Much To My Surprise....

[SuperTroll]

Found a 686 CS-1.....in my gun cabinet.

I knew I had a 3-inch 686....I even carry it concealed now and then. Probably shoot it on four or five range outings per year. It's a great hiking gun, powerful and accurate without being too big and heavy. With a shoulder holster you hardly notice it.

I remember that I bought it new in the early 90s....so recently I got curious about exactly how old it was and checked it to see if it had a dash or not.

No dash.

But I noticed that it had CS-1 stamped on it up above the model number and I thought, "That's odd."

So I Googled it. Imagine my surprise.

In 1991 I was on a road trip and stopped in a small town in northern MN near Mille Lacs Lake. I noticed a little hardware store that had a "Guns" sign. The guy had two brand new S&Ws.....this three-inch 686 and a four-inch 19.

I loved the balance of the three-inch. It just looked and felt right. So I made a real spur of the moment purchase. It was a little over $300 and that was a lot of money to me at that time......but, I went ahead and did it.

I've had quite a few six-guns since then, but this was always one that I would never part with.....just too damned perfect in form and function.

I've been looking at some of these CS-1s on the gun websites and I haven't seen any with the grips mine came with.....the standard small S&W wood grips for a round butt.

So I have to wonder if these came with different types of grips. Mine also has 2M stamped on the frame.

I have to assume that this was one that S&W had laying around left over and sent it out to be retailed.

Picture shows the original grips switched with those on a modern 686.

 

[SuperTroll]

Found a 686 CS-1.....in my gun cabinet.

I knew I had a 3-inch 686....I even carry it concealed now and then. Probably shoot it on four or five range outings per year. It's a great hiking gun, powerful and accurate without being too big and heavy. With a shoulder holster you hardly notice it.

I remember that I bought it new in the early 90s....so recently I got curious about exactly how old it was and checked it to see if it had a dash or not.

No dash.

But I noticed that it had CS-1 stamped on it up above the model number and I thought, "That's odd."

So I Googled it. Imagine my surprise.

In 1991 I was on a road trip and stopped in a small town in northern MN near Mille Lacs Lake. I noticed a little hardware store that had a "Guns" sign. The guy had two brand new S&Ws.....this three-inch 686 and a four-inch 19.

I loved the balance of the three-inch. It just looked and felt right. So I made a real spur of the moment purchase. It was a little over $300 and that was a lot of money to me at that time......but, I went ahead and did it.

I've had quite a few six-guns since then, but this was always one that I would never part with.....just too damned perfect in form and function.

I've been looking at some of these CS-1s on the gun websites and I haven't seen any with the grips mine came with.....the standard small S&W wood grips for a round butt.

So I have to wonder if these came with different types of grips. Mine also has 2M stamped on the frame.

I have to assume that this was one that S&W had laying around left over and sent it out to be retailed.

Picture shows the original grips switched with those on a modern 686.

 

[Scheebs]

Wow, I'm really loving the look of the 3" barrel.
That 3" 686 would make a fine addition to my 3" M19 and 3" M60. Do I sense the beginning of a new addiction?
Great pics, thanks for sharing, and welcome to the forum.

 

[blairgarber]

I believe the 3 inch CS-1 originally shipped with Pachmayr Compact synthetic grips (the ones w/o the Pachmayr medallion).

/b

 

[SuperTroll]

Originally posted by Scheebs:
Wow, I'm really loving the look of the 3" barrel.
That 3" 686 would make a fine addition to my 3" M19 and 3" M60. Do I sense the beginning of a new addiction?
Great pics, thanks for sharing, and welcome to the forum.

Yes, it will probably eventually lead you to a three-inch 629.

I think that's where I'm headed.

 

[pred]

I guess I am going backwards,
Here is a 3" 629.

I have been looking for a full underlug 3" 357 in stainless to keep this one company!
Peter.

 

[SuperTroll]

Really like those grips.....what exactly are they???

 

[SIGWolf]

There were a number of threads for a while on the 3" CS-1 regarding grips, holsters, and history. As I recall the 3" came with Pachmayr Compac Pro grips without the medallion. However, when S&W sold off their surplus they put a variety of different grips on the guns, whatever they seemed to have on hand.

That's is a fantastic "safe-diving" find.

 

[SuperTroll]

Thanks.....always nice to find that a gun you already have is a little bit special.

I have to credit my gun taste.....that day when I first saw it I knew immediately that I was going to buy it.....and I had no prior thought of buying a gun that day.

I'm ordering a set of S&W Walnut grips for it. I've been enjoying some of the pictures here and I figure the CS is worthy of similar grips.