Quick New S&W 686 SSR Review

[bigdog02]

Hey guys,

 

Just thought I would put together a quick review of a new S&W 686 SSR I just picked up.  
Background: IDPA shooter, shoot 625s and have a Ruger match champion to compare against as well.  This will be used a competiton gun

 

Ordered it new from Gunbroker, came into the shop and I checked it over - looked perfectly good.  I did not notice any obvious signs of poor QAQC or anything on a quick look over before leaving the shop.
Gritty trigger with a DA pull in the 10.5-11.5 range somewhere.  Very distinct wall at the back of the pull that once you reach you have to overcome to set it off.  

 

Came home and first order was to change the red ramp front sight. Not a hard job - DX interchangeable that I have changed on my 625s a bunch.  This is where some weirdness started.  I pulled down on the sight and it sort of popped out like it was supposed to but was stuck.  I tapped it with my hand and when it let go......the detent and spring yeeted out into the room and there was a massive puff of yellow/white powder that came out onto the flood and was in the channel that sight was sitting in.
At this point I noticed without the sight on that the "ramp" that the sight mounts into was dented in at the end.  Like when they were trying to intstall that tiny pin in the ramp, it got crushed or hammered.  The red ramp itself looked totally level at the store but when I found it on the floor after it popped out, it was bent to the side a little bit.  No sign at all of that tiny little pin.  After an hour I found the detent and spring - both coated in white/yellow crusty stuff that looked an awful lot like glue of some sort.
So when I pulled out that sight, the spring and detent - with no tiny pin in there - went thermonuclear across the room.
Installing a different sight and oiling and putting the detent and spring in (no pin yet, it is coming in the mail), the sight sits flat but if you look close you can see the left side where the ramp is dented up.  Does not seem to affect the sight of the gun.  The detent and spring push against the sight and push it forward into the frame of the ramp and it holds perfectly fine.

That was the first issue and luckily the worst lol.

Inside the gun was totally dry. 
Has a Wolff main spring from the factory with a full length strain screw.
Polished up the internals, put in a TK lock delete, installed LPA rear sight, installed SDM front fiber, replaced the rebound with a 16lb, strain screw tight, greased everything up lightly inside, put back together and trigger pull was MUCH smoother without the grit or much of the hitch at the end of the pull (still there but not as noticeable) but the weight was still in the 10lb range.

Took it apart again and VERY gently bent the main spring in just a little bit - back together and trigger pull at 8.5ish.

Flexhoned the cylinder a couple passes only to test with live ammo.

Range day today and color me impressed.

Ran 100ish rounds through it.  Mostly PMC (hard primers I have heard) and some Fiocchi.  
Had 2 light primer strikes in the first 18 rounds.  Took it all apart at the range and checked strain screw - nice and tight.  Took out the main spring and VERY gently flexed it back just a tiny bit.
Back together and 80 rounds more without a single light primer strike - everything looking solid.

Empties dropped out of the cylinder without much help from my thumb on the rod at all.

Accuracy was fantastic, very smooth operation.
Trigger pull on the gauge when i got home is 9lbs but is smooth enough I do not notice at all.

 

Compared to the match champion the trigger pull is much shorter to set the gun off on the SSR.  I think the match champion is smoother throughout the pull though.  Mechanics feel roughly the same between then aside from the cylinder release.  I like them both for what I plan to use them for.
Hitting a couple local matches within the next 2 weeks so the SSR will get some on the clock work.

 

v

[Carmoney]

Nice review! 

 

You might want to rethink the practice of adding grease to the internal workings of a revolver--or any handgun, for that matter.  I know a lot of people do it, but I think it's a bad idea.  Grease attracts dirt and eventually turns into lapping compound.  Grease can make the action feel gummy and sticky, and sometimes creates sluggish timing.  Grease can cause guns to function strangely in cold weather.  If grease improves the feel of your action, it's masking other issues that will return when the grease dries--and then you will have the added problem of hardened grease that will need removed.  

 

S&W revolvers require very little internal lubrication.  And the best lubrication for them (in my opinion) is a very small amount of synthetic motor oil (e.g. Mobil 1) applied to the bearing surfaces.  

 

Again, just my opinion--but I have run revolvers in competition for 35 years in all sorts of weather conditions, and I have had lots of them go across my workbench over the years.  

 

 

[bigdog02]

1 minute ago, Carmoney said:

Nice review! 

 

You might want to rethink the practice of adding grease to the internal workings of a revolver--or any handgun, for that matter.  I know a lot of people do it, but I think it's a bad idea.  Grease attracts dirt and eventually turns into lapping compound.  Grease can make the action feel gummy and sticky, and sometimes creates sluggish timing.  Grease can cause guns to function strangely in cold weather.  If grease improves the feel of your action, it's masking other issues that will return when the grease dries--and then you will have the added problem of hardened grease that will need removed.  

 

S&W revolvers require very little internal lubrication.  And the best lubrication for them (in my opinion) is a very small amount of synthetic motor oil (e.g. Mobil 1) applied to the bearing surfaces.  

