Custom 686 SSR Review

[BobR1]

Non of my local stores have ever had a 686 SSR in stock to look over. I have read about them for years. I always liked the looks of them. The only advantage I ever saw in one over the ones I have was the ballance probably being a little better, and the looks.

Well a buddy of mine has one, I just had never seen it before. He is into 1911's, and normally shoots them in our handgun matches.

He sent his SSR off new to Ten-Ring Precision for Trigger Work, Chamfered Chambers, and a Moon Clip Conversion. So I am still not sure exactly how one comes from the box.

Anyway I normally shoot revolvers, and have a Power Custom 686-5 I am currently running in SSR. I also have a 686-1 Power Custom with a Clark Moon Clip Conversion the wife has taken over for her House Gun. Anyway my 686-5 SSR Gun has a Cylinder & Slide Fiber Optic Front Sight. My buddy has looked over my 686 and really liked the Fiber Optic Front Sight. Anyway he dragged out his SSR for me to look over. It had a Red Ramp front sight. I got to thinking, about everyone I have seen in Competition Forum pictures has had a Fiber Optic front sight. I noticed the pin, and told him I could change his front sight to a Green Fiber Optic with no problem.
I took a measurment, and it was .250 tall. I ordered a pinned on .250 Green Fiber Optic front sight for it.

The sight comes in, and I round up his gun to install the sight, and discover a hole in the front of the rib. WOW I had no idea it came with a Quick Change Front Sight.

In all the reading I have done about the 686 SSR over the years, I have never read anything about them having a Quick Change Front Sight that I recall.

If I had been doing a write up on one, this would have been a big enough deal to have mentioned in promenance.

The ability to swap from Red Ramp, to Fiber Optic, to Gold Bead, to Partridge in about 30 seconds a sight change is a very big deal to competition shooters, or anyone else who might like to have something different for a front sight without a $60+ trip to the gunsmith.

Anyway I now have an extra pinned on .250 Green Fiber Optic front sight, and a Quick Change one on order from Midway.

I have had the oportunity to handle a very nice 686 SSR, but still have no idea how nice a stock one is. I figure if he had a trigger job done on it, the trigger probably left some to be desired out of the box.

The work was done by Ten-Ring Precision in San Antonio Texas.

The ticket says:
Action Job
Moon Clip Conversion
Open Throats from .356 to .358
Number Crown ?? (Has a Recessed Crown)
Forcing Cone
Polish Chambers
Note: Uses "New Style" Moon Clips.

From what I could tell it came with .025 thick "Remington & Most Other" Moon Clips. They miced a little under .025, but were not the .020's used with Winchester cases.

What do I think about the Ten Ring Precision SSR?

The trigger work is first rate. The Trigger pull is as good as an L Frame S&W gets and still fires 100%.
The recessed crown is a good idea, and well executed.
The cylinder spins like it is on roller bearings.
I put the 357 Magnum Test Fire rounds back in the cylinder. They fall free when the muzzle is vertical. A good sign the chamber polishing job did some good.
The Moon Clip Conversion was also well executed.

The Chambers are Chamfered just enough to get the job done without causing any problems.
The Factory SSR Grips seem to be a pretty good design, and grippy enough to hang on to. I could run them on my SSR Gun with no problem.
The Factory rear sight is solid Black with a square notch. My preference on an SSR Revolver with Fiber Optic Front Sight. I do not care for the White Outline with a Fiber Optic front sight.
Quick Change Front Sight. Probably the Factory SSR's best feature.
Slab Side SSR Barrel. Looks great. The sloped underlug barrel should make reholstering easier, as well as losing a little muzzle weight.

Overall I am very impressed with the Ten Ring Precision work, as well as the stock SSR's unique features.

The 686 SSR is like marrying a Babe who can also Cook, Clean, Sew, and Carry on an Intelegent Conversation. The 686 SSR has way more going on than just Cool Looks, and a Great Figure.


Bob

 

[kaaskop49]

A tremendous amount of work! I own a stock 686 SSR. The only change I made was to remove the wood grips: years of shooting planet-wrecker loads with small grips have caused nerve damage to the web of my hand. Pachmayr Grippers now reside on the gun.

One problem: I had light hits on Armscor .357 ammunition. I discovered that the strain screw on the front strap was not fully seated: it took a full turn before seating all the way. No further light hits!

Accuracy is MOPP (minute of paper plate). That's all I look for: double taps on half-sheets of 8.5x11 paper at varied ranges. Double action is smooth and the chambers already have a slight chamfer from the factory.

Nothing wrong with custom work if it 'fits your pistol.' I would shoot the gun extensively (shoot,not abuse) before having a boat-load of work done on it. It may be ideal for you as it comes from the factory: the Pro Series already has some semi-custom touches on it. Hope I've helped.

 

[BobR1]

The 686-5 Power Custom I shoot in SSR Division has what I consider to be just the right amount of work done.

We started with an as new 4" 686-5 Round Butt with Pinned Front Sight.
We used a Type 2 Full Power Wolfe Hammer Spring.
Wolfe 13 pound Rebound Spring.
Cylinder & Slide Extended Firing Pin.
Cylinder & Slide Fiber Optic Front Sight.
Ron did the action work,
Ball Lock was installed.
Chambers were Chamfered.
Ron ran the cylinder in a lathe. From what I can tell he just kissed the ratchet enough to make sure it did not have any high spots.
Ron checked and adjusted the cylinder gap and end shake.
Ron checked everything to make sure it was perfect, and when he got done I am sure it was.
Cylinder alignment was dead on, on all six chambers when checked with Ron's gage.

Ron did not work on the forcing cone. He did check the throats with a gage he has. They must have been fine, as he did not do any work on the throats.

Ron Power has been tuning on my Smith & Wesson revolvers for over 20 years. He does great work.

Holster: Just for information, I am using a Lobo Enhanced Avenger Holster.
Grips: At the moment I am running a set of old S&W Round Butt Combats that I have refinished with Tung Oil.
Speed Loaders: I have 10 Safariland Comp III speed loaders for competition, and I have 2 Safariland Comp II Speed Loaders for concealed carry.
Speed Loader Carriers: For Competition I make Big Creek Kydex Carriers, and I am using my own in matches. For concealed carry I use Safariland CD-2 steel belt carriers.

Ammunition: for matches I am loading my 38 Special ammunition with 158 round nose lead over 5.0 grains of Unique.
For carry ammunition I have 135 grain Speer Short Barrel 357 Magnum ammunition.

How does my Power Custom 686-5 compare to the 686 SSR Ten-Ring Precision? Pretty Close. They are both way better than when they left the factory.

Bob