Smith Wesson Model 686 Reviews

Smith Wesson Model 686 Review

The revolver in question is the Smith & Wesson Model 686.

This is a double action revolver chambered in .357 Magnum which means it can also shoot the cheaper and lighter shooting .38 Special as well.

The gun WAS Smith & Wesson’s original L frame which is what they call their “medium-large” pistols. It holds 6 rounds but there are also 7 round options and it also has adjustable rear sights.

Smith Wesson Model 686 Review

Many of the guns I have purchased have been done so with the idea of being the “last rifle” or “last pistol” I’ll ever need to buy. Of course this never actually works out in practice – something new comes along and I catch the bug. Once in a while, though, I find something that is pretty much perfect as-is, and it endures. An example of this phenomenon: the venerable Smith & Wesson 686. It is my One if I could have only one, my hell or high-water sixgun, my “gun to ride the river with.”

Smith Wesson Model 686 Review

The revolver is a historic design, segmented across history by percussion cap, single- and double-action designs all the way to Mateba’s futuristic leap into the autoloading world. We have a cross-section of sweet guns from each period of history with a unique function and aesthetic. So when futuristic versions of scrub gun writers like me look back from their hovercouches at the 1990s and early 2000s, what will be the era-defining wheelguns? Which models will be fondly viewed as examples of an era’s best designs in durability, looks and function?