586 or 686?

[shawn mccarver]

The 586 and 686 are essentially the same revolver, an L-frame .357 magnum with a full length lug. The 586 is carbon steel with a blued or nickel finish. The 686 is stainless steel throughout.

Blued or plated steel is more susceptible to rust and wear than stainless steel (which is not immune), and nearly impossible to repair invisibly. With care, either stay beautiful for a lifetime.

Being newer and in current production, the 686 will have design changes not everyone appreciates, and some say suffers from a drop in craftsmanship. I favor the internal firing pin and remain neutral about the notorious lock. If I carried a revolver for SD, I'd probably remove it and plug the hole.

Either will produce 3" or smaller groups at 25 yards with practice and in the right hands, something pistol shooters can only fantasize about.

The 686 is really not stainless throughout and it never has been. The frame, barrel and cylinder are stainless as are certain small parts. Hammers and triggers looked like stainless in early 686s because they were standard carbon case hardened which was then flash chromed to look stainless.

Pistol shooters do not have to fantasize about 3 inch groups at 25 yards unless you are talking about "service" pistols such as Glock, M&P, SIGMA Series, etc., but certain autos, such as the 1911, the HKs, the S&W Performance Center pistols, the S&W 52 and 952 will exceed the 3 inch group at 50 yards. Easy. Les Baer makes several which he will guarantee will shoot 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards.

Unfortunately, very few shooters today can shoot as well as the pistol because they never learned bullseye, the basics of slow fire, or trigger and breath control, and many never practice beyond 3 or 5 yards. No kidding. I have read posts on here of people trying to "sight-in" at 7 yards.

There is no doubt that a good S&W is very intrinsically accurate, but so are a great many pistols. Intrinsic accuracy is what the pistol can do from a machine rest. Unfortunately, extrinsic accuracy - what a given shooter can do with a particular pistol, is almost never as good as intrinsic accuracy. The fact of the matter is that S&W, Colt, HK, among others, make perfectly good service pistols that will easily exceed 3 inch groups at 25 yards. Several of the semi-custom or custom makers also do this, such as Wilson Combat, Les Baer - oh, and don't forget Dave Williams over at Springfield Custom who builds 1911s for the FBI HRT team, and those far exceed the standard you set, and in a combat pistol.

 

[J. W.]

I'm a traditionalist and a fan of wood grips and blues steel, so naturally I vote for the 586.

I would love to see S&W make a 3" "586+"!


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[NoBite]

The first pistol I owned was (and is) the M586. Love it. One question. In every picture in this thread, the front sight has the red insert. My 586 does not. I know mine is an early model, but does anyone know the year they started with the red insert?


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[Ornery]

Last week, I went to my local gun shop to look at safes. As I was browsing, I saw a nice 6" GP100 under the glass. I've been wanting a wheelgun for some time, and the GP was on my list. I couldn't just buy the GP without comparing it to the 686. I had the salesguy pull out a 6" 686 and a 4" 586. The 586 had this lustrous shine to it that just spoke to me. Five minutes later, I was the proud owner of the 586.

I took it home and noticed how easy it was to get fingerprints and whatnot on it. I sort of wished I bought the 686 because I can see myself becoming obsessive about keeping it clean. Nevertheless, I love it.

 

[Ed333]

...The 586 had this lustrous shine to it that just spoke to me. Five minutes later, I was the proud owner of the 586.

I took it home and noticed how easy it was to get fingerprints and whatnot on it. I sort of wished I bought the 686 because I can see myself becoming obsessive about keeping it clean. Nevertheless, I love it.

Just keep a silicone cloth handy in a ziploc, and wipe it down periodically. A 686 can get to look scraggy if uncared for, and if you do a MOther's Mag polish job on it, you will be just as fussy as with a nice blued finish.

 

[tompedbest]

I have the 686 Plus for some time now and am absolutely thrilled with it.

 

[russ45]

Look how much cooler those blue guns are.

 

[corbella]

Great choice no matter the finish. I could only get a 586-7 which I picked up at auction since I live in California. I wanted a 586, but, not a new one. I had a guy in Burlingame make me "coke" bottle style and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Ornery]

Just keep a silicone cloth handy in a ziploc, and wipe it down periodically. A 686 can get to look scraggy if uncared for, and if you do a MOther's Mag polish job on it, you will be just as fussy as with a nice blued finish.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Jabbott]

I was in the same place as the original poster a few months ago. I just bought my first real pistol (not counting ruger mark III). I went with a 686 no dash that I found on Gunbroker. Best guess for age is 1986, but it doesn't look a day past 20. Nice clean gun, shiny. The price was in the ball park and I was nervous bidding with pictures alone, but I am extremely pleased. My wife wasn't pleased that I "accidently" won the auction, but those are the breaks. Now I just need to learn how to shoot well. Hopefully my bianchi holster gets here soon...Also, it came with wood grips, not sure if they look better than hogue. My wife thinks so and if the wood grips get her to want to shoot, then bonus for me.

