Brand new 586 L comp

[captainwayne]

Just picked up my 586 L comp from galleryofguns, through an LGS.
The gun appeared perfect in cosmetics, had a consistent matt black finish from frame to barrel. The only thing unusual was that the internal lock image stamping was double struck. Unique for sure.
To preempt my next comments I'll say that I bought a 686+ 4 inch barrel super tuned model about 6 months ago, and expected the same action from the L comp.
Looking down the barrel of the L comp it was apparent that the night sight was pretty much useless, being VERY small. Against an all black rear sight, precision alignment was impossible. Conversely, the 686+ had a white outline and red ramp, way better. Shoots 2 inch groups free standing at 20 yards.
Next, testing single action,the L comp was crisp, but no where near as soft as the 686+. In double action, the L comp felt like I was shoot a Taurus, pulling over 12 plus pounds! The 686+ was smooth as silk, and by the way, better DA than my 1979 Colt Python.
When I asked my LGS S&W expert about the DA pull, he advised that I could put in a lighter main spring. And he may be right, as he is a real Smith expert. Problem is, I really think at over $1000, the Performance Center L comp should have been butter smooth, and the best it could be. So, I guess I either put more $$ into it, or send it back to make better, or send it back and refund. No matter the action, the sight isn't acceptable. Leaning toward getting the best refund I can, find a used 3" 686, and pay a gunsmith the rest to make it right. Thoughts?

 

[Bill In Texas]

Congratulations!

 

[A.J.R.]

Doesn't Davidsons have a 100% satisfaction guarantee?

I have read some complaints about the small sight on the L comp, though never read any about the trigger. Hopefully it works out for you. There are lots of Performance Center 686 snubs with excellent triggers that need good homes.

 

[madmikeb]

Every new Smith I have bought in recent years has been dry as a bone inside. The first thing I do is strip the gun, clean, and lube the action contact points with a good quality gun grease. You won't believe the difference this will make, it's like night and day.
Of course it won't make the action any lighter, but it makes a world of difference.

 

[gnystrom]

My L comp came the same way. I pulled the side plate, cleaned the insides, smoothed the rebound slide, and a light lube for a much improved setup. I painted the useless front sight with red sight paint over a white base. The gun is a shooter for sure.

 

[MCorps0311]

Congrats on the new 586.

 

[captainwayne]

Update: did my own stoning and polishing of the internals and changed the rebound spring, but DA with the original mainspring was only acceptable with a full turn off the set screw. From what I've read this isn't the way to leave it, but it is a pleasure to shoot! I do have a question for those that may know, is the tritium sight supposed to glow or show brightly? Mine is nearly invisible against any target!

 

[thomasinaz]

The night sight dot should glow in the dark, but just look like a dot in the light. You're correct that you don't want to depend on the strain screw staying put when not screwed all the way in, where it's supposed to be. Wolff Springs makes a main spring that will successfully lighten the double action pull. Much better than running your 586 with the strain screw backed out. I put one in my 3" 686+, after shooting a few hundred rounds through it. It does lighten the pull quite a bit and it's still 100% reliable.

 

[John Rus]

Does the porting help any?

 

[captainwayne]

I agree Tom that I should get a different mainspring. My local gunsmith who has to put up with all my rookie questions told me that PC guns come with a "power spring" which I guess refers to the rib in it?
I truly don't get why a $1000 gun should need ANYTHING added or done to it.
As far as the sight goes, I'm thinking about just drilling the existing one out, and putting a piece of high glow monofilament in it's place(I'm a fisherman). This may be easier and less costly than changing the sight, which I'll do if it doesn't work.
Regarding the effectiveness of the porting, yesterday I shot my 686 4 inch as well as the 586 Lcomp, about 100 rounds each. I didn't notice the difference, however I was shooting low power 38 specials. I'll have to shoot some hot 357 loads and report back. I guess buying a ported gun has a "cool" factor involved that makes it desired more!

 

[thomasinaz]

I agree Tom that I should get a different mainspring. My local gunsmith who has to put up with all my rookie questions told me that PC guns come with a "power spring" which I guess refers to the rib in it?
I truly don't get why a $1000 gun should need ANYTHING added or done to it.
As far as the sight goes, I'm thinking about just drilling the existing one out, and putting a piece of high glow monofilament in it's place(I'm a fisherman). This may be easier and less costly than changing the sight, which I'll do if it doesn't work.

You're correct that a gun of that cost shouldn't need anything, except maybe a few hundred rounds shot through it. Probably not a good idea to go drilling into the night sight glow vial. They contain some radioactive stuff that probably should be left sealed where the manufacturer put it. Don't want any small mushroom clouds in your work shop. (If you do please provide video, you could title it "A fisherman's Guide to Gunsmithing".)

The front sight should be pinned in and it isn't difficult to change out for a sight you prefer.

 

[bronco45]

Go shoot a couple hundred rounds of 357 through the gun DOUBLE ACTION, that will help "marry" the hammer trigger interface. Then put in a Wolff Mainspring. Personally I would send it to Smith and get an action job and a new sight. 586 L Comps are nice units and there are a lot of "good things" to start with on an L Comp.

 

[captainwayne]

Home sight job on the 586 l comp

Well, I got tired of waiting for the FO sight to arrive. I pushed out the tritium from the front sight, drilled it out just enough to fit a piece fiber optic sight material that came with my XDM.
20 minutes to get the length right, but realized that in a covered location, the sight didn't get enough light to really show up well. So, I drilled a hole in the sight from the top, another one on the side. That did the trick!
Not only did I get a better sight than came with the gun for next to nothing, but I didn't have to change the "look" of it!

