686

[Franklincollector]

[CWL]

They are all Distinguished Combat Magnums.
686 denotes their stainless while 586 is their blued line. They are L frame revolvers with adjustable sights and were meant for the (CMP?) Distinguished class of pistol competition. As a Colt collector, you may be interested to know that these were SW's answer to the Colt Python.

[MyOdessa]

Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson

[RocketRider]

I second MyOdessa’s recommendation. Get the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson. It explains a lot of the things important to S&W collectors, and also provides dates of manufacture and values.

You may know this, but S&W notes design changes of a model with dash numbers. If you open the cylinder and look at the exposed frame you will see 686 stamped there. If it only shows “686”, then you have the original design. It may show “686-1”, “686-2”, etc.

Current production is 686-6 with the key lock above the cylinder release. 686-5 was the first time MIM parts were introduced. Generally the most desirable for collecting are 686-4 or earlier.

As stated above, the 686 is an L frame. The Model 19 and 66 were K frame 357 revolvers. The 686 came later and is a little beefier in some places to help handle lots of shooting with the magnum round. It has the same grip as the K frame.

Enjoy your 686s! I also have two of them (a -4 and a 7 round -6). They are a lot of fun to shoot.

[stix213]

I have a 6" 686 no dash no M. Fun revolver. I especially like the feather trigger when you cock the hammer.

The M thing is the original guns were subject to recall, where certain guns with certain ammunition available at the time could cause a jam. S&W would stamp an M if they had modified the gun per the recall. Lack of an M means the gun is unmodified original.

[Rattlesnakedaddy]

Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson

x2.

IIRC, it is on it's 4th edition. There is some really good information in that book. I have a 2.5" 686-3, and love it. It is a little heavier than the K frames that I used to carry, but is a great pistol. The 4" version is considered by many to be the best balanced.

RSD

[joeymfd]

having the boxes only increase their value. the fact they are pre-lock also helps. the catalog is the source, though I think the values they suggest are a little low. I have the kindle version so its on my phone. good score

[OCEquestrian]

The 686's are nice but I would recommend you focus on any or al of the following as they were made during the high years of S&W and can all be bought in their "pinned and recessed" versions which are most collectible...far more so than the 686;

Model 19
Model 29
Model 27

[Z ME FLY]

I think it depends on what rabbit hole you want to travel down. S&W revolvers have a ton of models. You have special editions from RSR and Lew Horton that are usually nice. For example, I have a Mod 67 that is a little bit unique because it has stainless sights and a pinned barrel. No recessed because it is a 38 special. Then I have two model 37s airweights one with a square butt and round butt. Heck I am waiting for delivery for my 25-14 45acp Lew Horton in Nickel to arrive with a 3 inch barrel

[newbutold]

Nice

[stevie]

Nice looking revolvers

[Fishslayer]

The 686 no dash M recall dealt with the hamer nose bushing having a firing pin hole that was sometimes slightly large allowing the primer on hot magnum loads to flow into the hole tieing up the cyclinder.

S&W is still honoring the recall. They will send you a shipping label & replace the bushing free of charge.

Revolvers actually experiencing the problem are said to be rare, but my own would tie up when I used hot 2400 handloads with standard primers. Using the harder magnum primers made the problem go away.

[Tarmy]

Beautiful guns...

As a collector...do you ever shoot these? Curious...

[Franklincollector]

Thank you all very much for the information. I will pick up those books.

These are 686 no dash no m models. I can pick up the same guns in blue, 600 a piece a fair price?

[Franklincollector]

Beautiful guns...

As a collector...do you ever shoot these? Curious...

Realistically probably not. With pythons lets say, i'll buy bnib examples in all the lengths, finishes etc and keep them as such. Then i'll buy examples that aren't perfect and shoot the piss out of those. I'll do the same with the Smiths.