 

[Roamingdoc]

Some beautiful wheel guns here. I bought, in '66, an orig K-22 Masterpiece... store owner talked then 16yr old kid out of a M29, said I should learn on something smaller first. Wise fellow. Went from there to a M19 and then (!) over a few years a few Model 29s (Blue and I'm not sure but prob all it came in back then), 4" and 6" (yeah, the .44 did come in 4" but maybe I'm recalling wrong). I didn't go the pistol route until I touched a Browning HI-Power in 69-70, once touched I had to have it... and I owned some (gasp) nice smaller Colts (Detective Special was sweet). Lost all but the 19 in a divorce...sigh.
I like the new S&Ws but wonder if there is "any" (?) truth to the rumors of poor quality control since the '60's and '70s'?? All be safe.

 

[all357mag]

Go with the 586.

 

[Research Nerd]

I vote 686

I looked at both before I bought my 686. The stainless steel is just so eye catching. When you shine her up its a sight to see. My wife has a blued 38 special, but I just like the stainless better.

Added bonus is its a shooter. I'm not a great shot by any means and I was making golf ball sized patterns at 15 yards my first trip to the range. Smith and Wesson is making some great revolvers, you can't go wrong with either one.

Enjoy your new revolver and welcome to the forum, the guys on here are as good as they get.

Ryan Z.
Spring, Tx

 

[Wild Bill n Moyock]

Good call....great choice..686 distinguished combat magnum.
For tha non-believers, mine is 6 inches of pure fury, mag-na-ported with Hogue grips.....at 100 yrds from a millit rest, three rounds of win silver-tips, a two inch vertical line in a five gal bucket of sand, my buddy couldn't hit tha bucket.
My new one is a seven shot 686.
Keep in mind, wheel guns have been around longer, and will remain.
Like tha ol guys said above, your gun can "out shoot you", you must take tha time and learn how to shoot "Her", She is a fine weapon and deserves to be treated as such.
And if you make a ragged hole at 25 yrds with a 1911, you can hit a 5 gal bucket at a 100....I also shoot mod 29's, we have hit bowling pins at 200 yrds, off hand, 3 out of 6 rounds, ya just haff to practice.....safe shooting and ya'll have a happy New Year

Wild Bill,nc

 

[Jessie James 58]

Go with the 686, you will never regret it. I purchased mine when they first came out (4 in), I still have it and it still shoots better than I do.

 

[Smith_68]

In 1982 I presented my wife with a NIB 686 as a duty weapon for her.It served her well and she was proud to carry it and the only thing she changed was the stock grips.Hogue grips still make it stand out as a shooter.She came up to me 3 or 4 years ago and said,I want you to have this as I won't shoot it again.She knows where it is just in case but her choice now is a j frame.

 

[alcanhg]

I had to back out from the 686-1 that I found a couple of days ago because of the ported barrel. I am still in the hunt for a 586 nickel or a 686 with a 4 inch barrel.

 

[mauiblue]

I had to back out from the 686-1 that I found a couple of days ago because of the ported barrel. I am still in the hunt for a 586 nickel or a 686 with a 4 inch barrel.

I would think a ported barrel would be a desirable feature if this would be a range gun as you mentioned on your original post. But if you are looking for a non ported 686 they're out there.

I bought a 686 Plus 4" five years ago and it is my favorite gun to shoot. A few months ago I got a Model 638. Revolvers are the way to rock

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[williamlayton]

I have all kinds of dog in this hunt---you do it your way.
First I love blued over Chrome or stainless.
Second choice is Hard Chromed---talk about a knock about finish and prettier than stainless, to me.
Blued are good wearers and not har to keep---leather will take its toll a lot quicker than shooting and cleaning.
Pistols--even a Colt off the shelf--will shoot 3 inches at 25 yards when you get used to it----IF you can.
I can't anymore---but there was a day---measured in years gone by--before I knew better and learned techniques and all about gunsmiths---that I could do it off hand. Now you can doubt this all you want--all I can tell you is what I know.
Blessings

 

[arjay]

Nothing prettier than blued steel and walnut,but my guns that see lots of holster time are either stainless or painted.The blued guns out number them 5 to 1.

586-1

 

[rwsmith]

Blue or SS??

I do prefer the blued appearance, but wanted a range gun and the 686 just made more sense.