My new S&W 686 Competitor

I had the local LGS order me a 686 from Lipseys, they only had one at the time. When it came in the barrel was canted. I had it sent back and gave him several models of 686's that I would take in replacement. I also told him if he could find a Competitor model that is the one that I would prefer. He had no luck finding any of them, so I went back in a week ago to take a GP100 Ruger instead. When I walked in he was on the phone with a Distributer out of Minnesota. He asked me again what the Model # of the 686 that I was wanting was. I told him and the salesman stated they had that model on order and had never received one until that day and he only had the one. My LGS said send it right out. I received the gun on Thursday 6-18-2015. WOW what a very enjoyable revolver to hold, Look at and shoot. I am a very happy man. Finally got my Grail Revolver. He are a few pictures.

Sweet.

Here's ya a knife to go with it.

Looks interesting. What are the two cut outs in the barrel shroud for...and is there some sort of rod in the shroud running the length of the barrel! I'm not sure if it is the angle you took the pictures from or not but it looks muzzle heavy. Is it?

I sort of like the way it looks for a kind of non traditional revolver. I've always wanted one of the SW custom shop revolvers. It looks nice.

That's Purdy! 8) Great score, enjoy.

They made one with that sort of hollow rod in it before. You could put weights in there to change the balance.

I know... dead horse... but I'm waiting for the people in charge at S&W to remove the hole in the sideplate. Either take out the ILS entirely or at least hide it away like Ruger. Until then... I'll keep buying the old ones. You have to wonder how much business the ILS has cost them over the years. Probably $3-5000 just in my case and I'm not the only one!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Kevin, it has an Allen screw that goes through the middle of the shroud with metal weights on it. That allows you to change the weight of the barrel to you're liking. You can replace the weights with plastic spacers for balance.
Jim Luke, that knife is interesting but that set up I would be afraid it would hurt me first
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that is really not the reason for this. It is very barrel heavy the way I have it set up, but when you bring it down onto a target it literally just sits there and doesn't move with that weight. Works well for steel plates and targets. It would also make a great hunting pistol especially with the 629 version of it.
Thanks for all the comments guy's

I love that 686. I have a 629 performance center very similar. Wish it was the model with the changeable barrel weights.

I like the larger grips...
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=491559187

I did end up putting some bigger grips on it. I have smaller hands so I do like these small grips but they were just a little small for this heavier barrel. I ended up getting a set of Jerry Miculek grips off of ebay for $40 including shipping. Love these grips. Fit the gun really well and also fits my hand and grip very well. I wish they made these grips for a Ruger GP100 also.

I like it, remember when I saw it on some magazine cover. Way too rich for my blood but i bet it shoots like crazy.

The larger grips with the gun make it look a lot better porportionally. Like it would balance better...

Balances much better. Yes it was expensive but I had originally ordered a standard 686 from Lipseys and when it came in the barrel was canted so it was sent back and no more could be found. I was looking for another model and gave my LGS several model #. He could not find any of those either ( I told him that I would really prefer the Competitor model the most). I saw the Competitor model on YouTube being assembeled at the factory and liked the extra attention that it received so that is the one that I really wanted. I was frustrated about not being able to order another 686, so I was walking into the LGS to just take another GP100 off the shelf for replacement of the Canted 686 when he was on the phone with a dealer out of Minnesota. He asked him and the guy says he has had some on order for several weeks and had never gotten one until that day. He said he just gotten one in. He shipped it right out and I am very pleased with it. Love shooting it.. I would love to ask S&W the for the Gun Smiths name and send him a thank you email through S&W.

Very nice! Have you shot it yet? How accurate is it? How is the smoothness of the action? Trigger pull?

tulsamal,
Are you being serious when you say you wont buy a S&W revolver with an internal lock? Seems like you are denying yourself owning some marvelous firearms.

Great looking 686. One of favorite firearms. You did well

I have shot it, but only at steel plates 25 yards. Have not had to adjust the sight, hits the steel plates just fine with my hand loads.

That is a great looking firearm!!

Joe

I like it. Not a big fan of the grips but to each their own. I like the finger groove combat grips SW has.

I have smaller hands and these grips fit me really well. Probably not good for the bigger hands.