My new to me, US Customs stainless model 686

[Rob62]

Howdy All,

Woooo Hoooo......first post in over 4 years of being a forum member.

With some free time on my hands I thought I'd share a new acquisition. I traded for it today. Its a 4" barrel, round butt, stainless steel model 686. Smith and Wesson Customer Service confirmed for me that this was a special run for US Customs in 1988. Overall its in very good condition, somewhere in the 95% range and it came with the original box, but not the paperwork.

I really like the brushed or matte stainless steel look on revolvers and that's what helped me decide to get this fine revolver.

Its been a while, too long actually, since I owned a Smith product so am especially excited to get out to the range and see how it shoots.

Regards,
Rob

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Howdy All,

Woooo Hoooo......first post in over 4 years of being a forum member.

Don't have too much to say do ya
For a first post-I'd say that's a pretty good reason to shout. Have fun with her.

 

[tacreload]

Rob62
I have 2 686 a 4"that I just acquired about 2 weeks ago and a 2-/2". You are gonna love that revolver.They are accurate and very rugged.
Congratulations and enjoy.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

Congratulations!! Very nice gun. Don

 

[Rob62]

Thanks for the comments. Sometimes you get a gun that you just "feel" like is gonna shoot well and be good to have. Its not necessarily about the brand name or model, its just an unquantifiable something. For whatever reason I feel that way about this revolver.

Who knows, maybe the feeling is due to caffeine withdrawal. Or the fact that I haven't bought or traded for a gun in a while and this was my fix....but I'm excited.

Now to go have a Cappuccino.

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

Congrats & Welcome to the Forum Rob!!
The CS-1 revolvers are very nice..
They were available in 3" & 4", came with a special matte finish with undercut front sights & are also round butt..
Other than that it's your typical great L Frame revolver..
The original grips would have been Pachmayr non logo compacts with the window at the bottom to see the serial #..
Do a search for "CS-1"

 

[Cruiser RN]

Welcome to the forum!! That is one Hell of a nice 1st S+W.The 686 is sweet to shoot and is accurate beyond belief.I was noticing some marks on the cylinder in your picture and you might like to consider getting some Flitz or Mother's Mag and Alluminum Polish and polish it up.My friend had the same gun with the matte finish and they came out no problem.Test a inconspicuous place under the grips to make sure it doesn't have any adverse effects on your gun before using...God Bless and welcome from Yonkers NY....Mike

 

[Texas Star]

Looks like mud or dust on the grips. A wet toothbrush will usually clean that up.

T-Star

 

[Dale53]

This is definitely "one of the good ones". I had a perfectly good, 4" Ruger double action revolver that I couldn't shoot worth spit. I am a "high expert" or "low master" pistol shot and I know my limitations. I just could NOT shoot that Ruger. I had an action job done, I could find nothing wrong with it. It shot well in a Ransom Rest but I could beat my scores shot with it by any number of pistols and revolvers. I had a friend who was eager to buy it so I let it go.

I got the CS-1 (4") right after they became available. Immediately, my scores were where they should be. In fact, I dubbed it "user friendly". It has a GREAT trigger and shoots double action quite well as well as single action.

Using target loads, it also makes a FINE edible small game revolver.

You can hardly beat one of these. I have other revolvers that I shoot very well (my 625's come to mind) and while the 686 is not my most used revolver it is my house gun and has been since I bought it.

FWIW
Dale53

 

[tocohillsguy]

Actually I believe the CS-1's had a number of orginal grips. Mine has the same Pach grips as yours with a viewing window in the bottom.

 

[SW357Addict]

The CS-1 686's are quite prized S&W's. The 3" CS-1's are in high demand and the 4" versions not quite as in demand. The general consensus on the CS-1's is that they tend to have much nicer triggers than the run of the mill 686's. I have a 4" CS-1 and a 3" CS-3 (exported version of the CS-1) and they have the smoothest triggers of all my S&W's with the exception of my 27-2.

Your CS-1 is definitely a keeper.

 

[jmark1651]

Congrats on a neat revolver. They are not real common. I have a 3" CS-1 that shipped in 1988 to the alcoholic beverage commission(ABC). It was wearing checkered wood round butt grips when it left the factory,but was sporting rubber grips when I got it. It was carried by a Mississippi agent for several years before the Glock frenzy took hold.

 

[tgwillard]

If your 686 has a matte finish instead of the polished finish of my 686 and 681, then you do not want to use polish to remove the marks on the cylinder and barrel. I have used Mother's Mag on both my 686 and 681 and they look virtually new, especially since I added new wood grips for both of them. For my S&W 4006 that had some holster shine on the matte finish I used a 3M green and brown scrubbing pad to remove the shine and restore the matte finish. While not a perfect match, it is so close you have to look hard to see where the shine used to be.

By the way my 4 inch 681 (a 686 with fixed sights) is a great shooter. I have an early model with a square butt. My 6 inch 686 has had trigger work and is also a great shooter. I installed a red dot scope on it.

Enjoy your new 686. I really think you are going to like it.