Just got a new 686 plus 7 shot from PSA. I’ve been looking at getting myself a nice stainless 357 revolver.  Took it out today, first time, the first cylinder full was 38 spl stuff, nothing hot at all.  Anyway, first three shots the trigger wouldn’t reset, stayed back after the hammer fell.  Primers were fine, it took some wiggling to get the cylinder open, but everything looked fine.  That alone concerns me.  It also shot about 3 feet to the left at 7 yards!  There are also very sharp edges at the mouth of the cylinders.  For a nearly $900 revolver i did expect a little nicer piece. Outside is very nice.

Send back to Smith?  Thoughts?

Indy

It has to go back.

Do the needful.

Sadly this is getting all to common with revolver manufacturers that should have no problem putting out pretty much perfect firearms and any defective ones caught before they ever make it out the door.

I'm done buying new firearms for the most part, with all the high tech and QC gadgets out there now, one should expect perfection. It is NOT that intricate of a piece of machinery when compared to other things people buy every day that work out of the  box.

Of course dope smoking Milli vanilli's and Gen Z  employees that turn over every couple of weeks make for shitty anything. Cheap ass upper management just makes all the issues double down.

My brand new 340pd had the same issue. Sent back for repair and I have not test fired it yet . It sits in my safe . I may sell it . I own 2 642 . Also the 43c arrived to my ffl in non working condition. Not sure how did it pass QC ..unless they have blind people working at S&W . It was sent back for full refund. Both are recent purchases.

Funny you posted this.  I just dropped my new 686+ off at FedEx on Friday, back to Smith.  On one of the cylinders the hammer would hang and something would bind in the timing.  

Disappointing but email smith and they will send you a prepaid postage.  I  not going to mesh with a brand new $900 gun, rather have Smith deal with it.

The 340pd already been repaired by S&W for the same issue you are experiencing with your 686+ . I still have a 640 pro and 686 2.5” non plus also purchased recently that I have not tested. Hopefully will be ok. .

Prices are def up on revolvers and anecdotally I am hearing of a lot more issues with them then I used to.

I would be surprised by an issue with a $200 Ruger 22lr but when we are talking around $1k, it's kinda a joke.

I bought a new 686 lately and had to have the guy pull stock from the back until I found one that I felt was in time correctly

First range session I felt like I was running up against a stiff wall in double action

When I cleaned it a burr from the hand port popped out. Looked like a fine steel hair.

Guns been great after that though. But couldn't believe how many new smiths I handled that felt a little light on timing

I bought a 629 last year and the forcing cone looks awful. Like it was cut with a dull cutter. But dang thing shoots fantastic so I'm leaving it be

I wish I could look through stock or even check one before I buy.  For me, I havent seen a 686+ in one of my local shops in years.  Add on that I was looking for a 3-5-7 5inch version with the unfluted cylinder which are even harder to come by.

There is a reason old very good/excellent condition revolvers go for the prices they do. A company needs SKILLED workers to properly make and assemble one and just having fancy machines isn't enough to send them out the door without issues.

I honestly don't think I have ever lost a penny on any older revolver I have ever sold and they have all sold quick to boot.

That’s the one i bought (5” un-fluted 3-5-7 model). I looked everywhere locally, the only one I saw was a used 4” 686+ that was traded in the day before, it was gone the next day.  Maybe i should have bought that one, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.

If my dad had bought a stainless Python instead of blued, i would probably be shooting that instead of a Smith.  I would hate to cerakote a nice Python

I started the return process with S&W, we shall see what happens.

Have a gunsmith check the cylinder gap.  Mine was too tight AND the barrel was not straight.   Local smith fixed it in 5 minutes and charged me $25.   Gun shoots amazing now

Even crazier that we had issues with the same model.  I wonder how many of those smith makes.  Mine was somewhat hard to get.

PSA had them listed on their website for a month before I pulled the trigger so to speak. I checked right after I ordered it and it was out of stock, I must have snagged the last one.

Well, it should be on the way back to Smith today, hopefully it gets turned around quickly.

I didn’t measure the cylinder/barrel gap myself, but it sure looked really close. Maybe 0.001”.  I do have feeler gauges that go that low 😉

My 686+ has burrs at the front of the cylinder like when you drill a hole through a piece of metal. I'm not happy but it functioned fine so I kept it.
Probably the last smith I'll ever buy. I looked at a 442 at a shop, after dry firing twice it locked up and had rust on the ejection rod. Brand new gun.

Funny how I bought 2 RIA .38s, the 2" and 4" and can find zero problems with those $200 guns. Bought a couple pietta 1873s also. Smooth as glass. No burrs anywhere.

Mine 686+ was filled with metal shavings and wouldnt function right.

I got the email that S&W received mine back for repair, now I am just waiting.....

