hmmmmm 686 problem? normal?

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Jswiney9

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Was handling a Model 686 plus a few days ago and noticed that the barrel looked canted....... fished around on the internet to see if this is normal. Apparently others have noticed so i figured id go here and ask.......... is this normal?

S&W 686 Problem - YouTube

it turned me off of it immediately, this guy says his shoots fine. what to do?
 
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Sir,

There was a lengthy thread on that issue maybe a month or two ago. A search should turn it up if you haven't tried that already.

For the record, I would pass on such a gun, though I have a nice M17 with a very, very slight cant -not enough to have refused it.

Andy
 
thank you sir. I didnt really know how to search for "canted barrels on 1000 dollar hand tuned guns" :D so i just searched 686 and found a thread about it.
 
Yes there is a lengthy thread or two already on this issue, and sadly yes it is pretty common. Even my newer 640 is off just a touch. I'm not sending it off, but it does bother me.
 
Jswiney9 said:
Was handling a Model 686 plus a few days ago and noticed that the barrel looked canted....... fished around on the internet to see if this is normal. Apparently others have noticed so i figured id go here and ask.......... is this normal?

S&W 686 Problem - YouTube

it turned me off of it immediately, this guy says his shoots fine. what to do?
Click to expand...

First of all I looked closely at the video and I could not see any misalignment of the sights. The front sight appears to be in proper alignment with the rear sight. It appears the individual is focusing on some cosmetics rather than sight misalignment.
 
I noticed that years ago on some guns. The width and dimensions of barrel ribs and frames vary a few thousandths so the appearance of barrel cant is more on some than others. I have fitted barrels to some of mine and had to slightly loosen or tighten barrels to get them to shoot within the sight adjustment range with out having extreme left or right adjustment. We are only talking a few thousandths. This is how you correct a fixed sighted gun for lateral sight alignment.You just do not notice it on a round barrel like a colt saa. This is worrying about nothing if it shoots to point of aim without extreme left or right sight adjustment.Function over form not form over function.

dogdoc
 
This is worrying about nothing if it shoots to point of aim without extreme left or right sight adjustment.Function over form not form over function.

dogdoc[/QUOTE]

I could not have stated it more succintly!
 
sadly i disagree, a gun of that price/reputation should have both form and function. If a novice like myself noticed it upon picking it up for inspection then there certainly is a problem whether it be cosmetic or not. I dont believe in safe queens but if I am going to drop that kind of money on something i want it to be up to snuff so to speak. maybe im picky for wanting my barrels on my guns to be straight? :confused:

fwiw, the one i looked at was way more misalligned than the one in this video, like i said, I noticed it and im a novice to revolvers.
 
I have/had one like that.
The misalignment was not very obvious in stock form, but then I had the barrel cut off to 4 inches for IDPA. (No, I could not make a sale or swap for a different gun for less difference than the gunsmithing.)
When the gunsmith started to install the Weigand front ramp, he found the rib out of line to where it would show badly with the replacement ramp. So he set the gun up with the rear sight level and machined the barrel rib flat and smooth. Then put the ramp in the middle. It looks good and shoots straight.
 
I guess I am just not getting it. What is meant by "cant"? Is the front and rear sights slightly to the left or right? I have owned lots of revolvers and have never run accross it, except for a junker single action 22 from Italy that my brother in law gave me. Seems that any firearm should be aligned propery, especially a Smith and Wesson, who tend to set the benchmark for quality.
 
Hey Jswiney9, I am the original poster of the now infamous canted barrel thread. My new 686P 4" looks identical to yours. I appreciate your video...good to know I'm not alone. I posted pictures in my thread, but your video does a much better job of showing what I was trying to show with my pics. In fact, I just got a call back from Smith & Wesson today because I had left a voice mail with a manager. They told me, as always, that they are perfectly willing to take it back and make it right, but quite frankly, if I can shoot accurately with it, I may not worry about it. Keep in mind that S&W absolutely claims that being off a little (like yours and mine is) is considered acceptable. And THAT sentence it was is driving so may folks in this foum NUTS. They all say it's unacceptable and it should be dead on straight....period. That has been my dilemna all along....some say it's normal (even some of my local gunsmiths) and some say hogwash, send it back. BTW, my rear sight is adjusted to the left - kinda far, but not crazy far - and I'm happy with my POI now. But I'd be lying if I told you that the slight cant didn't bother me...cuz it does.
 
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I have a 610-3 that has just a hint of a cant and it only took setting the rear sight 1/2 turn from centered to zero the sighting. So, in the case of my 610 it's not worth bothering with.

