S&W Annoying Cosmetic Issue: Advice Please on Technical Issue

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Zaydok Allen

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Hi all,

One of my very favorite revolvers (686+) has a minor issue. When I bought the gun everything checked out ok, but obviously I missed this one item.

The barrel is slightly canted to the left. Yes, I bought it during those years. I mean slightly as in 1 or 2 degrees. A casual shooter or gun buyer would likely not even notice. With my current experience level I'd say I would likely notice but I bought this gun 5 or 6 years ago, so not true back then. The only reason I even noticed is I was looking really close when cleaning it, and I saw that the ribbing on the top of the barrel does not line up exactly with the lines of the rear sight.

I noticed this issue after the first cleaning but didn't worry because it seemed minor, and I didn't want to mess with an otherwise great gun. This revolver just works for me. Everyone has a gun they just pick up, point in the general direction of what you want to hit, pull the trigger, and bang, it hits where you want. This is the revolver that does that for me, and I carry it frequently for that reason.

I am aware also of the slight cant and can see it in the front sight when shooting, because of course you are leveling the front sight with the rear blade. So it eats at me.

So I ask if we could refrain from the "It's an accurate gun, just shoot it and don't worry!" comments, because I'm not asking if I should have the issue corrected. I'd also like to skip past any "S&W's quality is garbage now and I'll only buy pre-lock guns." comments too. Those comments aren't helpful or relevant.

What I'm asking is if I wanted it fixed, is that something a gun smith could do easily, if I found a smith to do it? I mean is it a matter of throwing a barrel wrench on and torqueing it the 1 or 2 degrees? I know S&W one piece barrels are "crush fit" to the frame, so maybe this is a rebarrel fix.

So to be clear, if you are looking at the top of the gun, with the barrel facing away from you, I'm saying the barrel is slightly canted to the left, meaning the front sight leans left ever so slightly, and it is pointing at 11:59 and a half if you compare it to the face of a clock. But I'm not sure which direction the barrel is threaded, so I don't know if it's over or under torqued. It seems based on the orientation of the ejector rod shroud it would be under torqued.

Since the gun operates perfectly and shoots straight, I would anticipate S&W would tell me it's within spec and I'd just be sending my gun on an expensive air travel adventure. But I have not contacted them about it. I wanted some opinions here first.

Thoughts?
 
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I'm not sure I would have caught that at the time either. But I feel your pain. Once I did notice it would drive me nuts. Hopefully it's not to hard to resolve. Maybe take it to a local gunsmith. Probably as cheap as paying shipping back to the factory.
 
If I picture the orientation correctly, righting it would loosen the barrel; might not be enough to matter, but not great in principle.

Edit: if you look at the outside of the barrel tenon, sometimes you can see the root of the cut threads.

Next, Kuhnhausen is full of warnings about the risks of frame damage unscrewing barrels; they aren't intended to come off nicely, so sometimes they don't, even with vises.

And. . . if it's a tensioned barrel and shroud, no one but Smith has the rifled inserts.
 
It would bother me too. I would contact a known expert in the S&W revolver work and get an opinion. If it's doable I would spend the money and fix it.

And yes, S&W would tell you it's in "spec" and not to bother them.

Dave
 
I'm not sure I would have caught that at the time either. But I feel your pain. Once I did notice it would drive me nuts. Hopefully it's not to hard to resolve. Maybe take it to a local gunsmith. Probably as cheap as paying shipping back to the factory.
Unfortunately we do not have a local gun smith any longer. I'd likely have to ship it, or drop it off during a road trip. Not undoable.

Honestly I'd like to take a half inch of the lug off the end. Just because I like the look.
 
If I picture the orientation correctly, righting it would loosen the barrel; might not be enough to matter, but not great in principle.
That was my concern. If pointing the gun at a target, the barrel would need to turned slightly clockwise. If staring down the muzzle, counterclockwise.
Edit: if you look at the outside of the barrel tenon, sometimes you can see the root of the cut threads.
Can't see them.
Next, Kuhnhausen is full of warnings about the risks of frame damage unscrewing barrels; they aren't intended to come off nicely, so sometimes they don't, even with vises.
I haven't picked up his book yet, but it's been sitting in my Amazon cart for months. I better get one. This is definitely not something I'd try to do myself, and I don't know that a smith would even want to mess with it when it's such a minor issue. It just bugs me.

I've heard that the old pinned barrels have much less tension in them and are easier to rebarrel. No idea how true that is though.

And. . . if it's a tensioned barrel and shroud, no one but Smith has the rifled inserts.
It's a 686+. By shrouded you are referring to the new 66's and 69's, correct?

I would contact a known expert in the S&W revolver work and get an opinion.
And that may be what I do. It's got a nice trigger, but I could see having an action tune done to it also. Sweeten the deal for the smith a bit.
 
Alternative suggestions:
  • Buy a replacement front sight and have it filed/fitted "square" across the top. You'll have to move around the adjustment on the rear sight, but this should make it not-noticeable from behind the gun. People looking down the barrel may perhaps notice that the sight is not totally plumb to the centerline of the barrel, but if you cared about their opinion, they wouldn't be looking at it from that angle!
  • Slap a red-dot on the top of it and never worry about the iron sights again.
 
Back when IDPA allowed 5" revolver barrels, I had a 686 sawn off and a screw on ramp installed. The gunsmith said the barrel rib was not square with the topstrap. He did not want to tweak the barrel, so he just milled the rib flat and square. It doesn't look bad, but it is not a Smith rib. (Had to have it re-cut when they reduced the length to 4". Boo, hiss.)
 
