Rate These Three Revolvers

[Snake45]

Just purely for amusement:

Rate these three revolvers in order of your preference:

*S&W 686

*Ruger GP100

*Colt King Cobra

Assume the same barrel length for all three, and stainless steel construction.

Disregard price/cost (assume someone's going to give you your first choice) and value (i.e., what you could sell it for).

You may assume for "purpose" whatever use you wish--hunting, carry, home defense, "target" shooting, or whatever.

How would you rate the three in 1-2-3 order? And, please, why?

Discuss. :?

 

[clayflingythingy]

1 - GP100 - I have small hands. I find the trigger reach on the GP is best for me.

2 - S&W - I carry S&W Js but the larger frames I have an issue with the trigger as noted above.

3 - Colt - I have never been bitten by the Colt name. As a company Colt was mismanaged from the end of WWII until the present. They seemed to think "Colt" meant more than it really did. Colt almost abandoned the civilian market in the 90s altho the present management seems to be trying to break back in. The King Cobra just never really excited me in any way.

 

[Jim Puke]

Same as you have them listed.

 

[hittman]

Same as you have them listed.

+1

 

[rtl]

Not to just phone in a response, but I gotta say I agree with clayflingythingy completely there.

rt

 

[hittman]

Now ..... add Security Six to the mix and you'll have a new number one.

 

[GP100man]

GP100

 

[Snake45]

Now ..... add Security Six to the mix and you'll have a new number one.

Absolutely not. Slightly different class of gun. Please keep to the three choices listed. :wink:

 

[DonD]

Not to just phone in a response, but I gotta say I agree with clayflingythingy completely there.

rt

Although the 686 is an excellent revolver, I still vote for the above. Don

 

[WAYNO]

Just purely for amusement:

Rate these three revolvers in order of your preference:

*S&W 686

*Ruger GP100

*Colt King Cobra



Disregard price/cost (assume someone's going to give you your first choice) and value (i.e., what you could sell it for).

You may assume for "purpose" whatever use you wish--hunting, carry, home defense, "target" shooting, or whatever.

How would you rate the three in 1-2-3 order? And, please, why?

Discuss. :?

1) 686. My 686 is one of my all-time favorite revolvers. Extremely accurate, well made, fits my hand.

2) King Cobra. It's a Colt. Kind've between the Trooper and the Anaconda, another very nice gun. Lots of money.

3) GP100. It'll work every time, can do extra duty as a club or as a tire chock, and if ya bang it up you wont care. :mrgreen:

WAYNO.

 

[markggtp]

I agree with Wayno.....

 

[The Blackhawk Kid]

Only one gun is the GP-100!

 

[Bob Wright]

Snake45,

I can't really comment on the three as you stated as I've very little experience with the Colt or Ruger DA you list. I do believe the 686 (my preference is the 586) is the best DA .357 Magnum to come along, and is head and shoulders above all other .357 Magnums. I've had a little range time, but not much, with the other two, and would probably pick the Ruger slightly over the Colt.

Bob Wright

 

[rugerguy]

having had, shot and worked on all of the above, I would place them in the order you have them...bottom line is its a "Ford/Chevy/Mopar" kind of thing :roll:

 

[Ruger1441]

The 686 is my favorite. If I had to have one centerfire it would be the 686. I have enough guns that I can shoot anything I want and the 686 is the one.

 

[Double B]

You got it right in your original post. I like the 686 trigger I had. That's right traded it off. Like to have that one back.

 

[22/45 Fan]

Same as you have them listed.

+1 also. The S&W action is better than the GP and the L-frame is plenty strong. The GP doesn't have as refined (or refine-able) an action as the 686 but is anvil rugged. Colts are too finicky and the actions too fragile.

 

[Jeepnik]

Smith, Colt, Ruger in that order. I would have moved the Ruger ahead of the Colt if it was a Security Six. Ruger blew it when the quit making the SS. If they had wanted to introduce a heavier revolver that would be fine, but do it as an addition to the SS.

 

[Corbi]

I have a 586 and a GP100. Both are real well made revolvers. The GP seems a little heavier consructed. The GP seems to me more maintainable as you can easily pull the trigger group for deep cleaning.

I don't have experience with the Colt.

Corbi

 

[375supermag]

I have a &W 686 that I have shot an enormous amount of rounds through. It is an extremely accurate revolver.
i have shot a lot of GP100s and found them completely serviceable, but have never found a need to buy one.
I have not shot a King Cobra but do own a couple of Troopers. They are accurate and reliable.

I own at least seven or eight .357Mag revolvers and would rate every one of them behind my 686 Silhouette model.

At the end of the day, of all the handguns in various calibers and styles that I own, it would probably be the last one I would part with.