Yeah I believe that gun would be going back, I had to send a 657 back years ago because of a issue with the sear.

Figured I would bump this thread, I just got Fedex tracking from S&W.  Looks like ill see my 686 back on Tues.  Interested to see what the "repair notes" are.

Gun got dropped off today.  Interesting the lack of detail on the ticket.  It just says under "performed service", "evaluate/repair" and "refinish complete gun".

Seems to function 100% so far, but Ill go shot it to check for sure.

@IndyGrendel63 Did you end up sending yours back?

I wonder if that's what was wrong with one of mine.  My 686+ is my favorite revolver.  I like it so much I bought another one, but the 2nd one had the worst trigger I've ever felt.  Kind of like what you described, it felt like hitting a wall then it finally went.  Hard to describe I guess, but it felt like a metal hair in there somewhere could have definitely been it.

I didn't take it apart or anything, I just decided I didn't really need 2 anyway so I sold it to help fund something else.

Last year I purchased a Model 627 with the intent of sending it off to TK Custom. It had timing issues and would lock up during double action firing. It went back to S&W with a quick turn around and the issue was fixed. It now shoots fine but this issue left a bad taste in my mouth and it is now a safe queen. I have yet to send it to TK Custom since this happened. S&W revolver quality sure has gone downhill!

I bought another 442 this year and it gave me the impression that metal shavings were inside the frame, because the hammer/sear felt like it was chomping on a shaving when the trigger was pulled. At the rear, the trigger failed to return.

So anyway, I started blasting.

Trigger hung up about a dozen times but it now has 500rds through it now without any issue. It’s not my first or anything special, so curiosity got the better of me. I’ll pull it apart and take a look inside to clean it out and inspect for any damage. I’d wager none, given the parts are harder than the soft/thin aluminum, but I don’t like the idea of loose shavings inside.

It won’t stop me from buying more. Just clean it out, deburr if necessary. And my sights aren’t canted either, unlike some previous batches.

Well , I have had a feeling that most of the major mfgs of firearms have fired all their inspectors. Most of the brand names are pretty good of fixing up stuff after the customer finds stuff that is off. Of course you shouldn't have to do that crap on a $1000 revolver but that is the way they seem to roll.

I bought a S&W 28-2 that I believe was built back in the early 1970's . Timing felt tight in the gunstore but it turns out the primer strikes were off near the edge of the primer . Lots of misfires . Did a test as soon as I identified the problem and 35/50 were off center with about 20 rounds not fireing first time around. Dealer where I bought it called S&W and sent it off . 3-4 weeks later I had it in hand working well. I paid nothing , I believe my dealer paid shipping but at any rate I feel ok about the way it turned out .


I would recommend the guys having troubles with new S&W revolvers to get a can of break cleaner and hose the thing down . many of these issues are nothing but metal chips and grit in the action . Again you shouldn't have to do it but saves the time and trouble to send it back.

Last New S&W I bought had the wrong height front sight . S&W wanted me to pay to ship it to them so I just bought a S&W sight blade from Brownells for less than the shipping was going to cost and pinned it in myself.

When shopping for this model S&W that I wanted to buy new I had to pass up guns in three stores , one had a supper loose front sight , could have fixed it but it was so bad I was afraid the base was messed up. Another gun clearly had the barrel installed wrong with the front sight leaning . Another gun had a bulge in the barrel , guess they test fired it with something obstructing the barrel. Not clearly visible but when you ran your fingers down the barrel there it was.

@ag04blast. Did you get your pistol back from Smith?

I finally got my revolver back late last week. Took it to the range on Friday and it functioned perfectly, maybe not quite as smooth as an old Colt, but no issues. All sharp edges were deburred and the groups were just an inch or two off dead center right out of the box (at 7 yards).  Now I need to get a nice paddle holster to carry it around when I’m out at the range or the woods, etc. it’s not a CCW piece for sure.

My S&W loving friend just bought an older 10 shot 22 LR revolver, 617 or something 🤔 anyway, it shoots fantastic, but I don’t need to spend another $900 on a 22 revolver even if it does match my 686.  I think I would be better off spending that much $ on a Ruger Mk-4 and a suppressor 😉

@IndyGrendel63

Yeah, back and shot great.  Nice and smooth like my 629.  I put about 100 rnds of 357 and 38spc through it.  I am happy and S&W took care of me...but...my issue was pretty obvious. If it was functioned checked it should have easily been caught.  S&W may only be inspecting so many samples out of a group.

I want a 22lr revolver but have never shelled out the money for one.  You wont be disappointed with a nice 22 semi and a supressor.  Everyone loves shooting my S&W victory with my deadair mask on it.

The days of buying guns, sight unseen, of the Internet are quickly waning for me.  I've had too many unpleasant surprises.  Buy from a local gun shop and if it goes bad, let them deal with the head ache.