New 686 Range Report - Failure to Rotate?

C

CarbineCaleb

New member
Well, I finally got the new 686 out to the range today, and shot it after first shooting 50 rounds with the matching 617 (.22LR).

I ran one box of S&B 158gr FMJ (.38) and one box of Federal American Eagle 130gr FMJ (.38) through the 686. No real difference between the two in recoil, if anything, the lighter Federal round felt a tad snappier.

One odd thing - while shooting the S&B, I had a problem with the action hanging up. Couldn't complete a trigger pull in double action. When I tried cocking the hammer, that too was hung. I unloaded all the rounds and put the unfired ones back in - same thing. As near as I could tell, one round was hanging up at the back of the cylinder, blocking rotation! I eventually got it to fire as the only round in the cylinder, but that was odd, and given that the action wouldn't proceed, not good. Has anyone ever had that happen???

At least at this stage, the 686 trigger is definitely heavier than the 617, but that can be because it's new. After checking by unloading that they all fired, I loaded the empty cases of the last cylinder back in it for dryfire practice back at home, which should also lighten that trigger. :)
 
Strange. I have one of the first 586's in 6" to come out in the 80's. I don't know about the newer ones, but the tolerances between the rear of the cylinder and the frame are really tight, so maybe the S&B rounds are a little too thick in the rim? :confused: I was really impressed with my 586; it was match quality right out of the box. :cool:
 
Yep, it was only the one cartridge, and definitely something about the cartridge - that same cartridge had the problem repeatedly. All the Federal and the rest of the S&B okay. It's an indoor range with no A/C and poor ventilation (lousy, but it's the only one closeby!), so it was pretty hot in there today, and once I figured out how to get past the problem, I got on with shooting again. Still would like to know if anyone has an idea about this.
 
In the case of cylinder binding, the "usual" is either grit or a particle of fouling underneath the ejector, OR an out of spec round of ammo.

There are others, but these are the most common.

In the case of fouling under the ejector, this will usually cause binding with all ammo.

In your case, it's pretty certain it's ammo related, since it ONLY happened with that one round.

This is why you never use cheap ammo for defense.
It's cheap for a reason!
 
There is no reason to put empties in the gun to dry fire. The primers will get "dented as far as possible" and after that it will be functionally the same as empty. However, I would argue that it is a dangerous practice. You take a quick glance and see brass when you open it. But you think they are the empties so you close it up and pull the trigger. Boom, no more TV. You can get snap caps which have "primers" that can move up and down.

I personally think the whole thing is unnecessary. It is safer IMO to open the cylinder and see six empty holes. (Or 5 or 7 or 8!) Then you know you are good to go. No getting the snap caps or empties mixed up with the loaded rounds. I'm 43 and been shooting my whole life including a BUNCH of dry fire. I open a revolver and check for empty in every cylinder. Then a little voice in my head says it wants to be sure one more time. So I open it back up and look again. Then I'm relaxed enough to start dropping the hammer. I've never had an AD in the house and I hope to carry that perfect record to the end!

Gregg
 
There is no reason to put empties in the gun to dry fire.
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Is that so? I have read that in many centerfire guns, if you dryfire on an empty chamber, you can break the firing pin because nothing is there to "catch it"... is that not so on a 686? :confused:
 
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Had a box of 9mm S&B once where about 5 rounds out of the box were too big to chamber in a Ruger P89. I vote for out-of-spec ammo.

CC,

Dryfiring a modern gun isn't very likely to cause an immediate problem as long as the manual doesn't state otherwise. "Dedicated" dryfirers will probably eventually experience some problems.
 
Is that so? I have read that in many centerfire guns, if you dryfire on an empty chamber, you can break the firing pin because nothing is there to "catch it"... is that not so on a 686?
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It's generally not a good idea to dry fire a rimfire. I've seen a couple of rimfire revolvers that were dry fired a bunch and the impact of the firing pin kept hitting on the little "ledge" that is supposed to be on the other side of the rim. It was unsightly. It could even keep a round from fully seating. Or actually break something over time. A centerfire is a different story. There are some weird ones like the CZ-52 where you are taking a big risk dry firing. But most modern guns are fine. You aren't going to hurt a modern S&W revolver by dry firing it. Most of mine would be non-functional by now otherwise!

Gregg
 
My 686 does the same thing

I has happened with the same S&B load, but it happens with others too. Because it usually happens to me after a good amount of shooting, I thought it was because fouling had built up in the chambers, thus blocking the cartidges from seating all the way. It's about at the point where it gets hard to push new cartridges into the chambers and when the spent cases won't pop right out with a firm push on the ejector rod that binding seems to occur.
 
vitesse9 - In my case at least, it was probably something to do with the rim on the round (or perhaps the diameter making it difficult to seat fully)... something out of spec on dimensions as Dfariswheel and JohnSka suggest.

This happened about 30 rounds in with a brand new gun, and happened repeatedly with that round when it got to the top (tried to go under firing pin area). After that, it got dirtier of course, but there were no more problems in the next 70 rounds.

Hmmmm - I learned another thing - bye bye S&B! :D

tulsamal I agree that it is a potential problem with a mixup with the empties. I will call S&W to double check with them, and either get some snap caps or fire empty if they say it's ok.
 
My 686 had a factory recall back in the 80's. I don't recall the exact details of what they fixed. They stamped an "M" inside the frame at the crane after the repair. If yours is an older model check with S&W.
 
S&W: No snap caps needed for 686 dry fire

Ok, well, I heard back from S&W - their FAQ says all their guns ok to dryfire... and an email to customer support on snap caps needed for the 686 brought the response that none are needed.
 
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