Just wondering if anyone here has ordered one of the S&W 686's that Palmetto State Armory is selling for $625 (after $75 MIR).

If so, what is the quality control like on the one you received? Any defects? Canted barrel / front sight? Post some pics?

This is the lowest price I have seen on a 686 in years and I'm actually considering breaking my own rule of not buying new S&W revolvers sight unseen due to the incredibly high defect rate these days.

Thanks!

ETA: Link to deal added, for those interested.... It has been a PSA "daily deal" for roughly 3 weeks now.
https://palmettostatearmory.com/s-w-686-patridge-sight-6-357-magnum-revolver-satin-stainless-150844.html

OP, links matter, for a reason, unless of course you take the time to copy/pasta…

Still waiting

I did not, but I REALLY should.

I don’t know about a 6” .357 even for $625,  But the rebate is good for a lot of things.  I’d rather pay a bit more and get one of these instead.  I always thought the L-frames were a bit chunky for just a 6-shot .357 and then K-frame was much more elegant… the L-Frames make more sense with the 7-shot 686+ and are pretty cool on the 5-shot .44mag…

4.25” Model 69 .44mag for $795
4.25” Model 66 .357mag for $825
5” Model 686+ 3-5-7 for $825










https://palmettostatearmory.com/guns/handguns/revolvers.html?manufacturer_v2=Smith+%26+Wesson&rebate_v2=1

Link added to original post. This has been a PSA "daily deal" for roughly 3 weeks now, so not really a secret.

I bought a new S&W 629 over 30 years ago. I think this is about what I paid

I haven't bought one of those from PSA but it is a good deal. The only downside, at least for me, is the 6" barrel version. I wish it was the 4" on sale but I am sure they would have sold out by now.

"Incredibly high failure rate"?

Where have you been seeing this type of info?

@DuneShoot

To be clear, what I said was "incredibly high defect rate", not "failure rate". There is a huge difference between the two. A gun can have significant defects but still technically be functional.

I attend many gun shows and visit many different gun shops, so I have the opportunity to handle many new S&W revolvers every year.  

With the exception of the small J-frame models, most new S&W revolvers that I handle have visible defects. Many are just cosmetic,  poor finishing, excessive tooling marks,  etc., although many have functional issues too -- canted barrels, poorly cut barrel crowns, excessive or uneven barrel to cylinder gap, timing issues, chewed up cylinder stop notches, etc. The canted barrel issue is by far the most common, usually causing the front sight to lean slightly to the right.

Just as an example,  I've wanted a S&W 627 for many years and look at each new one I find. Please see the thread I started last summer about several that I found and inspected, as well as the issues I noticed.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/handguns/Recent-SandW-627-Pro-experiences---/33-210619/

In summary,  S&W quality control is very poor these days and many revolvers make it out of their factory that shouldn't. Sometimes you can find a really nice one, but you often have to inspect many poor examples to find it. This is why I have had a policy in place for myself to only buy S&W revolvers that I can inspect in person before purchasing.

In summary, I find it a bit odd someone that sees so many S&W revolvers would post a new post - essentially a rhetorical question - masquerading around as a deal "heads up," where you already know the answer?

@MouseBoy

I have no ulterior motives here. I was simply curious if any of our Arfcom members had purchased this specific model/version of S&W 686 in the past few weeks due to the good sale and if so, what condition it was received in. As I said, I was tempted to try ordering one, despite my own self imposed rule of not ordering S&W revolvers sight unseen.

Since no one has been able to provide any feedback thus far, I will continue to pass on this for now.

I would have bought one too but I refuse to buy sight unseen.  I was burned by a canted barrel on my 686 from Grab-A-Gun

I found a really nice used 4” 610 2 weeks ago in a shop for $799.  It would have went home with me but it had a badly canted barrel too.  I think I know why it was probably traded in.

The sales guy tried to talk me into it until I showed him the barrel.  He hadn’t paid any attention to it or at least said he didn’t notice it.  They were going to get there in house gun smith to look at it.