S&W 696 - Action work by "T"/Teddy Jacobson

[200Apples]

I purchased this excellent Model 696-1 from one of our colleagues here on THR. For those unaware, this is a 3"-barreled L-frame, 5-shot .44 Special made for a few years beginning in 2007. This gun went from the seller's FFL on the east coast to an FFL/gunsmith in Texas for work including a temporary conversion to single-action only for legal importation to a California FFL. Long story short, since this revolver is no longer on the CA DOJ "Safe" Guns Roster it can only be transferred to a CA resident as SAO. And, regardless of which "off-roster" wheelgun it is, it also cannot have a barrel shorter than three inches, and the overall length cannot be shorter than 7.5". We just made it. (For the record, current production, "on-roster" snubnose revolvers of any size are available to the public here, as long as the manufacturer play$ ball with the CA DOJ)

Work performed included a complete action job for a fee, a clean and lube at n/c, texturing of internal frame and plate (to better retain lubricant) at n/c, installation of Wolff power rib main and trigger return springs and an Allen-type strain screw, jewelling front and rear of the cylinder at n/c, a subtle, 45-degree cut of the crown, polishing the barrel bore, jewelling muzzle, a contour, polish and reblue of the trigger, correction of some slight end shake, and the jewelling of many internal parts at no additional cost... I am very pleased to have had Mr. Jacobson's hand in improving this firearm. The man is not only an artist but a saint, tending mostly to law enforcement pistols. He's located in Sugar Land, Texas. Thanks also goes to John Taffin for the nod to Actions by "T".

Even before work but after initial examination, gunsmith Teddy Jacobson had high praise for both the model and the near-mint condition of this particular piece. The price of the gun seemed fair to both parties and I am certainly grateful to the gentleman from whom I purchased this great wheelgun for a near-seamless and honest transaction. Thank you, again, sir.

These photos were taken at my FFL when filing the paperwork to begin the 10-day wait. The earliest opportunity for range work with this gun will be in two weeks' time. I will report back then. Thanks for looking.

 

[CraigC]

Very cool, a prize to be sure!

 

[gotboostvr]

Those grips are a perfect choice.
I really like Combats on 3-4" L&N frames.
And Altamont makes some durable, good looking functional grips.

 

[bannockburn]

200Apples

Wow, that's one super sweet .44 Special! One great package with the 3" barrel, those awesome looking grips, and all of the work done to it! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Paladin7]

That is one beautiful revolver. I have one as well a S&W 696 no dash and love it. I've also had Teddy do an action job on my S&W Model 60 and can absolutely vouch for the quality of his work and his integrity. He is a master at action work. He never cuts springs. His actions are masterful.

Really glad you posted this, all the best to you!

 

[BSA1]

Long story short, since this revolver is no longer on the CA DOJ "Safe" Guns Roster it can only be transferred to a CA resident as SAO

So the gun has been modified to fire single action only?

 

[200Apples]

Modified to SAO, strictly for transfer. Once the transfer is complete...

 

[Drail]

Don't EVER even think about selling that revolver. A 696 tuned by Teddy? That's about as good as it gets. I love the gnarly wood too. I have a 696 no dash that I tuned bought and back in 1996 when they first hit the shelves and it is the perfect carry gun. There was something about those 1996 models - they were very smooth out of the box. And they just get better..... The later models were not quite as good IMO.

 

[200Apples]

Once the transfer is complete...

Just arrived home from the distant FFL and I installed the DA sear. I'm wearing the gun now, in an El Paso Saddlery tan-colored pancake holster on my 3:15 o'clock. I haven't built any hollerpoint loads for it yet so right now it has five 240-gr Berry's plated in Starline brass. A local, commercial ammunition manufacturer/reloader makes this. They claim a 960 fps speed.

I'm recovering from a flu and did not take pictures of the action under the sideplate... but it is beautiful... and the DA trigger pull is dreamy. Thanks again, Teddy Jacobson and Bob Lewis.

 

[Drail]

Forget about hollerpoints. Use what Keith found out really works. Big heavy SWCs. 960 fps. is just a bit hotter than I load mine but it'll do just fine. 900 fps is just about all the speed you need to try to achieve from 3 in. barrel. Keep a close eye on that forcing cone - it is very thin and if you use enough light weight high velocity loads you will erode it away. With slower heavy bullet loads that will not happen. I have seen a few 696s that guys beat to death with light fast loads. I would strongly advise to stay above 200 to 215 grains. S&W ran out of 696 barrels years ago and have stated they will not be making any more. I have shot enough pins and steel over the years with big bore revolvers and have observed the effects of big heavy slow bullets. Pins will get knocked way back off of the table and poppers get slammed down hard and fast. Keith did all of the testing for us and found out what works the best. My 696s DA pull is also dreamy and it didn't take very much work to get it that way. S&W did a fantastic job on these guns and they will never be this good again. I hope you kick the flu quickly. Good luck.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Very sweet man. Congrats and enjoy.

 

[200Apples]

Forget about hollerpoints. Use what Keith found out really works. Big heavy SWCs. 960 fps. is just a bit hotter than I load mine but it'll do just fine. 900 fps is just about all the speed you need to try to achieve from 3 in. barrel.

We've chatted about this before... and thank you again for your perspective. They probably used a longer barrel when arriving at that velocity figure. I was going to try both a 200 gr Hornady jhp and a lswc. I'm all for a Keith semiwadcutter... but have I seen many .44s offered in 215 grains? I'll go look again.
What do you use?

