Yesterday l went with my friend to the pawn shop so he could buy another guitar, and l was looking at their guns and l saw a S&W 686 their for 300. l started talking to the owner and l soon realized he knew nothing about guns. Mainly because he said SIG was not a good gun. So l stared at the 686 for about 30 wondering if l should buy it or not. All l own are semi auto, and my knowledge about revolvers are limited, l only shot one.The gun you can tell has been used alot. If l do buy it l wanna send it off to get it re blued. So how do you check to see if a revolver is in good shape mechanically. l do not wanna buy it and the timing is off on it or something really bad.

l think you should go for it. Try dry firing it first to see if it works properly, if it is, it should be fine

quick & dirty check:
as u coc-k(stupid censor prog) it does the locking bolt come up & into the relief on the cylinder just as the hammer gets to full coc-k?yes? then good enough

with the hammer at full coc-k does the forward end of the cylinder move up &down or side to side a lot?
no? then ok there
does the barrel/cylinder gap appear to be consistent with all chambers lined up & is it from 3-10 thousandths of an inch in width?
yes? ok then

other then that make sure the overall action feels alright & is consistent as the cylinder works around a couple of full rotations look for signs of severe erosion on the barrel forcing cone & frame topstrap above the barrel cylinder gap & of course make sure the chambers & bore look good

First off - the 686 is a stainless steel pistol - it has no blue. Are u sure u have the make & model correct? l bought one of these in the mid 1980 is & paid $327 new for the 6'' version. In 1988 S&W degraded the 686 to only 38 Special use unless it was returned to the factory during a recall.

l love the 686. l have taken several trophies away from auto pistols shooters using it.

Right now there is a total glut of revolvers on the market. Nobody wants a revolver - everyone wants an auto Glock or XD. If u pay $300 for this pistol today l doubt u would get more than $100 for it tomorrow. The price on this is 2x to 3x too much. Offer $125 & settle for nothing over $150. If he wo not sell for $150 just leave ur name - he will call.

Hope this helps

Here is the definitive process to follow through with any used revolver. Its the only process l now use. l cant take credit for writing it l stole it from one of my friends over at thehighroad.org


So you're buying a revolver. New, used, does not matter, u want a good one, right? How do check one over without firing it, right at the dealer is counter or gun show table? This is how. All of this works with DA or SA wheelguns.''close the action'' on most DAs means swing the cylinder in, on SA types, close the loading gate, on break opens, close 'em. UNLOADED.

WARNING: most of these tests require violation of the ''finger off trigger'' rule. Therefore, be extremely careful about safe muzzle direction & making sure the gun is unloaded ahead of time, PERSONALLY, as u begin handling it.

Note: bring a small flashlight, something small & concentrated. A Photon or similar high-powered LED light is perfect. You also want feeler gauges if you're not used to eyeballing cylinder gaps; at a minimum, bring a .002 .004'' & .006''.

Note 2: no dry firing is required or desired at any point. It just pisses off the gun is current owner.

Cylinder play

1) With the gun UNLOADED (check for yourself!), close the action.

2) Thumb the hammer back, & while pulling the trigger, gently lower the hammer all the way down while keeping the trigger back - & KEEP holding the trigger once the hammer is down. (You've now put the gun in ''full lockup'' - keep it there for this & most other tests.)

3) With the trigger still back all the way, check for cylinder wiggle. Front/back is particularly undesirable; a bit of side to side is OK but it is a bad thing if u can wiggle it one way, let go, & then spin it the other way a fraction of an inch & it stays there too. At the very least, it should ''want'' to stop in just one place (later, we will see if that place is any good). The ultimate is a ''welded to the frame'' feeling.

Cylinder gap

4) Still holding the trigger at full lockup, look sideways through the barrel/cylinder gap. If u can get a credit card in there, that ai not good.velocity drops rapidly as the gap increases. Too tight is not good either, because burnt powder crud will ''fill the gap'' & start making the cylinder spin funky. My personal .38 snubbie is set at .002, usually considered the minimum.after about 40 shots at the range, l have to give the front of the cylinder a quick wipe so it spins free again. l consider that a reasonable tradeoff for the increased velocity because in a real fight, l ai not gonna crank 40 rounds out of a 5-shot snub.

If you're eyeballing it, u will have to hold it up sideways against an overhead light source.

SAFETY WARNING: This step in particular is where u MUST watch ur muzzle direction. Look, part of what is happening here is that you're convincing the seller u know ur poop . It helps the haggling process. If u do anything unsafe, that impression comes completely unglued.

Timing

5) You really, REALLY want an unloaded gun for this one. This is where the light comes in. With the gun STILL held in full lockup, trigger back after lowering the hammer by thumb, u want to shine a light right into the area at the rear of the cylinder near the firing pin. You then look down the barrel . You're looking to make sure the cylinder bore lines up with the barrel. Check every cylinder - that means putting the gun in full lockup for each cylinder before lighting it up.

You're looking for the cylinder & barrel holes to line up perfectly, it is easy to eyeball if there is even a faint light source at the very rear of both bores. And with no rounds present, it is generally easy to get some light in past where the rims would be.

Bore

(We're finally done with that ''full lockup'' crap, so rest ur trigger finger. )
6) Swing the cylinder open, or with most SAs pull the cylinder. Use the small flashlight to scope the bore out. This part is easy - u want to avoid pitting, worn-out rifling, bulges of any sort. You want more light on the subject than just what creeps in from the rear of the cylinder on the timing check.

You also want to check each cylinder bore, in this case with the light coming in from the FRONT of each hole, u looking in from the back where the primers would be. You're looking for wear at the ''restrictions'' at the front of each cylinder bore. That is the ''forcing cone'' area & it can wear rapidly with some Magnum loads. (Special thanks to Salvo below for this bit!)

Trigger

7) To test a trigger without dry-firing it, use a plastic pen in front of the hammer to ''catch'' it with the off hand, especially if it is a ''firing pin on the hammer'' type. Or see if the seller has any snap-caps, that is the best solution. Flat-faced hammers as found in transfer-bar guns (Ruger, etc) can be caught with the off-hand without too much pain .

SA triggers (or of course a DA with the hammer cocked) should feel ''like a glass rod breaking''.