quote:

Originally posted by Ogie:

I have the Lipseys Exclusive S&W 396 Night Guard coming in on Monday. That is in 44 Special. I am looking forward to getting it. However, looking around, I don't see any more available. I don't know about the 357s though.

If they'd chambered that one in .44 Mag I'd be getting one. I'd like a shorter barreled, L-Frame companion to my 329. The 386 is compelling to, but bigger and heavier than my 3" Model 60, so I can't really justify it either. I'm hoping they expand the caliber options on these like they did for the Mountain Guns.

I have been seriously tempted by the Smith Model 19 Carry Comp. But its price has kept me from it.

+1 on the 1774 GP100. It's half of my EDC duo along with the 5784 SP101. Two excellent options.

I had a 2.75” Smith 66 combat magnum and it was fantastic. Yes it had the lock, def more king cobra size than the 686. On side note I despise the Hillary hole, I bought one of these Tromix oversized cylinder releases and the are excellent and also cover the hole.

https://tromix.com/product/smi...inder-release-latch/

Just handling both I prefer the feel of the Colt and it feels lighter but I haven’t weighed them. But both have things I like - I will most likely change the front sight on the Colt. While I like the wood grips on the 686, I might get either Hogue or Pachmayr for it.

Now I need to find some holsters for them.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

The 686 I bought last year had a canted barrel

What is a canted barrel? Not aligned with the cylinder chamber?

The top of the barrel/rib does not align with the frame and leans a little to one side or another. It aligns with the chamber just fine but windage must be changed to account for the issue of the front and rear sights being off. I have a Ruger Match Champion that has the same issue unfortunately. Whether it was threaded wrong, over torqued or whatever, it is sad what the main revolver makers are allowing to pass quality control now and what is accepted. I had an older model 66 and it was perfect.

I have never been a fan of Colt DA guns. I’m a Smith guy. That being said I have come around to much prefer the Ruger cylinder release. It is way more intuitive and out of 5he way design wise. My vote would be check out the WC Rugers or the Lipsey edition 3” SP101’s.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pedropcola,

Very happy with my Talo 686+, so much that I bought another one.
The one with the Culia grips I kept and sent to S&W for trigger work.
The other I gave to my SIL when he married my daughter.
I don't mind the Hillary hole; I never touched it.

I have several 3” 686 CS-1 models as well as a 3” Kimber K6S DASA. I sold a 3” model SP101 because the Kimber was about the same size as the Ruger with 1 more round and better sights. When I carry a revolver, I am more likely to grab my 2.5” S&W P&R model 66 or a Colt Detective Special than my 3” guns. The early Kimber K6s are masterfully machined and very much up to the quality of my Ed Brown or Wilson 1911s. I just had the K6 to the range last weekend and it shoot and balances great, even with 357 loads.

[IMG:left] IMG_0295 by David King, on Flickr[/IMG]

quote:

Originally posted by 1lowlife:
Very happy with my Talo 686+, so much that I bought another one.
The one with the Culia grips I kept and sent to S&W for trigger work.
The other I gave to my SIL when he married my daughter.
I don't mind the Hillary hole; I never touched it.

I have the 3-5-7 model in your pic, how’s the recoil with the wood grips?

I don’t own a 686 3 inch any more but I have a Model 19 PC Carry Comp and a 3 inch Colt King Cobra with the brass bead front sight. I owned the new versions of Pythons in 4.25 and 2.5 inch’s at the time I got it and I bought the KC because it struck me as a slimmed down Python with no vent rib bbl and fixed sights. I shoots well and tames 110 and 125 grain .357 ammo well. 158 lets you know you’re shooting it. Plus P 38’s are easy peasy. My only gripe, and it’s not a fault of the Colt, is finding a holster I like without going the custom route.

I bought the PC Carry Comp late last year new on sale for under 1,200.00. The frame, being a K-Frame, is slightly larger than the KC but holster options are better. And I’ve been a Smith fan since the 70’s, carrying a model 66 at the beginning of my LE career.

I’m at the point where I’m selling off guns I don’t carry or shoot so I took the KC and Smith out last week and shot them side by side. I shot the Smith better/easier. Accuracy was equal. Not to mention the Colt is backwards in rotation and cylinder latch operation (insert smiley face here). All that being said, the Colt is being sold.

Edit: The Smith did have to go back to the factory for being too hard to open/close the cylinder and the rear sight blade wouldn’t adjust. Smith covered shipping and made the repairs. While it was there I had them replace the front sight with a standard red ramp version. I fount the tritium sight difficult to pick up and didn’t see the necessity for a night sight.

quote:

Originally posted by birddog1:

quote:

Originally posted by 1lowlife:
Very happy with my Talo 686+, so much that I bought another one.
The one with the Culia grips I kept and sent to S&W for trigger work.
The other I gave to my SIL when he married my daughter.
I don't mind the Hillary hole; I never touched it.

I have the 3-5-7 model in your pic, how’s the recoil with the wood grips?

