specials I started with. But then I switched to my .357 Mag load of choice, the Remington 180gr SJHP. Wow, these grips might look pretty, but they are definitely not made for shooting! They're not checkered, so a bit slippery. But the main problem is that they don't come far enough down behind the trigger guard. The first two shots of the .357 slammed my right middle finger knuckle so hard into the trigger guard that it was very painful. I stopped right there and ordered a Hogue rubber Monogrip as soon as I got home.

This gun is a "no dash" that was sent back to the factory for the recall work, as it has an "M" stamped on the frame. It's also got an outstanding double action trigger. Does anyone know if the factory did a little "touchup" on the action when the guns came back for the recall work?

 

[Erocksmash]

I finally got the gun to the range last night. I really liked shooting it, up to a point.

Everything was great with the .38 Specials I started with. But then I switched to my .357 Mag load of choice, the Remington 180gr SJHP. Wow, these grips might look pretty, but they are definitely not made for shooting! They're not checkered, so a bit slippery. But the main problem is that they don't come far enough down behind the trigger guard. The first two shots of the .357 slammed my right middle finger knuckle so hard into the trigger guard that it was very painful. I stopped right there and ordered a Hogue rubber Monogrip as soon as I got home.

This gun is a "no dash" that was sent back to the factory for the recall work, as it has an "M" stamped on the frame. It's also got an outstanding double action trigger. Does anyone know if the factory did a little "touchup" on the action when the guns came back for the recall work?

I have magnas and a Tyler T on my 686 no dash and she tears me up have to switch half way the to the mono grips... as far as the trigger work, quite possibly, maybe because it was a commemorative police model???

I know on my 68-1 and 581 the fixed sight variant the action is very smooth. I read maybe here that they slicked them up with a duty action tune before leaving factory.... I could be wrong

 

[Borderboss]

I have magnas and a Tyler T on my 686 no dash and she tears me up have to switch half way the to the mono grips... as far as the trigger work, quite possibly, maybe because it was a commemorative police model???

I know on my 68-1 and 581 the fixed sight variant the action is very smooth. I read maybe here that they slicked them up with a duty action tune before leaving factory.... I could be wrong

I think you're right that this was slicked and tuned. When I first dry fired it, I was afraid someone had "Bubba'ed" it. When I pulled the grips off, it seemed to be a factory spring and tension screw. I've not pulled the side plate off to see what the innards look like. But this is an action that's pretty close to the competition revolvers I used to have.