vaknah Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 hello, i am currently searching for my first competative firearm. my goal is to find a 4" 686 which will allow me to use the one gun to compete in both icore and idpa. the problem i have been running into is that many of the 686's i find are the 7 cylinder model. i am wondering if a 7 => 6 cylinder conversion is possible, and how much it would cost. i can barely afford a competition revolver in the first place, so the cost would be fairly important. i realize that the cylinder would have to change from a 51.4ish degree rotation to 60 degree, so more than the cylinder would probably have to change. google has failed me, can anyone provide some insight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 I believe that it can be done with a new cylinder and hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahab Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 It might just be easier to buy a 686 SSR. It's a 4 inch gun, but in its stock configuration is ready to go from the ground up for IDPA's Stock Service Pistol division and ICORE's new "Retro" division. I actually have one sitting in my safe that S&W sent me to review, it's just been too bloody cold to go shooting here in Indianastan. The trigger feels nice out of the box, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Changing to a 6-shot cylinder is perfectly viable, although it would only make sense monetarily if you get a heck of a deal on the 686+. The cylinder and extractor would need to be fit, and that can be time-consuming. The hand will probably not need to be changed out. Finding a nice used 6-shot 686 would probably be your best bet, given your budget constraints. Used revolvers are not nearly as cheap as they were 20 years ago when the cop shops were trading them in en masse for Glocks and 5906s, but if you look around you can still find them at reasonable levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaknah Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 It might just be easier to buy a 686 SSR. It's a 4 inch gun, but in its stock configuration is ready to go from the ground up for IDPA's Stock Service Pistol division and ICORE's new "Retro" division. I actually have one sitting in my safe that S&W sent me to review, it's just been too bloody cold to go shooting here in Indianastan. The trigger feels nice out of the box, though. i cant afford one of those, although a cylinder and a hand is probably the same cost as the price difference between a normal 686 and a SSR. at that point it would be much better to purchase a ssr, im just trying to get into the sport at a price i can afford. thank you guys for the input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Christian Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 You might take a look at the Ruger GP-100. They are less expensive, solid, accurate, reliable, and seem to be more accurate with lead bullets than my 686 (although both are tackdrivers with jacketed heads). Wilson Combat makes a spring kit for them that can give you a very nice 8 pound DA pull. Ruger has a model that has interchangeable fiber optic front sights. The square butt factory grips are not properly cut for Comp IIIs, but the round butt is perfect with them. I've shot Master scores on the IDPA Classifier with mine. Chris Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
357454 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 hello, i am currently searching for my first competitive firearm. my goal is to find a 4" 686 which will allow me to use the one gun to compete in both icore and idpa. the problem i have been running into is that many of the 686's i find are the 7 cylinder model. i am wondering if a 7 => 6 cylinder conversion is possible, and how much it would cost. i can barely afford a competition revolver in the first place, so the cost would be fairly important. i realize that the cylinder would have to change from a 51.4ish degree rotation to 60 degree, so more than the cylinder would probably have to change. google has failed me, can anyone provide some insight? You are going to be better off financially if you find a good used 686 or 586, I have found these locally for around $500. If you buy the 7 shot and convert it to a six shot you will need to purchase a complete cylinder @ $80 to $100 and find someone to fit it @ $100, if you have to send the gun out for fitting you could easily add another $60 to $100 for shipping fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaknah Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 thats exactly what ive been looking for, particularly id be happy to find a 686-5 for under 500. my question originated from my frustrations trying to wait out the perfect gun. im trying to make sure that i have checked into all possible options. this thread has given me several new things to research once i get home from work (and out from behind a rediculously strict network policy). thanks again everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubber Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Chris's option (The Ruger) is a very viable option. There is a competitior in Arkansas using the Ruger platform for IDPA and ICORE. He does well with them and they're proablably many more we don't know about using the same platform. I have changed out all of my 686+ to six shot cylinders. I got lucky and they seem to fall right in and was (close enough) in the timing aspect. Good luck and we will see you at the range some day. later rdd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyfighter25 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 If you don't mind not being able to shoot magnum, I would get one of the m15's from j&g and get some work done on it. http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/handguns/smith-wesson/cPath/16_211 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirpy Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 vaknah...the perfect gun always shows up after you just bought one that you had to settle for! It's happened to me a number of times no matter what I do. That being said, I was in your position a while back and bought a nice 686 (wanted a 586) for under $475. Had some work done on it bought holster and etc and now am having a ball shooting revo in IDPA. Had to pay a BIG premium for Federal SP primers but they go bang every time. Try GunBroker and some of the other auction sites for what you want or check out the classifieds here. Good luck to you. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwx40x40 Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 If you don't mind not being able to shoot magnum, I would get one of the m15's from j&g and get some work done on it. http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/handguns/smith-wesson/cPath/16_211 +1 on the K Frames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wideload Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 If you don't mind not being able to shoot magnum, I would get one of the m15's from j&g and get some work done on it. http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/handguns/smith-wesson/cPath/16_211 +1 on the K Frames Another vote for the K frame route. That will leave you with some dollars to set up for reloading, holster, speed loaders and pouches. Also club dues and match fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S&W627shooter Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 If you don't mind not being able to shoot magnum, I would get one of the m15's from j&g and get some work done on it. http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/handguns/smith-wesson/cPath/16_211 Nice! I wish we could get those here in Kalifornia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boats Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 There are a lot of 6 shot 686's our there. I had set 500 as the price I was going to pay and ended up with one for 400 bucks. 400 is what a shop was going to allow one of our club members as trade in. That's a whole lot cheaper than switching parts. Boats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaknah Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 i ordered one of the very good condition plus revolvers from j&g, so i wouldn't be surprised at all if 686's start coming out of the woodwork... thanks for all the help everyone, maybe ill see you at a match eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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