S&W 686 CS-1

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gbw

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I have one of these, 4", that I've had several years. Nice gun but I seldom shoot it, I have other Smith revolvers. Mint condition with box and tools, SN AYF9xxx, 'M' stamp. Are these valuable? I know at one time they were southt after but I also know times change. Thanks,
 
The CS1 was a 686 built for the US Customs Service. USCS bought them in 3" and 4". Nothing special was done to them other than the marking. They probably bring a premium over a "standard" 686 but don't know how much. Maybe check on the S&W forum.

Customs used to sell retired and seized guns to ffls. This stopped when someone who had bought a CS1 used it to commit suicide about a year after he bought it. Some reporter got wind of this and wrote it up as "US Customs provides gun for suicide". USCS started destroying guns after that rather than surplusing them to avoid bad publicity.
 
CS-1s in 3 inch form go for $1000 to $1200 or more if you have the original box and contents are with it.

Yes... wow. And yep I got a 3 incher maybe 20 years ago. Didn't have a clue of what it was till I saw it mentioned here in this forum.

Dead
 
The CS-1 was the brainchild of the then Commissioner of Customs, Von Rab's assistant who wanted to arm their inspectors. He actually gave S & W the specs. for the b/c gap of .002", and S & W told them the guns would not work - never mind, just build them. Well they all had to go back to S & W at least once, and many twice. They were about as useful to an inspector or agent as a boat anchor due to their weight. The inspectors got the 4", and the agents got the 3". Don't get me wrong, these are some of the finest revolvers S & W has built in the past 3 decades if you ask me. If I ever find a good one at a fair price I will buy it.
 
The CS-1 was the brainchild of the then Commissioner of Customs, Von Rab's assistant who wanted to arm their inspectors. He actually gave S & W the specs. for the b/c gap of .002", and S & W told them the guns would not work - never mind, just build them. Well they all had to go back to S & W at least once, and many twice. They were about as useful to an inspector or agent as a boat anchor due to their weight. The inspectors got the 4", and the agents got the 3". Don't get me wrong, these are some of the finest revolvers S & W has built in the past 3 decades if you ask me. If I ever find a good one at a fair price I will buy it.

You know, the FBI did the same thing designing their own gun even though S&W objected. As a result the FBI's 10mm, the 1076, didn't work!

There is a lesson in that somewhere!

Deaf
 
All the M stamp signifies is the modification has been done on the M686-1. The M686-2 is the same revolver with the modification already done. I think the revolvers were locking up so they replaced the hammer nose, firing pin bushing and a few other related parts.
 
If memory serves me I believe there were some issues with the first batch of 686's. If dropped they could fire. Smith recalled them and once checked they put the "M" stamp on the gun as a way of showing the gun had be checked and was cleared as "safe". If you look you often see the "M" is not aligned with the model # indicating it was not on the gun when it originally left Smith.
 
I had a mint 3" CS-1 in box I sold on gun broker a few years ago for $1300.
Most of the US Customs revolvers were ordered destroyed by then Attorney General Janet Reno. They are rare, extremely well made and have a cool matt frosted finish.
If you have one I'd keep it, and if you're going to sell it, Make sure you get good money for it.
BTW, like most S&W revolvers, the 3" brings more $$ than the 4"
 
The M stamp refers to a replacement firing pin and bushing, and means Modified. Guns without the modification could have the primer flow back around the firing pin and lock up the gun. This was a retrofit ( M stamp on 686 & 686-1 ) and as a new build model (686 -2) introduced in 1987.
CS-1 was a customer designation, Custom Service-1, based on the 686 -2, manufactured in 1988.
 
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