 

[5of7]

I have a GP and had a 686. The 686 had a better trigger, but the GP is a better pistol accuracy wise, seems to be better balanced and is as reliable as a revolver can be.

The Colt, I have never had and probably never will......unless one comes my way at a price too good to refuse. 8)

 

[6gun]

Colt king Cobra

S&W 686

GP100

 

[WendyZXZ]

I would rate the same you did but we have two out of the three...don't have an King Cobra.

 

[mat523]

I guess I am the only person on the forum that isn't in love with the 686. I do like the colts and Ruger's though. My order would be the GP, colt and then the 686. Especially if the 686 has that stupid internal lock.

 

[Snake45]

Same as you have them listed.

+1 also. The S&W action is better than the GP and the L-frame is plenty strong. The GP doesn't have as refined (or refine-able) an action as the 686 but is anvil rugged. Colts are too finicky and the actions too fragile.

The Colt KC/Trooper doesn't have the reputation for as "fragile" an action as the Python and the D-frames (Detective Special, etc.), but it's probably less rugged than the GP--and probably even less rugged than the Smith.

 

[Snake45]

I have a &W 686 that I have shot an enormous amount of rounds through. It is an extremely accurate revolver.
i have shot a lot of GP100s and found them completely serviceable, but have never found a need to buy one.
I have not shot a King Cobra but do own a couple of Troopers. They are accurate and reliable.

I own at least seven or eight .357Mag revolvers and would rate every one of them behind my 686 Silhouette model.

At the end of the day, of all the handguns in various calibers and styles that I own, it would probably be the last one I would part with.

Of the three I listed, the King Cobra is the only one I actually own. I have a number of K and N Smiths, but no Ls (or Js). I've never shot a GP100.

I've recommended the Smith 586/686 series to others as the best all-round .357 DA revolver you can buy (or, at least, the best all-around S&W .357), but for myself, I prefer either the 19/66 or the 28 Highway Patrolman, depending on the exact use.

I specified the 686, Colt KC and Ruger GP for this informal poll because I think they're about as similar as revolvers from three different companies can be (in size, weight, overall concept, accuracy, ruggedness, etc.). I thought it would interesting to hear everyone's reasons for their preferences.

There are no right or wrong answers here, of course, just opinions. I'll post mine after I've heard some more. Some good stuff here--keep them coming! :wink:

 

[protoolman]

The Gp-100 mechanically was a huge improvement in strength over any that came before and after. An action job can make Smith owners drool. The Colt has an exceptionally smooth action to me right from Colt- far better than the sometimes variable quality of Smiths. What I dislike most about Smiths is the short action-just never felt "right" to me. I'll skip my assesment of their design, company policies, my personal experiences etc. Needless to say my 1917 Smith is the only Smith anything I will ever own. in my opinion the GP-100 is the King of the Hill.

 

[pawncop]

Carried a 586 for several years as a duty sidearm when on uniformed patrol. Still carry a 2 1/2" 686 as issued off duty sidearm. Have shot all three and there is not much difference from my perspective. I would list them as S&W, Colt, Ruger. That is just personal preference.

 

[g17]

The 686 is my favorite. If I had to have one centerfire it would be the 686. I have enough guns that I can shoot anything I want and the 686 is the one.

This, but the GP is second runner up by far over the king cobra

 

[Snake45]

Okay, since I'm the OP, here's my opinion, worth no more or less than any of yours. :wink:

First off, let's stipulate that none of these three guns has a better (or for that matter, worse) reputation for accuracy than either of the other two. Individual examples of each will be more (or less) accurate than "average," but I think shooting-wise, they're pretty darn equal.

First choice is easy: The Smith 686. I've owned and shot Smiths for 40 years. The K/L grip fits my hand almost perfectly. The gun looks good, and will almost certainly have the smoothest action out of the box, with the potential to be the smoothest, period. The Smith has good factory support, is a known gunsmithing quantity, and there's plenty of aftermarket for it in the way of grips, holsters, springs, and so forth. The S&W .312 "Combat" trigger is the best-feeling trigger for DA ever put on ANY revolver.

Breaking down 2nd and 3rd is more difficult. If the Colt KC were still in production (and had been in continuous production since its introduction in the '80s) I'd pick it over the GP100 for looks alone (I don't especially care for Ruger DA revolver styling). It's a good looking gun, the action's not half bad at all, and the grip fits me pretty well (not as good as a Smith K/L but much better than a Python and maybe even a little better than a Smith N). But it wasn't around that long, there's not much aftermarket available for it, and parts are drying up. If something breaks on it, rotsa ruck. The GP100 has full factory support, new parts are available, and I guess aftermarket grips are available too (have never checked). So on purely objective criteria, the GP100 seems to be the clear winner between the two.

And how ironic: The Colt King Cobra is the only one of these three guns I actually own. :?