Price and Availability of S&W 686-4?

[marinville]

I have been thinking off and on about possibly getting a new gun with my tax return this year. Well, recently I was promoted at work, and also my 30th birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so I decided to go ahead and treat myself to a new toy. The wife also agreed that it would be alright, so I'm definitely good to go.

I've wanted a revolver for a while and recently decided that I wanted an older Smith and Wesson 686. Anything pre-lock would probably be acceptable, but I was specifically thinking Dash 4.

It would have to be in good shape, not shot out or abused. I want a 6" barrel and factory wood grips. I believe all 686 are stainless, if not, I would want one that is.

So, what are my chances of finding something like this in the Western PA region, and what would it likely run me now a days?

Also, tips on what to look for when buying a used revolver would be helpful as well.

Thanks.

PS: Here is a visual representation of what I'm looking for (not my photo):

[87hurricane]

All 686s are Stainless, the 586 is the blued version. As for price and availablity, they are out there, however limiting yourself to one particular model will make it a little harder to find one. I have seen 686s go anywhere from 400-700, but I think that 500ish would be a reasonable price for a nice one. Look online for a walk through on checking lockup, probably the biggest thing you'll want to check on a revolver.

[tsafa]

Nice choice. If you get a new gun, you can't go wrong with a S&W revolver.

If you are getting used....

Check the barrel cylinder gap. You should not be able to even pass a razor through that .

Check the chambers to make sure they are not stretched out. They should be perfect circles. No cracks of course on the cylinder or barrel.

Put some snap caps in the chambers and make sure the action works good.

Check the transfer bar to make sure it is not warn out. This is the bar that come up in front of the hammer when you squeeze the trigger. The hammer hits this bar which then transfers the force to a firing pin. This is one of the harder things to check and one of the first thing that usually goes bad on a revolver because it gets worn as it is hammered.

[Pizza Bob]

Nice choice. If you get a new gun, you can't go wrong with a S&W revolver.

If you are getting used....

Check the barrel cylinder gap. You should not be able to even pass a razor through that .

Check the chambers to make sure they are not stretched out. They should be perfect circles. No cracks of course on the cylinder or barrel.

Put some snap caps in the chambers and make sure the action works good.

Check the transfer bar to make sure it is not warn out. This is the bar that come up in front of the hammer when you squeeze the trigger. The hammer hits this bar which then transfers the force to a firing pin. This is one of the harder things to check and one of the first thing that usually goes bad on a revolver because it gets worn as it is hammered.

Pardon me, but the above response is just full of fail.

Barrel/cylinder gap should be in the range of .004" to .006"

How can you check the chambers, except with a dial indicator? I have never seen anybody do this. Never heard of them getting "stretched out"

Check for end play of the cylinder. There will be some fore and aft play of the cylinder. Hold it all the way forward and measure the B/C gap. Then do the same holding the cylinder to the rear. If there is more than .005" of play (the difference between your two measurements), the cylinder needs to be shimmed.

The poster may be thinking of cracked forcing cones, which AFAIK, only occurred on K-frames because of the flat milled on the bottom of the barrel to accommodate the crane. The L-frame was made to alleviate that problem by having a taller cylinder opening thus leaving the barrel intact. The OP is asking about an L-frame.

Lastly, Smith does not use a transfer bar system. They use a hammer block. It's a little hard to use a transfer bar when you have a hammer mounted firing pin (686-4). The S&W hammer block drops out of the way, allowing full motion of the hammer, when the trigger is pulled. This works on both hammer mounted FP guns and frame mounted FP guns. Ruger uses a transfer bar and I have never known either a hammer block or transfer bar to fail.

In my opinion you have chosen wisely. With the 686-4 you get the new style rear sight (rounded tang on the rear sight) and the frame that is pre-drilled for an optic mount. You get no Clinton-lock and minimal MIM. You get the hammer-mounted FP. I just picked-up a 586-4 chambered in .38 Special (not .357 Mag).

Good luck in finding your gun. Going to be a tough row to hoe locally, so I'd suggest you also check out the gun auction sites.

HTH

Adios,

PIzza Bob

[Snuff]

I bought a new 686 4" from surplus city for $550 on black Friday. It is extremely accurate and well balanced/weighted. You won't be disappointed with one. I only have about 300 rounds threw it because right after I bought it ammo went threw the roof so my target practice went down a bit,

[phillyshooter]

There was a new one today at Tanner's over here in SEPA for ~$600. Give them a call and maybe they'll ship it to a shop near you 215.343.3103

[Arrdy]

I've got a 686-6 with the hammer lock. I have few rounds through it, from 38 spl to hot handloads with no lock problems. SOme people remove them but I see no need to.

Don't pass up such a great handgun just because it has a lock ... unless you need one for your collection.

[marinville]

I have my reasons for not wanting one with a lock. I don't think it serves any purpose to debate that here though, as I'm not open to changing my mind.

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I will be looking around in the near future, and will post a picture thread if/when I find what I'm after.