The Culina grips are a little wider and rounder than the stock 357 grips.
It feels pretty good.
Aren't those 357grips wood as well?

quote:

Originally posted by 1lowlife:

quote:

Originally posted by birddog1:

quote:

Originally posted by 1lowlife:
Very happy with my Talo 686+, so much that I bought another one.
The one with the Culia grips I kept and sent to S&W for trigger work.
The other I gave to my SIL when he married my daughter.
I don't mind the Hillary hole; I never touched it.

I have the 3-5-7 model in your pic, how’s the recoil with the wood grips?

The Culina grips are a little wider and rounder than the stock 357 grips.
It feels pretty good.
Aren't those 357grips wood as well?

They are wood, I’m not sure how the recoil will be with the exposed backstrap. Only one way to find out.

quote:

Originally posted by patw:

Whether it was threaded wrong, over torqued or whatever,

I have a four inch barrel Model 19-5, it has a slightly canted barrel, you have to look closely to notice. I wonder if it’s a byproduct of when S/W changed to the “crush fit” barrel. In my case it doesn’t affect accuracy, I qualified with it two years, out of a possible perfect score of 540 I scored 485 the first year and 492 the next time.

I currently have two 3" revolvers chambered in .357mag.

S&W 65-5. Nice gun, probably the one I'd keep if I could only have one 3".



The 2nd is a more collectible gun. Ruger Speed Six (GS-33PS) made for the United States Postal Service Postal Inspectors. Neat gun, only like 2000 were made and this one is mint. I have a letter from Ruger showing its a USPS gun (no markings on them to denote its a USPS Gun). Shoot great but I'm keeping it more as a collectible.



I had previously owned a new production Colt King Cobra 3" and while it was nice, I preferred the S&W 65 (didn't have the Ruger at the time) over it. I sold it off and got my money back on it.

quote:

Originally posted by dking271:
I am more likely to grab my 2.5” S&W P&R model 66 or a Colt Detective Special

Care to elaborate on this? From a practical sense, it makes no sense.

quote:

Care to elaborate on this? From a practical sense, it makes no sense.

The truth is there is no practical sense behind it, but I’ll try to elaborate. The 686 L frames carry so much bigger than the K frames both IWB and OWB. If I had a 3” K frame (65 of 66) the above statement wouldn’t hold true about grabbing either snub first. Truth is, I prefer and I am faster with Safariland speedloaders over the HKS, but they aren’t available for the Kimber or the Detective Special. I do have them for the L and K frame revolvers. If I’m sacrificing the safariland loaders, then the DS carries closer to a j frame. I have more trigger time on the smiths and the DS which also adds to me grabbing them first. I haven’t fumbled the ejection of spent brass on the range or in a match and thankfully never been tested in real life.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dking271,

The last Smith I bought was a 3" 686+ with an unfluted cylinder. Man, that thing was pretty. And I was lucky to get 3 or 4 of the 7 rounds per cylinder to fire. So back to the store it went.

I do have an older model of the same gun that is fluted and it has been 100% reliable as has the Colt Python Elite I have. But carrying them? Heavy I'd imagine.

My local Scheels for a while had three used 3" Colt King Cobras. But I read such horror stories about new Colts that I passed. And they were so cheap it was definitely difficult to let them sit there.

So whatever you do- shoot the shit outta what you buy before you carry. Because it seems a good NEW revolver is becoming tougher and tougher to find. Maybe Ruger is where it's at after all.

quote:

Originally posted by sdf:
The last Smith I bought was a 3" 686+ with an unfluted cylinder. Man, that thing was pretty. And I was lucky to get 3 or 4 of the 7 rounds per cylinder to fire. So back to the store it went.

I do have an older model of the same gun that is fluted and it has been 100% reliable as has the Colt Python Elite I have. But carrying them? Heavy I'd imagine.

My local Scheels for a while had three used 3" Colt King Cobras. But I read such horror stories about new Colts that I passed. And they were so cheap it was definitely difficult to let them sit there.

So whatever you do- shoot the shit outta what you buy before you carry. Because it seems a good NEW revolver is becoming tougher and tougher to find. Maybe Ruger is where it's at after all.

I took them both to the range today, not ideal conditions with snow. Because it was so cold I only ran 50 rounds through each - 25 of both .38 FMJ and .357 hollow points. No issues with either one. Initially I thought I had a problem with the Colt but turns out one of the Corbon DPX rounds either wasn’t seated properly at the factory or it works its way out from the recoil. The cylinder wouldn’t rotate until I figured it out. So far happy with both. I did put an XS Bigdot on the Colt, much better than the brass bead for my old eyes. I’m thinking of swapping out the Smith sights for XS minimalist sights next.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Don't write off the GP100, no Hillary hole

https://ruger.com/products/gp100/specSheets/1715.html


Get the rubber grips with the wood insert


https://ruger.com/products/gp100/specSheets/1774.html

This was one of the first guns I purchased. It is an awesome pistol. I also have the S&W. It’s hard to go wrong with a J frame.