Since the gun operates perfectly and shoots straight, I would anticipate S&W would tell me it's within spec and I'd just be sending my gun on an expensive air travel adventure. But I have not contacted them about it. I wanted some opinions here first.

Thoughts?
you might contact them and see if they'll send you a prepaid shipping label. They did for me twice, once on a 340 and once on a M28. I paid for repairs on the M28 but they didn't charge me for shipping either way.
 
you might contact them and see if they'll send you a prepaid shipping label. They did for me twice, once on a 340 and once on a M28. I paid for repairs on the M28 but they didn't charge me for shipping either way.
Yeah, I think that may be my best option in the end.
 
Ok, I’m not a Smith guy. What are those model numbers and how hard to put a red dot on?
They are 617s. I use an Allchin mount, which runs about $50. If your Smith is predrilled you take off the rear sight, clean up the tapped holes and attach the mount with provided screws and a little blue loctite. My avatar pic is an older 15-3 that I had drilled and tapped for the same setup. When I had a 686 it had the same setup.
 
Send it to S&W. Even if they don't fix it, they pay the shipping both ways so you have nothing to lose. Start with their website > Customer Service > Contact Us > Send a Message. Fill out the form and describe the problem at the basic level. An administrator is reading it, not a gunsmith. You'll get an email response within a day or two with another form. Fill that out and return it via email. Then you'll get a FedEx shipping label probably the next day or two. Pack it up according to the instructions and take it to a FedEx location with the label. They aren't likely to communicate with you for anything after that. You'll get a notice of the FedEx package coming back -- typically 4 to 6 weeks later, but there are no promises. Hopefully, they will have fixed it. There will be a paper in the box with a brief note of what they did if anything. If they don't fix it, then you're probably best off selling it. If I was faced with the same problem and S&W didn't fix it, I would sell it to Scheels, Bass Pro, Cabelas rather than trying to get top dollar on gunbroker or armslist for something I know isn't worth it.

With the one piece barrel on the traditional 686 series, they'd have to unscrew the barrel from the frame, cut just enough thread on it so that it will clock correctly (so about 358 to 359 degrees), screw it back in, check if it clocks correctly and if not cut threads again until it's right, and once it clocks right, then recut the barrel face and forcing cone. There's a good chance they will just put a new barrel on it. I've had them replace the entire barrel just because of an excess gap to the cylinder. They decide whatever is the best solution.
 
Thanks. I’ve sent another gun to S&W for repairs and am familiar with the process.

There’s no guarantee they will pay any of the shipping if the gun functions properly though. They do on warranty repair.

I won’t sell the gun. It’s too good of a shooter to do so. If it’s too expensive to fix I’ll just live with it as is. Like I said, you really have to look to even notice.
 
Send it to S&W. Even if they don't fix it, they pay the shipping both ways so you have nothing to lose. Start with their website > Customer Service > Contact Us > Send a Message. Fill out the form and describe the problem at the basic level. An administrator is reading it, not a gunsmith. You'll get an email response within a day or two with another form. Fill that out and return it via email. Then you'll get a FedEx shipping label probably the next day or two. Pack it up according to the instructions and take it to a FedEx location with the label. They aren't likely to communicate with you for anything after that. You'll get a notice of the FedEx package coming back -- typically 4 to 6 weeks later, but there are no promises. Hopefully, they will have fixed it. There will be a paper in the box with a brief note of what they did if anything. If they don't fix it, then you're probably best off selling it. If I was faced with the same problem and S&W didn't fix it, I would sell it to Scheels, Bass Pro, Cabelas rather than trying to get top dollar on gunbroker or armslist for something I know isn't worth it.

With the one piece barrel on the traditional 686 series, they'd have to unscrew the barrel from the frame, cut just enough thread on it so that it will clock correctly (so about 358 to 359 degrees), screw it back in, check if it clocks correctly and if not cut threads again until it's right, and once it clocks right, then recut the barrel face and forcing cone. There's a good chance they will just put a new barrel on it. I've had them replace the entire barrel just because of an excess gap to the cylinder. They decide whatever is the best solution.
They had mine 16 weeks FWIW and it took them two tries to get it right. But they got it right. The M28 anyway.

The 340 went from hitting 18" right of POA at 20 yards to hitting 8-12" right, which they said was within spec.
 
My 686+ had a binding issue that they corrected by replacing the crane and extractor, they had it about 3 weeks over the recent Christmas holiday.

Give them a call and send it in, hopefully they'll dial it in correctly.

Stay safe.
 
The Land That Time Forgot is cute. But if you would like someone to recommend a good gunsmith near you, a real location would he’ll.

Kevin
 
The Land That Time Forgot is cute. But if you would like someone to recommend a good gunsmith near you, a real location would he’ll.

Kevin
Well Im not asking for recommendations on a good smith. I’v researched my local options, or rather the lack of them.

I was curious if based on the ask, if the THR community thought a smith would even mess with it, and if so how difficult it would be.

So far I think I’m better off just contacting S&W.
 
I have a 1911 with a slightly canted front sight. It is staked in and not too hard to change. It shoots to point of aim though. Still drives me nuts.

Does your Smith and Wesson look like this?
smith and wesson ocd.jpg
 
Well Im not asking for recommendations on a good smith. I’v researched my local options, or rather the lack of them.

I was curious if based on the ask, if the THR community thought a smith would even mess with it, and if so how difficult it would be.

So far I think I’m better off just contacting S&W.

Sorry, thought you were asking for advice.

Good luck.

Kevin
 
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