 

[Drail]

I stumbled across some 215 gr. SWC bullets some years ago and experimented with handloading them over Unique powder. I was very impressed with their performance and they give a little less recoil from a 3 in. revolver. I am running them at just a hair under 900 fps. They are probably the best compromise for this caliber in this gun and have become my daily carry load. But the 240 gr. Keith style bullet is also a great choice as long you don't try to make a "magnum" load out of it and run it in a 696. It may take a while to get there but it still has all of its mass when it does.

 

[200Apples]

I'd like to measure the chamber throats and slug the bore on this gun, but until then I see a .430 Dardas 230 gr and a .431 Oregon Trail 240 grain. 900 is as fast as I need to go with this gun (and considering the thin cone).

 

[Drail]

That should be just perfect and will stomp anything you encounter that needs stomping. A 240 gr.@900 from this gun will be sort of invigorating to your hand but not really too bad. My throats were well in spec and I get no leading from good hard cast slugs. The rifling is just totally weird - it's almost polygonal - I think that was the first year S&W did that (1996). The corners of the grooves are definitely not at 90 degrees. Several writers have claimed that the rifling does not give good accuracy with cast slugs but I haven't seen any problem in that department. The 696 was one of the best ideas I have ever seen come from S&W. Too bad about the cartridge though - it just doesn't get enough love..... I think you will really like that revolver. I have never seen one that Ted J. tuned but I know it will be slick and totally reliable. That wood is gorgeous.

 

[RealGun]

B

Forget about hollerpoints. Use what Keith found out really works. Big heavy SWCs. 960 fps. is just a bit hotter than I load mine but it'll do just fine. 900 fps is just about all the speed you need to try to achieve from 3 in. barrel. Keep a close eye on that forcing cone - it is very thin and if you use enough light weight high velocity loads you will erode it away. With slower heavy bullet loads that will not happen. I have seen a few 696s that guys beat to death with light fast loads. I would strongly advise to stay above 200 to 215 grains. S&W ran out of 696 barrels years ago and have stated they will not be making any more. I have shot enough pins and steel over the years with big bore revolvers and have observed the effects of big heavy slow bullets. Pins will get knocked way back off of the table and poppers get slammed down hard and fast. Keith did all of the testing for us and found out what works the best. My 696s DA pull is also dreamy and it didn't take very much work to get it that way. S&W did a fantastic job on these guns and they will never be this good again. I hope you kick the flu quickly. Good luck.

Bullet weight will depend on POI. I use 200 grain with the 696 and the Taurus 441. I would save the 240s for the 44 Magnum. This is not a Blackhawk.

 

[200Apples]

I haven't built any hollerpoint loads for it yet so right now it has five 240-gr [copper-] plated in Starline brass. A local, commercial ammunition manufacturer/reloader makes this. They claim a 960 fps speed. [Edit: They claim 850 fps]

Forget about hollerpoints. Use what Keith found out really works. Big heavy SWCs. 960 fps. is just a bit hotter than I load mine but it'll do just fine. 900 fps is just about all the speed you need to try to achieve from 3 in. barrel. Keep a close eye on that forcing cone - it is very thin and if you use enough light weight high velocity loads you will erode it away.

I was mistaken. See my edit above.

I will follow the good advice given here by both Drail and Real Gun; that is to use bullets between 200 and 240 grain, and certainly not loaded to near-magnum speeds.

 

[Drail]

While I completely agree with RealGun regarding point of aim/point of impact with different loads I think that at average combat distances it will not make that much difference - you should get a hit either just above his belt buckle if the shot prints below the sights or below his chin if they print high - either of which should immediately get his attention. And you are absolutely right - this is not a Blackhawk and I did not mean to infer that it is. But a 240 gr. slug at even 850 to 900 fps. is a fairly potent load in my experience and places little strain on a DA revolver like a S&W L frame - though I would not run a steady diet of those. I fired a lot of them into rows of 1 gal. water jugs and they always completely destroyed the first jug and came to rest in the fourth. The 200 gr. loads seemed to make a bigger splash but still gave good penetration. Most guys seem to be convinced that if you're not throwing say, a .357 load at <1200 fps. you are just wasting your time. I don't happen to think that is true. All of the testing done to develop the .45 ACP indicated that a 200 gr. slug at 900 fps. was sufficient to drop an enemy cavalryman's horse reliably - and that's pretty close to what a sensible .44 Spl. load can produce without beating up the gun - or your wrist.

 

[RealGun]

While I completely agree with RealGun regarding point of aim/point of impact with different loads I think that at average combat distances it will not make that much difference - you should get a hit either just above his belt buckle if the shot prints below the sights or below his chin if they print high - either of which should immediately get his attention. And you are absolutely right - this is not a Blackhawk and I did not mean to infer that it is. But a 240 gr. slug at even 850 to 900 fps. is a fairly potent load in my experience and places little strain on a DA revolver like a S&W L frame - though I would not run a steady diet of those. I fired a lot of them into rows of 1 gal. water jugs and they always completely destroyed the first jug and came to rest in the fourth. The 200 gr. loads seemed to make a bigger splash but still gave good penetration. Most guys seem to be convinced that if you're not throwing say, a .357 load at <1200 fps. you are just wasting your time. I don't happen to think that is true. All of the testing done to develop the .45 ACP indicated that a 200 gr. slug at 900 fps. was sufficient to drop an enemy cavalryman's horse reliably - and that's pretty close to what a sensible .44 Spl. load can produce without beating up the gun - or your wrist.

My only experience with using lighter bullets to change POA was at 50 feet with 45 Colt in my El Patron, that was shooting high, already at 6 o'clock hold, which I understand is pretty common with "cowboy", SAA type guns. Dropping from 250 to 200 made a real difference for that gun. Of course, I wouldn't count on much at closer, "combat" distances. The load went from 5.8 Trailboss/250 gr to 6.2 Trailboss/200 gr.