686 no dash AJR1852 for the serial number. If I am reading the box correctly, I believe it was made in 1985. Wasn’t crazy about the grips, but it feels good in the hand. I like the old wood ones better. The original box came with a hand written letter to smith asking for the repair work. It’s marked with the M and someone wrote M on the box. It was a lady from Michigan, that stated that the gun was for her personal protection and for swift but complete work on it. Hand written letter! Let me know if you can share anything I am missing.
Weekend’s find 686
- Thread starter dairborn
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Claims Rep.
Member
The 6” 686 is the first gun I ever bought, and thankfully I still own it. Congrats on a very nice find.
Congratulations, you picked up a nice early vintage L-frame 686. The L-frames were introduced in 1980, and were the first models to get the triple-alpha serial numbers (beginning with AAA00xx). According to the "Standard Catalog of S&W 5th Ed.", s/n AJR1852 indicates your revolver was manufactured in 1986 (give or take a year), and the Product Code (104208) matches the features of your 686 (6" TS RR WO 1984-1987). The "M" stamp means that it went back to S&W for a recall modification (the recall covered all of the 686 and 686-1 models, which had the hammer nose, bushing, and assoc. parts changed). These modifications became standard on the 686-2 in 1987. I believe that the rubber Pachmayr stocks (grips) are not original...it would have come wearing Goncalo Alves checkered wood target stocks with a speedloader cutout and S&W medallions. Your 686 appears to be in great condition, and should be a fun and accurate shooter. Enjoy!
Wow, quite the nice find, friend. Am I interpreting "Spec. Ord. 5365" correctly to read, "December 31, 1985"? Finding period correct target stocks with speedloader cutout should not be difficult either. Enjoy your 686!
YouveHadYour6
Member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2023
- Messages
- 108
- Reaction score
- 362
I've always found both the 686 and it's blued brother the 586 to be very fine-shooting revolvers, especially once you find a load they like. Enjoy in good health!
Lou_the_welder
Member
Excellent photography, sir!
bananaman
Member
Rock185
US Veteran
Very nice revolver dairborn; it should serve you well. With the info Hawg Rider provided, I don't think you're missing anything. Beginning soon after the L-Frames were introduced, I've owned several and carried one every working day for several years. I've had the "M" mod done on a couple, but wouldn't bother with it now days. I used a lot of .357 factory and hand loaded ammo, and never had an issue with any of it. I still have a couple of 4" guns, a no dash and -5.
Nice. Congrats. I'd recommend getting them ugly rubber Pachmayr "Presentation" grips off a find some legit S&W grips (off ebay), or check out any number of the wood grip manufacturers out there. Altamont makes grips for S&W, they'd be a great place to start looking for something that looks original (as others have provided examples in photos).
The eBay delivery just arrived at the house. I found a nice pair of S/W Target grips to fit it, so today will be the last day with the Pachmayrs. It holds nicely with them, but I agree. I like the wood Target ones more myself, like I have on my 66-1. It looks and feels so much better! I will send in some photos once installed!
Beautiful pieces, my friend. Man, those look sharp!
Man, I like the finish on the 586. That would have been my first choice for an "L" frame, but finding a really nice one just for me seems to be a little bit more of a challenge vs the 686. I had to grab the 686 when I had the chance, and I like the long 6-inch. I just like the feel of them. Thanks for sharing those beauties!
Similar threads