 

Again, just my opinion--but I have run revolvers in competition for 35 years in all sorts of weather conditions, and I have had lots of them go across my workbench over the years.  

 

 

 

Learn something new everyday for the revolvers!  Need to treat them more like my Glocks than my hunting rifles it would seem.
Hurts nothing to try and see how it goes with some synthetic motor oil instead - thanks for the tip and explanation.

[Carmoney]

Every now and then I pull out the mint 686-5 from my safe and think, hey maybe today I should do the action on this thing and get it all ready for IDPA or ICORE Classic or something.......and then I wind up doing something else instead!  

 

Looks like your SSR is going to be a good shooter for you.  I like the LPA sight--normally, the LPA is not my favorite choice (for purely aesthetic reasons), but I think it looks really good on the SSR.  Sorta high tech.  

[ysrracer]

Other than the barrel profile, what else is different about the SSR?

[bigdog02]

7 hours ago, ysrracer said:

Other than the barrel profile, what else is different about the SSR?

Excellent question.
 - Slab side barrel profile with a recessed target crown

 - Cylinder has been lightly chamfered at the factory.  Pretty much the same level of chamfering you get when you pay for one of their revolver performance packages

 - Interchangeable DX front sight

 - Wolff main spring.  I THINK it is their reduced power (Type 2) based on the bend, but I am not sure.  Full length strain screw engages it well.

 - Nice wood grip and a hogue grip

 

The internals are all standard from the factory - nothing polished at all and bone dry.  

[ysrracer]

51 minutes ago, bigdog02 said:

Excellent question.
 - Slab side barrel profile with a recessed target crown

 - Cylinder has been lightly chamfered at the factory.  Pretty much the same level of chamfering you get when you pay for one of their revolver performance packages

 - Interchangeable DX front sight

 - Wolff main spring.  I THINK it is their reduced power (Type 2) based on the bend, but I am not sure.  Full length strain screw engages it well.

 - Nice wood grip and a hogue grip

 

The internals are all standard from the factory - nothing polished at all and bone dry.  

 

Thanks, is it a six shot?

[Tampa-XD45]

It's an L-frame model.   I liked mine and used it quite a bit for steel challenge.

[bigdog02]

4 hours ago, ysrracer said:

 

Thanks, is it a six shot?

Yup, just a normal 686 L frame, 6 shot gun.

They called it SSR to represent Stock Service Revolver which is a revolver sub-division in IDPA.  
Not sure if it was S&W's response to the Ruger Match Champion or if the Match Champion was the answer to the SSR.

In shooting it - even being a couple oz lighter than a standard 686, it balances really well and moves between targets really fast.  I am impressed so far but need to really work it through some matches before I can really get into how it shoots under pressure.
I have been loving REV divisions in IDPA lately and have a couple 625s as my main IDPA guns but several places I shoot (indoor small ranges/matches/comeptitions) prefer to keep it to 9mm level projectiles and under, so this mimics my reload (aside from speeloader vs. moonclip) for my 625s, so it is great over winter practice at indoor matches.

[Joe4d]

They made a 4" 6 shot and a 5" 7 shot.. I got the 7 shot.  Wanted a 327 at the time but those were made of unubtanium.  the 5" 686 wasnt that far off in weight from the 327.. Pretty much my favorite gun. 

[bigdog02]

Continued update after running it in a roughly 100 round IDPA match today.

Not a fan at all of the SSR with PMC ammo.
It was a rough day.
A week ago I ran 80+ rounds of PMC through it with the stock spring (slightly bent after some light primer strikes), 15lb rebound spring and had no light primer strikes.
Fast forward to today for the match and only difference is that I put in an Apex extended firing pin and spring since then.  Still using PMC but from a different set of boxes purchased at a different time.

Nothing else at all different.
Had 1 or 2 light primer strikes every 10 rounds or so.
Stopped after 2 stages and pulled the main spring, put on table and flattened a bit.  Put back together, 2 light primer strikes again.
Angry at this point, took it back and pulled out the stock main spring (which was a wolff 2 I think) and put in a wolff 1 main spring.  Jacked my trigger pull up to a solid 11+lbs.
Fired off the next 20 rounds on the last stage with authority.  All primers on all PMC rounds from this stage were hit hard enough that the fired primers are now concave.  I want hit them like they owe me money.

Attached are a couple of the light primer strikes....which are some of the most solid primer hits I could imagine.
I think either I got a bad batch of PMC primers in factory ammo or I just had terrible luck with a main spring/firing pin combo.
Not gonna lie, I am bummed.  I have a bunch of this PMC left over to shoot and it seems like I will have to run an 11lb trigger pull to light it off.

Another match next weekend and I truly have no idea what to do now other than leave the Wolff 1 main spring in and shoot with an 11lb trigger pull to burn up this PMC ammo.

 

[Joe4d]

I really dont think going super light does much on the scoreboard. Practice with what you have and get used to it.
Personally I have no use for any gun, with any trigger that wont light off anything I put in it. 

