Well, having had more than a "baker's dozen" of L-frame .357's, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on this...ALL of the SIX-shot "L's" that I have had were UNIFORMLY well-timed...locked up PRIOR TO hammer-fall in DA mode, trigger-pull seemed UNIFORM all the way around the cylinder in DA, etc. I've had SEVEN of the "686 Pluses", and TWO of them were less than perfect in the "timing" department...the first was the "first one on the block", so to speak...literally, the first one I saw right after their introduction...so, I MAY NOT have inspected it as critically as I would have normally, due to the "WOW--NEAT NEW TOY" factor...IT would not "pre-time" on TWO chambers in DA right out of the box...being THOROUGHLY disgusted--as well as having found ANOTHER "Plus" that WAS right--I slunk off to Franklin's in Athens, GA, and traded it on a nice Sako rifle--hadda' console myself, after all!!!
The second "Plus" was one that WAS RIGHT when purchased, but after 3,000 or so rounds--AND a "so-so" action job from a local " 'smith"--it went "out of time"...what this tells me is that the hand/ratchet interface is BOTH more critical--AND more "sensitive" to wear/abuse, for lack of a better word, on the seven shooters, than on the six-shot "L's"...that being said, I've got TWO "Pluses" that have had MORE rounds thru them than the one that went "out of time" at 3,000 rounds, and are still running GREAT...I think that, IF you LIKE the SEVEN-SHOT concept, you just need to be very CAREFUL--even PICKY--when buying one. Do that, and I believe that you'll be happy with the seven-shooter!!!....mikey357
The second "Plus" was one that WAS RIGHT when purchased, but after 3,000 or so rounds--AND a "so-so" action job from a local " 'smith"--it went "out of time"...what this tells me is that the hand/ratchet interface is BOTH more critical--AND more "sensitive" to wear/abuse, for lack of a better word, on the seven shooters, than on the six-shot "L's"...that being said, I've got TWO "Pluses" that have had MORE rounds thru them than the one that went "out of time" at 3,000 rounds, and are still running GREAT...I think that, IF you LIKE the SEVEN-SHOT concept, you just need to be very CAREFUL--even PICKY--when buying one. Do that, and I believe that you'll be happy with the seven-shooter!!!....mikey357