686 appreciation post

[ColumbusJBR]

I dug these out of the safe and wanted to take a photo. The S&W 686 is the 1st .357 I've shot. My father and I used to go to the range and just rent guns to shoot. 1 day, we decided to step up from the 9mm pistols and the .38 mod 64s we were renting and try the 686 in .357 mag. "It's only THAT much longer, what's the difference?"

I was hooked immediately. I think .357 is my favorite cartridge. Enough blast and mayhem without being punishing (in the right gun, like a 686).

I've had and let go several .357s since then. But I doubt I'll ever be without at least 1 SW 686 in the safe. They're just…. Wonderful. Pictured is a 2.5" -4, a 4" -5, and a 5" -6 +. I got the 5" when PSA was offering them for stupid prices. Had to polish the **** out of it myself (and plug the lock hole) it was so gnarly looking from the factory. But it's a sweet shooter. Couldn't resist the unfluted cylinder.

These are the 3 I have right now. I think the 4" -5 is my favorite. Anyone else have some 686s that they love?

 

[V-Eight]

Nice line up you have there! I agree...the .357 magnum is the goldilocks caliber for me...my 686-5 4" was my first hand gun purchase when I turned of age and is probably my favorite. I've been hunting down new grips for some of mine...I believe some of yours are VZ's? They look great!

 

[LEO918]

A couple of my favorite shooters.
A 4" dash four and a no dash 6".

 

[SmithNut]

Nice trio, now you need to add a 3" to the group...

Here's an example, IMO the -4 is the best of the best.......

 

[Shoebox1.1]

I had a real pretty no
Dash and have a new -6 snub. Both fantastic

 

[ColumbusJBR]

Nice trio, now you need to add a 3" to the group...

Here's an example, IMO the -4 is the best of the best.......

If I had more money… I'd have a safe full or -4s in all lengths. For now the 2.5" puts a lot of smiles on faces. Some day maybe…

 

[V-Eight]

Seeing how the sun almost came out today...here is my latest 686-4 with my first Badger Grips, Honduras Rosewood Burl. Nice fit to the gun and they fit the hand really well...will try another set some day.

 

[dolefee]

the 686 feels most balanced to me…

 

[Protocall_Design]

I have won most of my match trophies with some flavor of 686, from stock to highly modified. I started shooting matches in 1979 with Pythons and M19. The Pythons are the best looking revo ever made, but they didn't hold up to high volume shooting. The 19 did. Then the 686 came out. As soon as I could afford one, I got it and never looked back. I am still shooting primarily 686es in matches, with the occasional 625 and 629.

 

[S&WshooterFIN]

My first .357 mag was mod 686 6" in early 1990s.
Later I bought 586 4" , 586 8 3/8" and 686 4"

Now I have last 586 and 686 4"

586 lost a piece of the barrel

Here is lot of long barrel L-frames but under 4" lengths is rare.
Many long barreled revolvers are shortened to 4" for IDPA use.

 

[SmithNut]

If I had more money… I'd have a safe full or -4s in all lengths. For now the 2.5" puts a lot of smiles on faces. Some day maybe…

If you like -4's, here's a couple that are also in my collection below..... The 5" and the 7" were made up since the -4 engineering change guns were never made in these barrel lengths. I had a few -4's hanging around here so I bought the 5" and 7" barrels from S&W, the Performance Center did the conversion on the 5" and I had Randy Lee of Apex Tactical do the work on the 7" back when he was still in California...... came out great....

The 3" and 4" guns in the last pic below are CS-2 guns hence the matt finish, so I had the 5" and 7" blasted as well. I think they came out pretty cool...

Enjoy.............

 

[robvious]

I understand completely...

 

[Rakkasan13F]

My dad was a deputy sheriff from 1987 until 2010. When he first started working at the department, deputies had to buy their own .357 duty guns. My dad's first gun was a 4" Taurus 66, which was replaced about a year later with a 4" 686-2.

In late 1998, when his arthritis got to be too bad to qualify, he transferred into the jail full time and sold me his duty gun.

Here she is, alongside my recently purchased 681:

 

[Lonestar57]

I know I've shown this group before, but I really like 686's

 

[ColumbusJBR]

Nice line up you have there! I agree...the .357 magnum is the goldilocks caliber for me...my 686-5 4" was my first hand gun purchase when I turned of age and is probably my favorite. I've been hunting down new grips for some of mine...I believe some of yours are VZ's? They look great!

Yes, all VZ round-to-square conversion grips. They fit me well. My 2.5" (purchased from a friendly fellow forum member) came with SW Combats, but as pretty as they were, just didn't fit my hand. But dang they looked good.

 

[ColumbusJBR]

I know I've shown this group before, but I really like 686's

That's a pretty family, thanks for sharing!. Wood and stainless steel will never go out of style.

 

[cololab]

I agree that the 686 is a nice platform. Having grown up in an era where the choice was either a K frame or an N frame, and having early on in my career carried a K frame, I never saw much personal use for an L frame. That was until I bought a 686 from a friend a few years back. I now realize I had totally underestimated how well the L frame revolvers fill the gap between K and N frame revolvers.

 

[Browns fan]

Nice trio, now you need to add a 3" to the group...

Here's an example, IMO the -4 is the best of the best.......

Great Photo, I picked a 3 inch -4 box papers, unopened tools at a local show earlier this year. It was my grail.

 

[Browns fan]

Nice trio, now you need to add a 3" to the group...

Here's an example, IMO the -4 is the best of the best.......

Great Photo, I picked a 3 inch -4 box papers, unopened tools at a local show earlier this year. It was my grail.

 

[Baxter6551]

The L Frame came out just a year or two before my Dept switched from model 65s to Sig 226. I never really paid attention to the L Frame let alone shoot one. I had carried 65s & 66s in patrol. We carried .357 ammo (Remington 125 gr. JHP).
That changed April 22 when I came across a 686-4 2.5 that Bubba had messed with (hammer & trigger). Gunsmith installed new ones and gave it a spa treatment. Liked it so much ended up with a 4 inch 686-4 too. Phenomenal shooters. Sure wish they were our duty guns back then.