However, I also have a newly purchased 625 JM that has the barrel tipped at least 4 to 5 degrees left and the rear sight had to be shifted to just 2 clicks from full left to zero the sights. That one will probably go back to S&W.

The only reason why I'm not certain is that I might use it as an excuse to purchase a frame wrench and make up a set of vise inserts fitted to the barrel. As for why do it myself, I just hate the idea of sending it in. In addition I have access to the machine shop at work on the weekends, so I could use that opportunity to add a fully lapped barrel crown and lap and polish the forcing cone. End result would a fully accurized 625 for perhaps 6 hours of work and 200 bucks in materials and tools. Downside to doing this is that I already know I can't shoot to the 625's current potential, so in real terms it doesn't make a lot of sense.
 
This would be a real PIA on a revolver with a fixed rear sight other than those are usually snubbies where dead eye accuracy probably isn't the greatest concern.
 
More than one manufacturer has had issues like this.

Not unique to Smith or the 686. Sad, but, it happens. Good for you to catch it.
 
I saw at least one gun a long time ago where the barrel was not aligned witht he frame. However the front sight did not look canted at all. It shot good, though, so I didn't do anything about it. To me, if ou cannot tell if the front sight is canted while looking through the rear sight, and it shoots point of aim without moving the rear sight more than a few clicks, then I think it acceptable. If I can tell while aiming that the front sight is canted, it needs to be fixed.
 
It's damned annoying, and I won't ignore it.

It's kinda' like buying a new car that you just paid a bundle for. And you look at the dent protection strip running down the doors and the front doors and rear doors don't line up. I don't ignore that either. And the same goes for other cosmetic issues with any product that's above the cheap Chinese ****.

It's sloppy work and should never be condoned. Especially when the product is supposed to be a premier product, like S&W. If they can't, or won't, get their QC in order, and won't get their production in order, then I'll vote with my money and put it on another product.

If you're going to bill yourself as the best, then you should damn well be the best. And that goes for "FORM" and "FUNCTION"!
 
I agree, I would want the barrel to be correct also. I bought a Ruger SP101 about 3 years ago that I had to send in to get the barrel fixed, I did not notice it until I got it home. Now I check that out when lookining over a gun I am looking to buy, I would not buy one that was not correct. I understand it may just be a cosmetic issue and may not cause accuracy issues, but guns cost to much to becoming off the line with that kind of issue.

That is why I will not buy a gun online, you don't really know what you are getting until it is to late.
 
El Dorico said:
I guess I am just not getting it. What is meant by "cant"? Is the front and rear sights slightly to the left or right? I have owned lots of revolvers and have never run accross it, except for a junker single action 22 from Italy that my brother in law gave me. Seems that any firearm should be aligned propery, especially a Smith and Wesson, who tend to set the benchmark for quality.
Click to expand...

The ones I've seen have been turned so far that the edge of the barrel sits out past the frame on the left side as you look down the revolver from behind. Course it doesn't help that the frame on the yoke opening side has a deep groove cut into it's very top edge so that any barrel misalignment is magnified at that point. I will say that the guns I've shot like this ALL shoot very well once the rear sight is adjusted for zero. Say what you will, to me it's just a butt ugly situation that didn't happen prior to about three years ago. It even now doesn't happen with every gun so the best way to get your revolver is to examine several in the shop if you're lucky enough to live near a "stocking dealer."
 
Jswiney9 said:
sadly i disagree, a gun of that price/reputation should have both form and function. If a novice like myself noticed it upon picking it up for inspection then there certainly is a problem whether it be cosmetic or not. I dont believe in safe queens but if I am going to drop that kind of money on something i want it to be up to snuff so to speak. maybe im picky for wanting my barrels on my guns to be straight?
Click to expand...
Jswiney9, I agree totally. Why should you pay all of the money and not get all of the gun ? ? I don't care if it shoots or not---it offends the eye. People will be askin' you for years to come, "Hey, do you know this sight is crooked ? ? ?" I wouldn't want to hear that over and over......
 
Not even gonna look at mine..hitting 8" plates at 25 yds...don't want to (un)screw that up...
 
I sent a 629-4 back to S&W for a different barrel and the new one while clocked straight up has a tilt or cant to the right, it sits at an angle. It shoots quite well though, better than it did before.
 
just got the chance to come back and check this thread. FWIW that wasnt my video, like I said i saw one in the store that I was planning on buying and was wondering if this was normal, i searched the net and FOUND that video.
 
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