I had a spare 686 six round cylinder laying around so I sent it off to TK Custom for their 9MM conversion. It seemed like as good idea at the time. Regardless of my reasoning (or lack thereof) they did a great job! Excellent machine work and quick turn around.
I ran a couple of different brands of standard pressure 9MM 115gr rounds through it with no problems. The 686 sights are set for 15 yards with 358 gr Magnum rounds with POA/POI at the top of the front sight. The 9MM rounds tends to group about 3" low at 10 yards with that same sight picture and no sight adjustments. Without moving the sight elevation screw, I was able to bring the 9MM POI up to about 1/2 to 1" low by adjusting my sight picture to put the top half of the front sight in the center of the target. That's basically the same sight picture I use when shooting 38s in the gun. Shooting from a cheap plastic pistol rest, the 9MM cylinder produced 2" groups. Most of that was due to my poor trigger control but that's good enough for practice.
I also tried a couple of 158 gr plated SWCs 38 rounds and 158 gr JHP 357 rounds. All the different cases ejected smoothly. TK Custom says you can use standard pressure 38 and 357 in the converted cylinder, but I think I'll stick to 9MM in the conversion and switch back to an unmodified cylinder when I want to shoot 38 and 357. The 38 and 357 brass showed some definite lower case bulging compared to brass fired in a nonconverted cylinder.
9MM recoil in my "9"86 is halfway between 38 and 357. Even in a relatively heavy gun, it's a little snappy but it won't beat you up like a box full of 357 will.
Though I reload, 38 and 357 components (other than brass) are hard to find, especially primers. Meanwhile, 9MM is readily available again and is coming down in price.
Is it cost effective? Not really. By the time you add up parts and services, you could probably get a Taurus, Charter Arms, Ruger, or Rock Island 9MM revolver. But still, I'm really pleased with the way this conversion turned out.
Besides, if I don't spend the money first, The Boss will just waste it on clothes, furniture and jewelry.
9MM conversion cylinder
Regular 357 cylinder
I ran a couple of different brands of standard pressure 9MM 115gr rounds through it with no problems. The 686 sights are set for 15 yards with 358 gr Magnum rounds with POA/POI at the top of the front sight. The 9MM rounds tends to group about 3" low at 10 yards with that same sight picture and no sight adjustments. Without moving the sight elevation screw, I was able to bring the 9MM POI up to about 1/2 to 1" low by adjusting my sight picture to put the top half of the front sight in the center of the target. That's basically the same sight picture I use when shooting 38s in the gun. Shooting from a cheap plastic pistol rest, the 9MM cylinder produced 2" groups. Most of that was due to my poor trigger control but that's good enough for practice.
I also tried a couple of 158 gr plated SWCs 38 rounds and 158 gr JHP 357 rounds. All the different cases ejected smoothly. TK Custom says you can use standard pressure 38 and 357 in the converted cylinder, but I think I'll stick to 9MM in the conversion and switch back to an unmodified cylinder when I want to shoot 38 and 357. The 38 and 357 brass showed some definite lower case bulging compared to brass fired in a nonconverted cylinder.
9MM recoil in my "9"86 is halfway between 38 and 357. Even in a relatively heavy gun, it's a little snappy but it won't beat you up like a box full of 357 will.
Though I reload, 38 and 357 components (other than brass) are hard to find, especially primers. Meanwhile, 9MM is readily available again and is coming down in price.
Is it cost effective? Not really. By the time you add up parts and services, you could probably get a Taurus, Charter Arms, Ruger, or Rock Island 9MM revolver. But still, I'm really pleased with the way this conversion turned out.
Besides, if I don't spend the money first, The Boss will just waste it on clothes, furniture and jewelry.
9MM conversion cylinder
Regular 357 cylinder
