My 586 one year later

[Ghost Magnum]

Its been nearly a year since I bought my 586 and I thought I would do a one year review.

Trading in my Ruger GP100 for this S&W 586 is one of the best decisions I have every made when it comes to guns!

I just love my 586! After a year of ownership. I have spotted no rust. Trust me. I carry it while I do yard work since the rise of venomous snakes this year one of which killed my grandmother dachshund. Overkill! I know. But I don't have a 22 pistol and not about to spend money on one! LOL
I carry it when I am mowing the grass chopping weeds, vines and tree limbs. I even carried it when I had to separate my dogs, and my 586 got REAL DIRTY that day! I had to clean it to get all that dirt off of it. so no rust and only one scratch tells me just how well made this gun is!

The only character mark my 586 has so far came from a simple thumb break holster. You can see it in one of the picture. Its at the end of the under lug.

Even though I inherited my mothers hands. I have no problem with the DA trigger pull. Neither does my mother! Since I dry fire often using a sure strike practice laser. The trigger pull only gotten smoother!

The recoil is awesome. The gun under lug makes the recoil feel like a gentle upward and backwards nudge. I can even one hand fire using a 357 magnum! And I am not that big!

There is only two problems I have with this gun. The rear sites seems weak to me. EVERY time I carry this gun in the thumb break holster. Its throw off the rear site. I got my hands on 6 free bullets. I put on my holster and walked to a safe place. Set up my targets. Draw my gun, carefully aim and fired. Not a single bullet hit the target. Came back home, slid in my sure strike laser and found that my sites was thrown horrifically WAY OFF TARGET!

The other problem is the grips. I been trying to get new ones for the gun but I have other needs and the grips is not that big of a problem. So I can deal with them for now. But I have been tempted to got out side and grab a log and carve out my own grips.

Believe it or not, I had no idea this model existed. until I decided that my GP100 was not going to work for me. I was looking for another gun. I looked on the internet at 1911s, M&P, other revolvers new and used, pythons. Then I decided to pay the Smith & Wesson website a visit. I saw the classic tab and decided to take a look. There it was! The 586! The blue coat and distant lines just caught my eyes. With my taste in muscle cars. I could not resist. With the fact that the GP100 and the 686 share some of the accessory, and the fact the the 686 and 586 are pretty much the same gun. Made the 586 a very practical choice for me.

The smith and wesson 586 Gets 5 out of 5 stars from me!


The Ruger GP100 is a fine revolver itself. They are not **** or anything like that. I loved the one I had. It just was not for me. The size was one problem, but it was not that big of a deal. It was a really nice gun also. Very thick. The GP100 will take more of a beating then my 586. But its also much heavier.

I liked it too but in the end I am a Smith and Wesson guy.

 

[Engineer1911]

I would buy that M586 just to bring the grips home!

 

[Ghost Magnum]

I would buy that M586 just to bring the grips home!

Dont get me wrong, they are nice. My hands dont fet them all that good.

 

[Protocall_Design]

There is something wrong with that particular rear sight if it moves that easily. I have been shooting S&W revos for 40+ years and never had that problem. Mine have always stayed exactly where I put them until moved with a screwdriver.

 

[Ashlander]

I have a 3" GP100 (fixed sights) as well as a 3" 686-6 Plus and a 3" 65-3. All great guns. My favorite as a shooter though became the GP100 once I found a set of the old compact grips for it (the new Hogue monogrips are just too big and put the hammer and trigger further out than I am comfortable with). Feels great in the hand. And, against expectations, I like the trigger better. I do have one 19-4 snubbie whose trigger, even with new factory springs, is a different universe (it's a retired detective's gun, so he might have had an armorer tuned it a bit).

Weight-wise, the 65 wins in the "if-I-had-to-carry-it-all-day" catagory. The 3"686 Plus wins in coolness (a not insubstantial factor).

 

[Ghost Magnum]

There is something wrong with that particular rear sight if it moves that easily. I have been shooting S&W revos for 40+ years and never had that problem. Mine have always stayed exactly where I put them until moved with a screwdriver.

I know. I noticed it shortly after I started using live rounds.
I am just going to get better sight.

 

[bigggbbruce]

As far as the sights...

When you adjust the rear sight does it click in the detent to hold the screw from turning or just feel loose..

Place the slide(sight blade) dead center in the sight. Go shoot, draw dry fire whatever.. and see if the slide is in the same place.

 

[Protocall_Design]

See if you can feel clicks when you turn the screw. There should be 6 clicks per turn. If not, put some thin oil on the head of the windage screw with the gun lying on it's left side and let the oil soak in for a while. Then turn the screw back and forth several times. If the plunger is stuck, that may loosen it up and get it working again.

 

[Snapping Twig]

Definitely something wrong with that rear sight.

I've done the tush over teakettle roll down a slate hillside more than once and the rear sight on my S&W didn't even know we went there.

Try some Hogue grips. I like smooth, finger, wood, but there's lots to choose from. I have an issue with the non "coke" target grips S&W uses. Cokes are a different story, but they never made them for the L frame.

 

[Ghost Magnum]

Thanks when for the advice for the rear sites. I plan to buy better ones for my 586 when I can.

