Smith and Wesson Revolver question

**Broncobob** · December 10th, 2013, 05:56 PM

Hello,

This may be a stupid question but what is the difference between a smithy with a lock or without one? Also I have a 686 in 6in and am looking for one in 2.5. Someone has one for sale listed as 686-5 plus 2.5". What does the 5 in 686-5 mean?

Thanks ahead of time for any info.

Bob G

**afultz075** · December 10th, 2013, 06:04 PM

The lock is located directly above the cylinder release latch on post-2001 S&Ws. It's fairly obvious when you are looking at a S&W with the lock. A lot of people don't like these locks as there have been reports of them engaging from recoil and many agree that they take away from the aesthetics of the gun.

Older S&Ws without the lock use forged parts instead of MIM (there are a few years starting in the late-90s where MIM was phased in before the lock was added).

The -5 in the S&W 686 that you're looking at refers to the engineering revision. The 686-5 was made from 1997 (I believe) until the lock was added in 2001. The -5 is the only variant of the 686 to have MIM parts but no lock.

The 686-5 is a great revision of the gun, IMO. There is absolutely nothing wrong with S&W's MIM parts. The -5 is also the only pre-lock 686 to have a pinned-replaceable front sight (on the 686-4 and earlier you are pretty much stuck with the integral red ramp sight).