 

[bronco45]

Good job. Yankee ingenuity!

 

[Goblin]

First of all, I've been thinking about buying a 586 L-comp, and my expectations are aligned with what yours were before you received it. I've also thought about getting a 686 Talo and having an action job, since the comp isn't a high priority for me. I've thought that for the same money, I might get the same or better gun, and you may have convinced me of that. And it would be stainless, which I would prefer for this particular gun.

Can you tell me more about the "super tuned model?" I'm not familiar with that. Did you just buy a 686+ and have the PC do an action job, or is this a standard offering?

 

[captainwayne]

586 L COMP VS SUPER TUNED 686 4in

Hey Goblin;
I went through the same thought process before bying the L comp. I really wanted a 3" 686 plus to start competing in USPSA, I think it's called. I would have bought a less expensive gun, did, a trigger job which is $150 or so with S&W? not sure. My local gunsmith wanted $250 for a special trigger job.Then, had the cylinders cut for moon clips,not sure what S&W charges, but my LGS wanted $150 more. So, I was looking at about 1K one way or the other. I took a shot and bought the new one, hoping the action was amazing, and would not have to put anything into it. From my posts you see I'm an amateur at gunsmithing. But it's easy to slick it up with simple stones and a dermell with polishing compound and followed by Flitz, a super light polishing liquid. I put about 3 hours into it to get the action acceptable, but the main spring was still too strong, had to twist it back a whole turn to get it right. I also changed the rebound spring as the factory one was brutal. Then another hour to invent a new sight. I'm not happy that the gun wasn't out of the box what I have now, but I didn't want to wait weeks to get it back.
My 686+ super tuned 4 inch barrel is offered by Gallery of Guns, as a Davidson special. I think it's kind of like the Talo edition guns, a special run for a distributor. Out of the box this gun was beyond my expectations. Smooth as silk, no need for single action shots, and actually smoother than my 40 year old Colt Python! if they offered a 3 inch Super Tuned I would have taken it instead of the L comp. I may actually go up to the 5 inch next in the 3-5-7 model, which is also a special edition 686+ with an unflutted cylinder. Supposed to have the forged trigger and hammer as well.

Hope the above helped your decision. Check www.galleryofguns for the super tuned model. I picked the local shop that had the best price, and ordered it. Good luck, happy to throw in as needed!

 

[captainwayne]

No mushroom cloud!

You're correct that a gun of that cost shouldn't need anything, except maybe a few hundred rounds shot through it. Probably not a good idea to go drilling into the night sight glow vial. They contain some radioactive stuff that probably should be left sealed where the manufacturer put it. Don't want any small mushroom clouds in your work shop. (If you do please provide video, you could title it "A fisherman's Guide to Gunsmithing".)

The front sight should be pinned in and it isn't difficult to change out for a sight you prefer.

Tom; check out the above post. Took a few minutes but it turned out amazing!

 

[captainwayne]

586 L COMP VS SUPER TUNED 686 4in

Hey Goblin;
I went through the same thought process before bying the L comp. I really wanted a 3" 686 plus to start competing in USPSA, I think it's called. I would have bought a less expensive gun, did, a trigger job which is $150 or so with S&W? not sure. My local gunsmith wanted $250 for a special trigger job.Then, had the cylinders cut for moon clips,not sure what S&W charges, but my LGS wanted $150 more. So, I was looking at about 1K one way or the other. I took a shot and bought the new one, hoping the action was amazing, and would not have to put anything into it. From my posts you see I'm an amateur at gunsmithing. But it's easy to slick it up with simple stones and a dermell with polishing compound and followed by Flitz, a super light polishing liquid. I put about 3 hours into it to get the action acceptable, but the main spring was still too strong, had to twist it back a whole turn to get it right. I also changed the rebound spring as the factory one was brutal. Then another hour to invent a new sight. I'm not happy that the gun wasn't out of the box what I have now, but I didn't want to wait weeks to get it back.
My 686+ super tuned 4 inch barrel is offered by Gallery of Guns, as a Davidson special. I think it's kind of like the Talo edition guns, a special run for a distributor. Out of the box this gun was beyond my expectations. Smooth as silk, no need for single action shots, and actually smoother than my 40 year old Colt Python! if they offered a 3 inch Super Tuned I would have taken it instead of the L comp. I may actually go up to the 5 inch next in the 3-5-7 model, which is also a special edition 686+ with an unflutted cylinder. Supposed to have the forged trigger and hammer as well.

Hope the above helped your decision. Check www.galleryofguns for the super tuned model. I picked the local shop that had the best price, and ordered it. Good luck, happy to throw in as needed!

 

[captainwayne]

Trigger issue with new 586 L comp

I'm embarrassed to say that my heavy trigger job was not the springs fault.
I mentioned that I'm a beginner at working on my revolvers, having had success with doing 4 trigger jobs on my S&Ws.
I received my brand new L comp and couldn't believe the heavy trigger, and complained to all on this forum. I took it apart, making sure to take a photo or two on the way to be sure everything went back the same.
I ended up taking a turn off the main spring screw to make the trigger weight acceptable, and ordered a new Wolf spring for N frames. As I looked at the spring it hit me that the bottom end of the spring was not all the way down, but resting on a lip. My photos showed me that this was the way it looked initially.
Of course, when I placed the spring all the way down in it's proper place and tightened the strain screw all the way down, the pull was amazing!
The spring was not installed properly at the factory. Crazy.
Just passing it along in case anyone out there has something similar happen.