After I written this review. My 586 broke and has since been repaired by smith and wesson.

 

[rwt1405]

Thanks when for the advice for the rear sites. I plan to buy better ones for my 586 when I can.

After I written this review. My 586 broke and has since been repaired by smith and wesson.

This (above), along with this (below)

"There is only two problems I have with this gun. The rear sites seems weak to me. EVERY time I carry this gun in the thumb break holster. Its throw off the rear site. I got my hands on 6 free bullets. I put on my holster and walked to a safe place. Set up my targets. Draw my gun, carefully aim and fired. Not a single bullet hit the target. Came back home, slid in my sure strike laser and found that my sites was thrown horrifically WAY OFF TARGET!"

makes it very hard for me to understand why you would say THIS 586 is better then any gun, let alone a GP100.

I will also say this is one of the reasons I much prefer fixed sight handguns to adjustable.

Please understand that I do like 686's (I own 3 vs. 2 GP100's), but I just have a hard time understanding how you state a VERY faulty 586 is better then a GP100.

 

[markmodel10]

You might want to look at Altamont grips. I have a set of the Classic panel with medallions in Super Walnut on mine. They were only $48. I don't see the Super Walnut offered on their web sight now though. They have a new classic look that I think matches the new classic revolver.

 

[MCorps0311]

I like your 586 S&W,look very nice!

 

[Ghost Magnum]

This (above), along with this (below)

"There is only two problems I have with this gun. The rear sites seems weak to me. EVERY time I carry this gun in the thumb break holster. Its throw off the rear site. I got my hands on 6 free bullets. I put on my holster and walked to a safe place. Set up my targets. Draw my gun, carefully aim and fired. Not a single bullet hit the target. Came back home, slid in my sure strike laser and found that my sites was thrown horrifically WAY OFF TARGET!"

makes it very hard for me to understand why you would say THIS 586 is better then any gun, let alone a GP100.

I will also say this is one of the reasons I much prefer fixed sight handguns to adjustable.

Please understand that I do like 686's (I own 3 vs. 2 GP100's), but I just have a hard time understanding how you state a VERY faulty 586 is better then a GP100.

The GP 100 was not perfect either. It started rusting about 4 after I bought it.

The problems I had with my 586 after I written the review could possibly be my fault. I practice with it more often than I did with the gp 100 and possibly made more mistakes with the 586.

 

[kbm6893]

Something is way off here. A stainless gun was rusting? What conditions did you subject it to? Because if you do anything like that to a blued gun, the rust is gonna get way worse. Are you saying the blued finish on the 586 is more resistant to rust than the stainless GP?

I've owned and carried stainless guns for many years. Never a speck of rust. My first duty gun was a stainless model 64 that rode in an open top Jay Pee holster. Got wet in the rain and snow many times. A simple wipe down every day after my tour and that was it. Never a speck of rust.

You're probably the only person in history to claim a blued gun is superior to stainless in preventing rust.

 

[Ghost Magnum]

Something is way off here. A stainless gun was rusting? What conditions did you subject it to? Because if you do anything like that to a blued gun, the rust is gonna get way worse. Are you saying the blued finish on the 586 is more resistant to rust than the stainless GP?

I've owned and carried stainless guns for many years. Never a speck of rust. My first duty gun was a stainless model 64 that rode in an open top Jay Pee holster. Got wet in the rain and snow many times. A simple wipe down every day after my tour and that was it. Never a speck of rust.

You're probably the only person in history to claim a blued gun is superior to stainless in preventing rust.

Lol, I never said blue is superior to stainless at preventing rust. Yes, the GP100 was rusting. I have witnesses. My first gun was a 65 that I left stored in a holster before I knew better. That gun did not rust.

 

[rwt1405]

Lol, I never said blue is superior to stainless at preventing rust. Yes, the GP100 was rusting. I have witnesses. My first gun was a 65 that I left stored in a holster before I knew better. That gun did not rust.

Did you contact Ruger, or send it back to them?

Their Customer Service is excellent and any company can make a lemon from time to time (and trust me, S&W has made their share of them!).

And as to your Model 65, if it is a pre-lock, you are talking a REAL S&W there, I love my 3" Model 65!

 

[Ghost Magnum]

Did you contact Ruger, or send it back to them?

Their Customer Service is excellent and any company can make a lemon from time to time (and trust me, S&W has made their share of them!).

And as to your Model 65, if it is a pre-lock, you are talking a REAL S&W there, I love my 3" Model 65!

Sadly, I needed money at the time I had to sell my 65. I was going to call Ruger. But I decided to trade it in for my 586.

 

[jframejoey]

Ghost, rear sight problem could be (as mentioned) stuck plunger, worn plunger end, or posible broken screw. Rear sight kits are about $20. Try replacing it and see if that fixes it. Good luck.

 

[kbm6893]

Lol, I never said blue is superior to stainless at preventing rust. Yes, the GP100 was rusting. I have witnesses. My first gun was a 65 that I left stored in a holster before I knew better. That gun did not rust.

Explain how a stainless revolver was rusting without some serious neglect from the owner. I have no doubt it had rust. I just don't blame the weapon. The same treatment of that 586 will yield much worse results. The 65 that did not rust would rust just like the GP if abused.