New 686 questions

[Benello]

Hi all, I have always wanted a 686 so I finally picked one up the other day. I cleaned it up some tonight and was just curious about the double action lock up as when I close the cylinder (always pretty gently I never slam it or flip it shut) I index it and it’s sometimes lined up perfectly and other times it takes a bit of a small turn to get it indexed. Well one time I noticed it took almost 2/3 (it seemed anyway) of a full cylinder turn to get it to index. Is that normal? Not sure if I went CW or CCW. Maybe that mattered. Lock up seems perfect with no play like many Smiths I’ve encountered.

Other question is should the cylinder release have some mild up and down play? It works very smoothly so I figure it’s normal.

Thanks!

 

[stansdds]

If you are saying that a chamber in the cylinder is not automatically lined up with barrel when you close the cylinder, this is normal as there is no mechanism for performing such a task.
The cylinder release will have some play in it, just make sure the thumb piece screw is tight.

 

[rosewood]

It should auto index itself when you cock the hammer or pull the trigger. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead and do it when you close the trigger by turning it until it locks.

Rosewood

 

[Benello]

Okay good to know. I guess my main question was why does it seem at times to index right away and others it will seem to have to turn more than half the cylinder to get it to index? I’d think it would be no more than 1/6th of a turn at most ever.

 

[Chrisj357]

Sounds normal to me unless I’m misunderstanding what you are saying. I have always turned the cylinder until the cylinder lock clicks in when closing it. Never even thought about how much it turned. As stated, as long as the timing is right when you pull the trigger it’s ok good.

 

[ColumbusJBR]

Okay good to know. I guess my main question was why does it seem at times to index right away and others it will seem to have to turn more than half the cylinder to get it to index? I’d think it would be no more than 1/6th of a turn at most ever.

That does seem a little odd. I too would think that at most it would only need to turn 1/6 at most. To turn more would imply, to me, that it's skipping cylinders.

Does the cylinder stop (the half moon piece protruding up from the bottom of the frame in the cylinder window) seem sticky or sluggish to return when you depress it with a finger? It could possibly be gummed up. Might not hurt to flush out that area with some gun scrubber and see if it's more responsive...

 

[Hawg Rider]

Welcome back to the Forum! The 686 is a great L-frame .357 Magnum revolver, but you didn't provide any details about yours (bbl. length, model no., etc.). And how about a few pictures? I hope the questions you had about functioning were answered by some of the other Forum members. Enjoy!

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Hi all, I have always wanted a 686 so I finally picked one up the other day.

I had a 681 and two 686s when they came out in the early 1980s.

In 2018 I was feeling nostalgic and I bought a 686 Plus four inch and it is in my nightstand and goes to the Range regularly with me. Every year it has the highest round count so that is a good measure of being my favorite.

 

[rosewood]

Okay good to know. I guess my main question was why does it seem at times to index right away and others it will seem to have to turn more than half the cylinder to get it to index? I’d think it would be no more than 1/6th of a turn at most ever.

I tend to agree, it should be less than 1/6th of a turn. Are you sure it is turning that much? Mark the cylinder so you can see where it is at and verify. If it is skipping a cylinder, it will need a trip to the mothership. They will likely fix it no charge if it is doing that.

Rosewood

 

[Benello]

Thanks all yeah I may have felt like it was turning more than it is. I’d bet a good 1/3 though at least on occasion. Maybe I am catching it at the spot just after one notch but before the other one at times, so it seems like it’s longer I don’t know. I ended up calling S&W and they said it sounds fine and as long as it functions the way it should with the trigger and hammer rotating the cylinder then it’s normal. I assume I was just being overly concerned as all chambers line up and lock up is excellent. Just had a colt python that was all jacked up so I really want this 686 to work well.

As far as the specs, it’s a 6 inch as I don’t have any other 6 inch revolvers. Had the shorter barrel version in my hand, but that 6 inch feels like it’ll be a lot more accurate at the range. I also opted to get to classic 6-shot even though the 7-shot is pretty popular, I think.

