Swapping out a 7 shot cylinder for a 6 shot on a 686

Melnibonean

Melnibonean

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Need a new ejector for my 686 plus (the 7 shot model) and they're back ordered until who knows when.

Local smith I spoke to thought it might be possible to simply swap the 7 shot for a 6 shot, as they are available and come complete with an ejector (naturally).

While this would result in a slightly narrower profile, would the cylinder holes line up with the forcing cone perfectly, or would they be "off"? I'm guessing that they would line up, as I don't think S&W makes different 686 frames for the "plus" and the "regular; and, the increased metal between chambers in the 6 shot should compensate for the thinner chamber walls that's found on the 7 shot, so that it would line up.

But I have no idea and don't want to spend money needlessly or worse, take a risk with the projectile NOT going through the forcing cone and out if I were to put the 6 shooter in.

Thoughts?
 
I'm under the impression that the cylinders are interchangeable, but you may have to change out some other parts as well. I've thought about switching my 6 shot cylinder out for a 7 shot, to make steel challenge a little easier. That's about as far as I got though, lol
 
I briefly read on the S&W forums about one guy going that. He bought the cylinder and internal parts and had a smith fine tune the timing. Prob cheaper to buy a new revolver.
 
Trinimon said:
I briefly read on the S&W forums about one guy going that. He bought the cylinder and internal parts and had a smith fine tune the timing. Prob cheaper to buy a new revolver.
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Yeah. Selling the old and getting something new is likely a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle than doing the swap.
 
It should fit? I don't think there are different L-frames with different cylinder windows. You might need another pawl and yoke for the timing and end shake, though. You might as well fit an oversized cylinder stop while you're at it.

Brownells doesn't have an ejector rod?
 
Agent Law said:
It should fit? I don't think there are different L-frames with different cylinder windows. You might need another pawl and yoke for the timing and end shake, though. You might as well fit an oversized cylinder stop while you're at it.

Brownells doesn't have an ejector rod?
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Not that I saw. I found it on Midway, but it's backordered and overdue to be restocked.
 
you can put the cylinder in , but unless you redo the guts, it will not work, and then time it.
If you have both , just wait to get the parts, did you try M.C. for parts , and what is wrong with the old one?
 
marshall said:
you can put the cylinder in , but unless you redo the guts, it will not work, and then time it.
If you have both , just wait to get the parts, did you try M.C. for parts , and what is wrong with the old one?
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MC doesn't have it in stock. I suspect they too are waiting

All I need is the ejector, as one of the "teeth" on my original is bent out of wack and will not allow it to mate up properly with the frame. The idea of simply swapping out the cylinder for a 6 shot variety was suggested to me, as the 6 shot cylinders are readily available and come with an ejector already
 
Draw a circle and space it out for a 7 cylinder spacing as on your gun. Draw the same circle and space it out for 6. Just spit balling here but there's no room in my 6 cylinder for a 7th given the wall thickness between chambers, so the radius has to be different to make room between 6 and 7. Can you buy a cylinder with a 7 shot radius and fill it with 6? Okay, now you have to time it for six.
 
Can you not blacksmith the bent end back into shape so it will work, you are talking about the star?, I am a bit thick tonight, coffee time.
 
I would thing the timing would be way out. the degree of rotation between the two is different to line up the barrel. so with out changing all the parts it shouldn't work.
 
wce323078 said:
I would thing the timing would be way out. the degree of rotation between the two is different to line up the barrel. so with out changing all the parts it shouldn't work.
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It wouldn't be wayyy out, but new Smiths seem to be fit pretty loose (my factory pawl was .005" narrower than the one I fitted, for example), so if you're lucky, you don't have to change anything except the cylinder assembly. Else you have to fit a new pawl, but that's about it. But if you're going to fit a new pawl, you might as well fit a cylinder stop, since the factory one is a sloppy MIM piece of ####. The degree of rotation is dictated by the ratchet on the ejector star.
 
Forgot about this thread until today when I had both at the range. It turns out they can easily be swapped. Timing and alignment were very close. So close I couldn’t tell a difference with the naked eye anyway.
 
MuthaFunk said:
Forgot about this thread until today when I had both at the range. It turns out they can easily be swapped. Timing and alignment were very close. So close I couldn’t tell a difference with the naked eye anyway.
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I wouldn't want to be standing beside you on the firing line if you fired that pistol.

Years ago, a co-worker and I were shooting our duty S&W's at the range. The revolver he was shooting had it's timing out by just a fraction of an inch.

We were shooting +P .38 Special 158 gr. SP/SWC's.

He was standing to my left, and every time he fired I got a painful splash of lead on the left side of my face.

I could see it being an issue if I hadn't been wearing safety glasses and it had hit me in the eye.

FWIW, I've heard of fingers being severed by lead spray from poorly timed pistols, when the shooter had the fingers of their weak hand extending beside the cylinder gap.
 
Well, this might be a moot point because Midway just got a shipment in, and I'll be ordering a new extractor from them. $40 or so with the shipping.

At least we now know that it can be done, in theory. I'm going to send an email to S&W and ask them directly about this, for future reference. I'll post their reply here
 
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