Smith and Wesson Performance Center 686 357 Mag

L

LineStretcher

New member
Just picked this up today. It's a 686 Performance Center with the 7 round chamber and 5" barrel. The model number is 11760.

Having not fired it, I am impressed with the fit and finish of this gun. The competition style chamber release lever feels like it should make for rapid reloads. This model uses moon clips that eliminate the need for a speed loader. Not all 686's are cut for moon clips but this one is.

The competition chamber release is positioned nicely to act as a thumb rest that makes it very fast to cock the gun since your thumb is rested next to the hammer. A little time at the range will prove whether that is the intention or not.

The performance series S&W's get a little more attention when they're built. The trigger on this gun is very, very nice. How nice is yet to be determined but it's certainly nicer than any of my Ruger's.

Don't run out and buy one yet, wait for my range report.
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Nice revolver ! Sales guy at LGS let me handle one but wasn't what I was looking for ,got a used 686 plus 2.5 barrel . If the long cylinder release doesn't work out Hogue has a short version and Revolver Supply has oversize thumb latches
 
LOL, I would think that if you used that cylinder release as a thumb rest, and used some hot loads, the recoil might cause you to inadvertently open the cylinder in the middle of shooting!:D

Very cool looking revolver, though! Waiting to hear the range report!

Edited: I see that maybe you mean that you were going to put your thumb on the horizontal part of the lever, not the back part!
 
HighValleyRanch said:
LOL, I would think that if you used that cylinder release as a thumb rest, and used some hot loads, the recoil might cause you to inadvertently open the cylinder in the middle of shooting!:D

Very cool looking revolver, though! Waiting to hear the range report!

Edited: I see that maybe you mean that you were going to put your thumb on the horizontal part of the lever, not the back part!
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We'll see how it works out on the range. I doubt there's enough recoil to cause it to open the latch. I don't shoot hot loads and will only occasionally shoot 357 Mag's. They're hard on the barrel. I know, why buy a 357 Mag and then shoot .38 Specials when I could have just bought a .38 Special. My only answer is that I happened to really like this gun and wanted to be able to shoot 357 Mag if I felt like it and not have to buy another gun.
 
LineStretcher said:
It's a 686 Performance Center with the 7 round chamber and 5" barrel...

...The competition style chamber release lever feels like it should make for rapid reloads. This model uses moon clips that eliminate the need for a speed loader...

...The competition chamber release...
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Did you buy it for competition? What form of competition do you see it being useful in?


LineStretcher said:
The performance series S&W's get a little more attention when they're built.
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That used to be true until a few years ago. From what I and others have seen, they don't receive any additional goodies or TLC beyond being offered in a configuration not offered in the standard lineup.
 
I compete mostly with myself. I like to see how well I can shoot and having a firearm that should shoot well helps me accomplish that.
 
I have three different 686 revolvers. All are prior to the lock. I don't think the lock hurts anything, but it doesn't add anything to the aesthetics. Actually, I have two 686s and a 586. Each one is box/stock in configuration and the only changes I've made to any is having a trigger job done on one of the newer ones with the MIM trigger. All three of them will shoot around five shot 1.5" groups off bagged rests at 50 yards, and the 586 has done better on occasion. That's with full on 158g W296 loads. I consider the L-frame one of the best revolvers S&W has ever produced. I've owned quite a few .357 S&W revolvers over the last fifty years. Never saw one with barrel problems from shooting mag loads. Some of the K-frames weren't really designed for a lot of mag shooting though. The L-frame is a bit beefier.
 
I'm picking a nit but could you please stop referring to the "cylinder release" as a "chamber release". Words, and names, mean something and have a purpose. When pressed, the outsized lever releases the cylinder, where you find the individual chambers.

Dave
 
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Dave T said:
I'm picking a nit but could you please stop referring to the "cylinder release" as a "chamber release". Words, and names, mean something and have a purpose. When pressed, the outsized lever releases the cylinder, where in you find the individual chambers.

Dave
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Just picking nits, “Where in” should be “wherein.”

P.S. let’s try to enjoy our hobby while we still can. Picking at each other over something that is in no way unsafe serves no greater purpose. Let’s just raise a glass of our preferred beverage, toast to those who went before us, and move on and away from the small stuff.

☮️
 
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So, we can call gun parts anything we want to, as long as we spell them correctly? I was trying to be nice about it. Obviously not nice enough for you.

Then my apologies to the OP for correcting your terminology.

Dave
 
Posting on here doesn't require all spelling to be correct or terminology to be spot on. There are those who are less experienced than others and those who've been out of school a long time. If you're an elitist and can't tolerate small errors when someone is trying to post something then go somewhere else to cause trouble. It's not anyone's job to correct people on here and it's worse when you get defensive about doing it.
 
Dave T said:
So, we can call gun parts anything we want to, as long as we spell them correctly? I was trying to be nice about it. Obviously not nice enough for you.

Then my apologies to the OP for correcting your terminology.

Dave
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You can call gun parts anything you want. When you know guns well and own many you understand what others mean. When you don't you have to be precise or you might confuse yourself.

Here's the bullets that I have guns for.. You seem pretty book smart, how many can you name.
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Here's the bullets that I have guns for.. You seem pretty book smart, how many can you name.
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I apologized to you but you don't seem to have accepted that. So...

They aren't "bullets" they are "cartridges".

Dave
 
They aren't "bullets" they are "cartridges".
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Yep-and that distinction is a bit more relevant in terms of "terminology" definitions than just "nit-picking". Words have meanings and correct meanings lead to understanding. "Understanding what others mean" when they describe something incorrectly should not be the burden of the listener.
No one should take offense when they are made aware that their terminology lacks a proper definition and requires "mind-reading" to correctly interpret. Learning the right words to convey accurate meanings is a challenge we all should embrace.
 
The only thing that all this criticism has accomplished is to ruin my thread. I will not post any further comments about the firearm. You'll just have to go buy one yourself if you want more info. Also, any further comments will not be read or responded to by me because I have a life. If you want to go on a rant about this, have fun.
 
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