Early 686 Problems

[Milton]

I am not trying to be a smart aleck but I would like to know from someone who truthfully knows what the problem was with the early 686's and the recoil shield/hammer nose bushing.Why did these guns lock up on firing and what was the real fix?

 

[Acorn1754]

It is my understanding that they made the firing pin hole in the bushing too large in diameter and had problems with primers being pushed back into that hole and therefore jamming the cylinder completely. They did a recall and fixed this on the 686 no dash and the 686-1 (the 686-2 was released with this fix already made) and those that have been fixed have a M stamped into the frame. The real fix was a new firing pin and a small diameter hole for the firing pin.

What I want to know, being an new owner of a un-modified 686 no dash, is how common of a problem is this and should I be at all worried about this with medium magnum loadings? Being a reloader, I don't see the need to push to maximum loadings.

 

[Milton]

Thanks Acorn1754,that answers a lot of questions.Unless that 686 you have has not been shot much I would be willing to bet that it is OK.Test it yourself,load some loads that are standard .357(you don't need to push it!!!) and fire a few cylinder fulls.If it does not lock up and you want to be sure buy some factory stuff and try it out.

 

[Acorn1754]

Thanks Acorn1754,that answers a lot of questions.Unless that 686 you have has not been shot much I would be willing to bet that it is OK.Test it yourself,load some loads that are standard .357(you don't need to push it!!!) and fire a few cylinder fulls.If it does not lock up and you want to be sure buy some factory stuff and try it out.

Oh I agree. Shooting a lot of the full magnum loads just isn't that much fun. I'm mostly going to work up a 158 gr lead cast load that I can shoot at 900 to 1000 fps. Plus, I can reload those for $5.50 a box of 50! But I do want to have some medium powered magnum loads for hunting.

 

[jepp2]

Milton,

Just something to consider. Currently S&W will cover the shipping both ways and do the modification free of charge. If you find in the future you have a problem, they may no longer be so generous.

I was in a similar boat and I got a few replies that indicated revolvers that hadn't been a problem, started having a problem.

 

[OKFC05]

My 686 no dash only did it with full-power .357 Federal factory loads--but it did it first time, every time when I bought it back in the 80's. Never locked up on Win or Rem.

No problems after the factory fix.

 

[murphydog]

There were recent threads that stated the factory no longer would perform the modification for free if the gun functioned normally, but it seemed to be a hit-or-miss proposition (pun intended) depending on which customer service rep was on the phone.

So, it seems the best option is to put a few full-power .357s through it, and if it ties up the gun the fix should be free.

 

[bgrafsr]

I had a contract with S&W to do the recall work. The problem involved Federal primers cratering , flowing metal into the hole in the hammer nose bushing, and locking up the cylinder. Fix was a new hammer nose bushing with smaller diameter hole, a hammer nose with slightly shorter pin with smaller diameter. After the fix, I had to test each revolver with Federal .357 mag ammo provided by S&W. I must have gotten several thousand rounds of the ammo along with the tools and parts to do the recall work. If I remember correctly, I did approx. 700 "L" frame revolvers.

I did a revolver for our local Sheriff's Dept., and could not get the gun to work or come into specs. (we had a few gauges to be used during the work), and I had to send it back to S&W. A couple of weeks later I got the gun back with a note stating that they had to replace the frame due to poor tolerances on the original one. Out of all the guns I did, that was the only one I could not fix myself.

 

[Warners]

I found this explanation of the problem on another message board. Of course I cannot substantiate the poster's claims of having been the one who initially noticed the problem....so take this for what it's worth. I just got a return label from S&W to send my no dash 686 back for warranty recall work.

Warner

Here was the post that I found about it:

"Sorry it took so long to reply; I've been out of town.

The modification consisted of a new hammer nose, hammer nose bushing, hammer nose rivet, and hammer nose spring. The new hammer nose is slightly larger in diameter than the original one, and the bushing has a corresponding larger hole.

My department issued the S&W 686 at the time of this recall. I am a S&W armorer. I discovered this malfunction before S&W issued the recall. I spent a lot of time on the phone with other departments around the country, ammunition companies, S&W factory people, and ballistics people from reloading component manufacturers. S&W initially claimed that the malfunction was caused by the ammunition. The ammo companies said it was the guns. A Smith factory rep spent half a day with me. I gave him two boxes of our issue ammo to take back to be tested.

Bottom line, S&W determined it had something to do with the hammer geometry. There wasn't a factory warranty center near me. S&W shipped me the parts and specialized tools to do the modification on our guns."