 

[ColumbusJBR]

Thanks all yeah I may have felt like it was turning more than it is. I’d bet a good 1/3 though at least on occasion. Maybe I am catching it at the spot just after one notch but before the other one at times, so it seems like it’s longer I don’t know. I ended up calling S&W and they said it sounds fine and as long as it functions the way it should with the trigger and hammer rotating the cylinder then it’s normal. I assume I was just being overly concerned as all chambers line up and lock up is excellent. Just had a colt python that was all jacked up so I really want this 686 to work well.

As far as the specs, it’s a 6 inch as I don’t have any other 6 inch revolvers. Had the shorter barrel version in my hand, but that 6 inch feels like it’ll be a lot more accurate at the range. I also opted to get to classic 6-shot even though the 7-shot is pretty popular, I think.

I have a 7-shot 686 (6”) and a 6-shot 686 (4”). Both just range toys. The difference in capacity never even crosses my mind when playing at the range, it’s of no importance to me.

 

[H Richard]

If I understand your question correctly, when closing the cylinder into the frame, it doesn't automatically index, (line up and lock into position). The cylinder will spin freely when when released for reloading or cleaning. It is on NO consequence that the cylinder doesn't line up when closed. It wasn't designed to.

 

[rosewood]

As far as the specs, it’s a 6 inch as I don’t have any other 6 inch revolvers. Had the shorter barrel version in my hand, but that 6 inch feels like it’ll be a lot more accurate at the range. .

A 6" barrel is no more accurate than a 4" barrel. However, you are more accurate with a longer barrel and site radius.

Rosewood

 

[Benello]

If I understand your question correctly, when closing the cylinder into the frame, it doesn't automatically index, (line up and lock into position). The cylinder will spin freely when when released for reloading or cleaning. It is on NO consequence that the cylinder doesn't line up when closed. It wasn't designed to.

Yeah that I understand. I just didn’t understand why it seemed to take a longer manual turn/rotation sometimes to get the cylinder to lock into place after closing it.

 

[rvolvr]

Frankly, I don't understand the need for the question.

Looking from the side, you can see the bolt, and you can see the notches. Look at them and watch. If the bolt fails to drop into first available notch, you'll see it.

 

[jcs266]

I think he's saying it seems to NOT lock into the first notch, it misses one or two notches before it locks up.

OP: congrats on S&W's greatest masterpiece. The 686 is "perfection" and my all-time favorite revolver. Insanely accurate and just the right size - not too big and not too small and packs a MAJOR wallop downrange.

 

[smithra_66]

Okay good to know. I guess my main question was why does it seem at times to index right away and others it will seem to have to turn more than half the cylinder to get it to index? I’d think it would be no more than 1/6th of a turn at most ever.

That totally depends on where the notches are when you close the cylinder. The gun doesn't align those for you automatically.

If you want it to be very close to a notch when you close the cylinder, orient it so that the flat of the chamber (between the flutes) is at 12:00 when you close the gun. you could also just look and make sure that a chamber is at 12:00 too. that will get you very close.

 

[smithra_66]

Yeah that I understand. I just didn’t understand why it seemed to take a longer manual turn/rotation sometimes to get the cylinder to lock into place after closing it.

Take a look at how the mechanism works closely. If, when you close the gun, a notch isn't engaged by the cylinder stop, you would need to turn it to engage the next notch. If you are just barely out of one notch, you'll need to turn it the full distance between the notches in order to get it to engage in the next notch.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Okay good to know. I guess my main question was why does it seem at times to index right away and others it will seem to have to turn more than half the cylinder to get it to index? I’d think it would be no more than 1/6th of a turn at most ever.

I ended up calling S&W and they said it sounds fine and as long as it functions the way it should with the trigger and hammer rotating the cylinder then it’s normal.
I assume I was just being overly concerned as all chambers line up and lock up is excellent.

I'm guessing it's a factory new revolver?

Just sounds like everything is tight, which is the better way to start off with a new revolver.

Say if you had only one round chambered when you closed the cylinder you should be able to index & lock up on the chamber before it fairly easily by "hunting" the cylinder back & forth over its notch so you could then cock & fire the single round. Can you?

.

 

[Benello]

Yes it is new and yes I can do that just fine so I’m hopeful all should be good.