#686

Smith and Wesson make fantastic production revolvers but when they apply their Performance Center treatment, with custom features, a revolver becomes something even more special.

The Smith & Wesson Performance Center turns out some great shooting revolvers. I’ve had the chance to shoot a few Performance Center guns, and I’ve been impressed by them. Smith & Wesson recently announced the Performance Center is now turning out two new guns: the 686 and 686 Plus.

Many pistol shooters of my generation grew up in a world with a wide variety of fantastic black plastic handguns that are as durable as a tank, have triggers ranging from “decent” to “awful”, run below six notes in price, and are uniformly ugly as sin. These are very practical weapons for self-defense, but for a lot of people they bring pistol shooting closer to a chore than recreation. For a while now, I’ve been looking for a handgun that could come with me on Pistol Day and add a little more fun to the experience, and maybe a touch of class, too. Unlike Alex C, I’m not made of money, and I couldn’t just go out and buy a Manhurin or a Python and be done with it, so instead I went looking for Smiths. Recently, I found one that I wanted at the right price: A “no dash” Model 686 in .357 Magnum, made in 1983.