Can Smith 686+ handle hot .357s?

3

357MagFan

Moderator
While browsing the web I came across another forum where some guy stated he was worried about his 686+ handling hot loads because the chamber walls were thinner, do to there being 7 shots. I looked at mine and now its got my attention. The 7 shot has thinner walls in between the chambers than the 6 shot. Can this be a problem because I fire many rounds out of this gun reguarly at the range and I dont want something to happen like it blowing up in my face because the cylinder gave out do to not being able to handle multiple hot rounds.

I have debated before about any disadvantages the 7 shot had over the traditional 6 shot, Nobody came up with one but mabe this is it, weaker chambers... I hope not or Im going to be upset and probably buy a replacement primary gun "I hope not because I really like this gun" :(

The Revolver
Not as Clumsy or Random as the semi-auto
An elegant weapon for a more civilized society
 
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I contacted smith on this issue about a year ago cuz i too was worried about that same thing....they told me that they tested the model with 10,000+ full house .357 Mag loads and had no problems with it. I wouldnt worry about it!
 
I doubt it, there is still alot of material in there. I've been running 357's through my 686P w/out issue (though not 10,000 of them yet lol)
 
I guess I'll be the first in this thread to point out that the cylinder stop notches are between chambers on the 7-shot whereas they are over the chambers in the 6-shot, causing a thin spot under the notch.
 
U.F.O.

Dealing with the concept that the ability to handle high pressure of hot rounds is based on wall thickness when using a given alloy.

This says that the chambers on the 6-shot L-frame are not as uniformly thick (strong) as one might think. The walls on the 7-shot L-frame are uniform, but I do not know how their thickness compares to the metal under the notch on the 6-shot L-frame. The fact that the notches are near the base of the round might mitigate this to an extent. Dunno.

Unfortunately I do not have a 6-shot L-frame for comparison. I took a look at my 8-shot N-frame and 6-shot K-frame and note that at the notch the wall appears (visually, can't get micrometer into the notch) about the same or less thick than the wall on the 7-shot.
 
Guy, I'm really slow today. :confused: In a nutshell, does this mean that the 7 shot might actually provide better support for a higher pressure cartridge than the 6 shot counterpart? Thx, by the way, for the help here.

U.F.O.
 
There is a lot of talk about the thickness (or maybe the "thinness") of cylinder walls at the cylinder stop cut of a modern S&W revolver. Not to sweat it. There is no problem with anything like a reasonable load and I have never seen any S&W revolver cylinder bulge at that point. I have seen the old SAA in .45 Colt bulge its notches when used with very hot loads, but we are talking about an old gun, designed in the black powder era.

Jim
 
Well I took my gun to the dealer I bought it from in the morning after shooting at the range and asked him about this. We had a long talk about guns and he also mentioned the notch between chamber thing, I think Guy is correct in his assumption that it turns out the 686+ may actually be able to handle higher pressures than the 6 shot. The gun dealer was very informative and open to discussion and seemed very knowlegable on guns, especially revolvers. I once again have a warm and fuzzy feeling about this gun thanx to him and your replies. :)
Now the next thing I have to worry about is endshake, but thats something that happens to all revolvers "especially Magnums" over periods of time where they are shot many times, "Im just the biggest worry wart arnt I" ;)

The Revolver
Not as clumsy or random as the semi-auto
An elegant weapon for a more civilized society
 
Just keep in the back of your mind, that anything you wear or break on that revolver can be fixed by smith&wesson for next to nothing. Ive sent a couple revolvers over the years back to them for sprucing up, and theyve always come back in original factory condition or better.
 
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