[bigdog02]

Just now, Joe4d said:

I really dont think going super light does much on the scoreboard. Practice with what you have and get used to it.
Personally I have no use for any gun, with any trigger that wont light off anything I put in it. 

I like a comfortable 8-10lbs and smooth.  Being smooth can cover up a fair bit of weight on the trigger pull.
Prior to the match the gun was in the 9.5-10ish lb trigger pull range which I was happy enough with.

I am the same way.  Not a reloader, so sometimes I get deals on various bits of ammo so could be Fiocchi for a couple matches and then a bunch with PMC, and then maybe some Rem.  All depends on what I get and when - I just want it all to light off.

[Joe4d]

I dont recall what my 686 pro trigger pull is,, I did the 25 cent trigger job and to me I dotn think its holding me back. I do have after market rebound spring and firing pin, just never bothered to install it.
I have a 386 that has a lighter trigger and I really dont like it.  Guess I got used to the 686..  Been meaning to work on the 386, put heavier spring in and change out that red ramp sight to fiber optic.

 

[ysrracer]

I'm my limited experience you either need to reload, or learn to live with a heavy trigger.

[gargoil66]

48 minutes ago, ysrracer said:

I'm my limited experience you either need to reload, or learn to live with a heavy trigger.

Especially if you use PMC ammo.  Mil primer, mil crimp.  

 

All the bending on the main spring probably didn't 'hep' things any.

 

11 pound pull is tough no matter how smooth. 

 

Reloading is probably a better insurance policy unless a guy wants to buy premium ammo.  

 

GG

[bigdog02]

1 hour ago, gargoil66 said:

Especially if you use PMC ammo.  Mil primer, mil crimp.  

 

All the bending on the main spring probably didn't 'hep' things any.

 

11 pound pull is tough no matter how smooth. 

 

Reloading is probably a better insurance policy unless a guy wants to buy premium ammo.  

 

GG

 

It would appear that until I can find space, time, and attention to a reloading setup - I will just have to run a heavier trigger pull and deal with it for competition. 
Unless I buy rounds by 3k round lots to stick with 1 type with softer primers for a whole season, which is an option too.  

[Carmoney]

So it was working reliably with that ammo before installing the extended firing pin and spring.

 

Hmmm....

[Joe4d]

I would suspect American eagle would be loaded with federal primers...

[gargoil66]

11 hours ago, bigdog02 said:

 

It would appear that until I can find space, time, and attention to a reloading setup - I will just have to run a heavier trigger pull and deal with it for competition. 
Unless I buy rounds by 3k round lots to stick with 1 type with softer primers for a whole season, which is an option too.  

BD2:

 

Roger.  You aren't alone either.   Have met dozens of guys who are in the same circumstances and simply can not reload ammo.  BTW -- it is a boring and tedious operation.  

 

Look at Joe's post mentioning American Eagle ammo.  That stuff is basically 'ball' ammo but is pretty popular.

 

Best of luck in your quest!

 

GG

Edited March 12, 2023 by gargoil66

[bigdog02]

6 hours ago, Carmoney said:

So it was working reliably with that ammo before installing the extended firing pin and spring.

 

Hmmm....

I thought the same thing.  I cannot figure out in my head how that change alone could produce light primer strikes.  
It will get tested this upcoming weekend.  Same PMC ammo and same firing pin.  If I have 1 misfire, the stock firing pin will go back and in and see how it does for a stage.
The SSR firing pin was pretty short at .4915

[ysrracer]

5 hours ago, Joe4d said:

I would suspect American eagle would be loaded with federal primers...

 

I thought the same thing trying to use Federal ammo in my 929. But I still got light strikes and bullet creep.

 

The only way to stop it was to re seat the primers, and re crimp the ammo.

 

At that point, I might as well just reload

[bigdog02]

Running tabulation for anyone wondering about the SSR.

Removed the APEX extended firing pin and tried the power custom firing pin with stock firing pin spring.
Left the Wolff 1 main spring in it that I had put in previously.

I noticed something off with my hammer - it looked like it was rubbing the frame (frame side, not sideplate side).  Used a sharpie and sure enough, I was getting a pretty solid rub.
Shim placed on either side of the hammer and now no rub.

Ran 100 rounds of the PMC that had given issues - not a single problem.  Not even a hint of a light primer strike.  Primers are solidly concave now after firing.
Cleaned it and took it to a 100+ round match the following weekend, not a single light primer strike.
Could it just be luck?  Maybe.  

Trigger pull on the gauge with wolff 1 and the shims is a respectable 9.5 to 10.5.

[ysrracer]

Yeah, I wouldn't expect too many light strikes at ten pounds.

 

Glad it's working for you

 

I know a guy in Phoenix (the grey fox) and he works on all my guns (when we're not out getting lunch).

[Alleycatdad]

On 3/12/2023 at 8:19 AM, ysrracer said:

 

I thought the same thing trying to use Federal ammo in my 929. But I still got light strikes and bullet creep.

 

The only way to stop it was to re seat the primers, and re crimp the ammo.

 

At that point, I might as well just reload

This is exactly how I got back into reloading....