S&W 686+ with a 3" barrel?

[vash]

i have never owned a revolver. my brother bogarted all my dads service revolvers from back in the day, when dad was a peace officer. i'm cool with it, since my brother chose the same profession.

before i say something ridiculous, like "i am done buying firearms" i think i need one more - a revolver. then after that, i can unload a bunch of shotguns, and move thru life being done with looking for the next gun. life with extra space in the gun-safe just feels right to me. my hoarding days are behind me..i just dont want a bunch of stuff anymore.

i shoot for fun. plinking. i would also use this for a backpacking gun. last time bowhunting elk in north idaho..when the wolves were howling around us, i did feel a bit naked. i stayed very close to my brother's Glock. we packed a dead elk out in pitch darkness. the wolves were probably far away, but they sounded close.

i keep coming to the same conclusion. the 686 plus. i like how it looks. i shot one with a longer barrel and the accuracy was like magic. even in my hands. those big sights line up nice and i can see them easily. i heard you dont give up that much with the 3". it is fairly compact.

fairly expensive tho. for what it is. does anyone have this exact firearm? any real world review?

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have one in 6” and my son has one in 4”. Worth every penny. I’ve not shot the 3”, but can definitely say that the 4” is very accurate and soft shooting. Though the 6” is even more so. Considering they are basically the same price, for a plinker I find the 6” to be more fun.

[Jeff Higgins]

For outdoor use and peace of mind in wolf, bear, and cougar country, I prefer my caliber selections to begin with a "4". I've shot a few animals with the .357 mag, with some pretty stout loads, and the results were less than inspiring. I wouldn't even want to defend myself against an enraged coyote with one, but I have. Got way too exciting for a moment...

The same general size and weight gun is available as a five shot .44 mag in the Model 69. It's on the same "L" frame. It does hold one less round, but in the outdoors (as opposed to a "social" situation), that doesn't mean anything.



I only have two short barreled revolvers, a 2.5" Charter Arms Bulldog Pug in .44 Special and a 3" Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 mag. The former is sometimes carried concealed, the latter is often my "woods bumming" companion.



Don't let anyone tell you that short barreled revolvers are "inaccurate". The Ruger will stay on the bottom of a laid over soup can all day long at 50 yards with full power loads. Yes, recoil is what some might consider "quite noticeable", but I bet it's less noticeable than getting chewed on by a wolf...

[rfuerst911sc]

Vash yes I own that same revolver with a 3 " barrel in .357 but mine is some special edition ( Talon I think ? ) that came with wood grips . The wood grips are beautiful in my opinion . I find the pistol to be pleasant to shoot and more accurate than I am . Not to argue with Jeff but I find it hard to believe a .357 magnum hollow point won't stop a coyote or wolf . With 7 rounds in the chamber I like my odds .

I am and have always been a fan of stainless steel guns , to me they look right and hold up well to outdoor exposure . As you know S&W have been around forever and make some great pistols both semi auto and revolver . If you have some gun shops near you spend some time there and start a conversation , you never know what someone might have for sale . Whatever you end up with you need to practice ....... practice ........ and then practice . Have a mindset of firing 200 - 400 or more rounds to get really comfortable with the gun . And purchase a variety of ammo . Some guys like 150 grain some like 180 .

Get some FMJ and some hollow points along with some .38 . In case you don't know you can fire .38 in a .357 with no issues . Generally speaking the .38 will be a little cheaper and not recoil as bad . I like to shoot .38 at the range due to price but I always finish with some .357 . I want to make sure I remember how the .357 sounds/shoots and feels . Have fun and be safe !

[WPOZZZ]

That was my "pimp" gun as my friends called it because it was so shiny. It was a nickel plated 586 3". To me, it was more accurate than my Beretta 92fs. Easy to handle and the kick wasn't like you see in Dirty Harry, albeit .357 vs, .44. lol I sold it to a friend who replaced the wood grips with Pachmayr grips. It transformed the feel for the better.

[vash]

in my youth, i shot a coyote with a .357. the landowner made us take out a few before he gave us a permit to hunt his duck ponds. i pole-axed him (the coyote). we were hunting long range and one popped up close..i had the handgun.

that rancher had the best duck ponds - his cattle tanks. we would jump shoot them.

the coyotes hated us.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I’ll also add that my revolvers are the funnest thing I own to shoot.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I’ll also add that my revolvers are the funnest thing I own to shoot.

I remember when you were asking about them here ...

[berettafan]

Handle a bunch if you can. My neighbor just bought a S&W Airlight (or something like that) with a short barrel and no hammer. I expected to hate the trigger but it was surprisingly nice. Haven't shot it yet and suspect my interest in the gun will quickly dissipate once i do.

[aigel]

I am sure you have watched the hickok45 video with this exact gun?

