686 barrel issues?

C

crownvictoria

Inactive
Hi everyone! I have a question I'm hoping I can get some good info on.. I have a Smith and Wesson 686-3. It has a four inch barrel. It is not the Plus version nor is it pinned. I love this gun and have owned it for a few years now. I have heard about some of these guns had barrel issues where the barrels become canted. I was wondering if this is a common issue? Or was this just a bad run on some firearms? Mine seems to be aligned just about perfect. (just a hair to the left) Is there anyway to find out what guns were effected? I really like the gun and would rather not have to send it in to S&W should the need arise.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. It does NOT have a lock and the firing pin is on the hammer.
 
Almost all modern revolvers are a "crush fit" on the threads & manufacturers have to index the threads accordingly . They shoot for a torque spec but smetimes they miss it somewhat & barrels have came loose "unscrewed" & broke off at the frame from all makes & models .

An example of this is Rugers Redhawk , They tried to phase it out with the Super Redhawk but sales were & still is strong on the original.

The 686 is a strong med. framed revolver & if there was a problem I think it would have shown up by now ,or a problem in the future will be handled promtly by S&W.
 
It's not so much that the barrels "become canted" -- it's that they come from the factory that way. Many revolvers (though certainly not most) with the "crush fit" barrels have a slight cant (some more noticable than others) -- in many instances the buyers never notice or notice years after they bought it (hence they think it became canted). And S&W allows some degree of cant to be considered within spec, so -- don't worry about it. If your gun does not have a canted barrel -- as GP100 said -- it mostly likely never will. The odds are thousands and thousands to one that a S&W crushed fit barrel comes loose -- when they say "crushed" they mean "crushed."

That said, I have seen an expensive new S&W 686 Plus at a local gun store where the cant was quite noticable. I bought a 3" GP100 instead.
 
HELP

:eek: oh boy. I'm shopping right now for a 686 Plus with the 4" barrel. Anything I should know? Didn't know the was such a thing as a -4, -5 ??

Also, newbie here, what is cant?

I see most have that small lock hole - any chnace I can find one without that? That is so stupid if you ask me.
 
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