If it is double duty, plinking and outdoor backup gun, I'd go with the .357 because you can shoot cheap .38. Plinking with the .44 will be more expensive, .44 special is not significantly cheaper than .44 mag and the .44 mag will just not be fun in a gun like that ...

G

[Jeff Higgins]

When I was younger, I shot a bunch of game with the .357 magnum. Everything from ground squirrels to rock chucks to coyotes to mule deer. Started out shooting jacketed hollow points because, well, to my inexperienced mind they seemed like they must be more effective. Being kind of hard headed back then (thank God I got over that... ), it took awhile to figure out they were absolutely the worst possible choice. Many failures to anchor the animal, all due to failures to penetrate adequately. Many of those hollow points just "splatted" on shoulder bones and ribs. Even if they missed all of that, on anything but a straight on broadside shot, they just didn't penetrate deep enough.

Things improved dramatically when I switched to hard cast semi wadcutters of the "Keith" design. These never failed to penetrate, exiting every time on broadside shots, and much of the time on lengthwise shots, at least through smaller animals like coyotes. The problem, though, was they just left too small of a hole to be dependable on anything much bigger than a rock chuck.

When I finally saved enough to get my first .44 mag, things improved dramatically. By then I knew better than to use anything but a hard cast semi wadcutter on game. Results were outstanding, and still are. Full length penetration through critters as big as mulies. Now we're talking...

Remember, too, that as far as defensive guns go, there is a big difference between "killing" and "stopping". A .357 magnum will certainly kill these animals, no doubt about that. But they will most often run off for some distance before they expire. I had too many times when I was glad to see them run the other way...

The .44 mag does a much better job of putting them down right now. If something wants to chew your leg, that becomes vastly more important than having them die. Eventually.

[rfuerst911sc]

Jeff I value your knowledge thanks for sharing . I am surprised by your real world experience with hollow points vs the hype and advertising . In your opinion is there a good defensive ammo available over the counter . I don't shoot enough to reload and to be honest I don't want to reload I have enough on my plate !!!

[Jeff Higgins]

Ah yes, talking about those two revolvers brought me back a bit. I don't shoot them much anymore, but maybe I'll start again. They do kind of represent my progression through the world of handgun hunting...

The 7 1/2" blued gun is the .357 mag, my first ever centerfire handgun that I bought myself. The 6" stainless is the .44 mag., the second centerfire handgun I ever bought. Both are Interarms Virginian Dragoons, long out of production. I always thought (and still do think) they are superior to Ruger Blackhawks in every way.

Starting out, I thought the 7 1/2" was the schizz. At least until I started spending a lot of time with it. Just too damn long for general use. I figured the 6" .44 would be handier, and it is, but these days I prefer my handguns to be much shorter. Still great hunting guns, though - hell for stout, accurate as can be, and able to take the heaviest loads in their respective calibers.

[911boost]

I might need to check out the Model 69 Combat Magnum then, as it’s the same frame size as my 686

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by KC911

I remember when you were asking about them here ...

Yeah I think I have you and Jeff to blame. Also have a Colt Trooper mk3.

[Skillet83]

I have a 686 P as a EDC gun. I am 6'1" 235lbs. not fat. Carry in a pancake holster (desantis), rides high and tight. Does not print at all. I have a couple 911's, Sig, but always go back to a S&W revolver. Just my preference.

[Jeff Higgins]

I really like the El Paso Saddlery "Street Combat". I can carry a full sized 1911 or even a 4" Model 29 under no more than a loose sweatshirt. I've got a lot of holsters, from pretty much every major (and many minor) manufacturers. El Paso Saddlery are among the best.

[sc_rufctr]

Paging KiwiBill

[Tobra]

Seems to me that 686 w/3" barrel would be a nice carry piece.

I sometimes wonder about the hardon their seems to be for hollow point ammo in the hotted up personal protection flavors. I would think that a heavier projectile would be better, particularly out of a short barrel. For example, I suspect that a 147 gr would perform better than 124 gr in those circumstances. I bet someone has checked that out and made a video for me

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Seems to me that 686 w/3" barrel would be a nice carry piece.

I sometimes wonder about the hardon their seems to be for hollow point ammo in the hotted up personal protection flavors. I would think that a heavier projectile would be better, particularly out of a short barrel. For example, I suspect that a 147 gr would perform better than 124 gr in those circumstances. I bet someone has checked that out and made a video for me

The fast, lightweight hollow points make impressive wound channels in ballistic gel, and they make pretty little mushrooms. Both look good in advertisements and on youtube.

The real test is in living flesh and bone. The bullets that work the best there don't make dramatic wound channels in ballistic gel, nor do they make pretty little mushrooms. Because they don't mushroom.

I've said it before - rifles are great. We get enough power to both penetrate and mushroom. In handguns, because they are markedly less powerful, we have to choose between the two. Penetration wins, hands down, every time. Because if you don't get any, the prettiest little mushroom in the world won't do squat.