S&W 686 vs Ruger GP100(KPG-161)
- Thread starter Vladivar
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And the forged Smith costs much more and both breaks and comes out of time much, much often with heavy use. What is "heavy" use for a smith? A few 100 rounds a month for a couple years of standard gun shop bought .357Mag loads will do it. Ask my father, and my uncle who have to take their guns in every 3rd summer. His old 4" Ruger GP he bought in 85' gets shot ALMOST just as much as has been going 100% for longer then I have been alive.
The STOCK trigger on a smith is better, but the Ruger one is NOT bad...and can both be touch up and improved with time as well as you "learning" it. Triggers are one of the simplest and easiest and cheapest things to change on a gun. You can get the Ruger, get a nice trigger job done to it and buy a few boxes of ammo for the price of the smith alone.
I find the triggers different more then better or worse it depends on what you like or are used to.
The Ruger double action is more staged then the Smith and both have, or can be made to have, nice nice single action pulls.
Most people like the smoother double action pull on the Smith's but I've gotten used to the Ruger stages and for the most part #### the hammer and shoot single action anyways.
The Ruger double action is more staged then the Smith and both have, or can be made to have, nice nice single action pulls.
Most people like the smoother double action pull on the Smith's but I've gotten used to the Ruger stages and for the most part #### the hammer and shoot single action anyways.
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Is this why their are so many more S&W`S compared to Rugers ? Is this why so many more S&W`S are still being used as service duty revolvers ? Please do not post such nonsense in the future thank you.
I can understand some what the noise regarding strength of pistols favoring the Ruger.
If you are talking .44 mag or even smith 19/66 vs GP
However when comparing the 586 or the 686 these pistols have a long enough history now with heavy loads over many years that if there was any weakness it would be well known.
I myself have shot many thousands of rounds in my 586 and a few thousand in my 7 shot 686 of the heavy variety as only recently have I discovered that the .38 spec dose what I need to get done. (slow learner)
Other than the trigger getting smoother these pistols are like new.
Jody
If you are talking .44 mag or even smith 19/66 vs GP
However when comparing the 586 or the 686 these pistols have a long enough history now with heavy loads over many years that if there was any weakness it would be well known.
I myself have shot many thousands of rounds in my 586 and a few thousand in my 7 shot 686 of the heavy variety as only recently have I discovered that the .38 spec dose what I need to get done. (slow learner)
Other than the trigger getting smoother these pistols are like new.
Jody
Smith and Wesson has over 100 different revolver makes/models and have been doing it for longer...as in over 100 years. So no #### they are more common. Their most common guns are mostly their older ones, like the Model 10 that is in .38Spl and is by no means a boomer round, so of course those guns run well and have little issues. The issue once again with Smiths is HEAVY use with anything in .357Mag or bigger. Even the big double locked .500S&W has issue, just read about anyone who shoots theirs a lot.
Please understand common facts Chris Marchetti before you try to post something smart.
They are NOT bad guns by any means but they will need work if they are gonna receive HEAVY use. Its common fact, talk to anyone who competes who has to get their gun rebuilt all the time or the gun smiths who do it. This is Canada...people post on here that they have been waiting for gun smiths to fix their guns/do work for YEARS. Its not gonna be a fast process by ANY means do have your gun fixed here and warranty work is poor and slow at best for 99% of gun companies up north. That is something REAL to consider if your getting a Smith and plan to be a high volume shooter.
Besides if you ARE a high volume revolver shooter it shouldn't matter what wheel gun is in your hands, after 10,000s of rounds, you should be a good shot with any one. "Saying I suck with ___________ revolver cause the trigger sucks" is a cop out...YOU suck, not the gun.
If your getting a revolver and NOT gonna use it a lot why are you spending the money on a Smith? Why are you even gonna get a .357Mag? Get a cheap .22 wheel gun for that.
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Most shooters are lucky to put a few 100 rounds down range a year...many shooters buy a gun and "only put one box through it". Our EE is proof of that. Many people have own guns for years and cannot hit #### with them...proof once again they are not giving it heavy use. Own something is not proof of how good it is. USING it is.
My father is a die hard Smith fan but knows with heavy use its getting rebuilt, he doesn't care about it....if people look back at some of my threads/posts I used to have a Smith and Wesson 29-2...only with a 6" barrel not the 6.5". LOVED the trigger but the gun was not holding up to a steady diet of FACTORY .44Mag loads. I sold it.
You spend a lot of money on you "pretty" gun to take pictures with in the mirror, I get it...defend it so you don't feel silly. Same type of folk who just cannot fathom a shooter with a Savage Axis or a Norc pistol can out shoot your "customs" worth 5x as much. 
Cost, looks and name brand aren't everything folks!!!
Cost, looks and name brand aren't everything folks!!!
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Maybe you should be the one to understand common facts before trying to post something smart jeffcar88. Just because you have read something on the internet does not mean it is true. I have plenty of S&W revolvers 686 `S and so on. I have shot many thousands of full house jacketed in my 686`S in the last 2 years no problems. Your comments this morning are very entertaining have yourself a good day sir !
"...pros/cons of either gun..." The only thing to consider is which one fits your hand best. The Ruger will fit smaller hands far better than any Smith.
"...Cast (ruger) vs. forged..." Irrelevant Internet nonsense. The Ruger is much stronger than any Smith.
"...when it comes to triggers..." It makes no difference. Both will need a trigger job. All commercial firearms require a trigger job due to frivolous U.S. law suits. Doing one on a GP is far easier than on any Smith. Smiths require a special tool(buy it from Brownell's at about $20US or make it) to get the rebound slide and spring out. No such part in a Ruger.
"...Cast (ruger) vs. forged..." Irrelevant Internet nonsense. The Ruger is much stronger than any Smith.
"...when it comes to triggers..." It makes no difference. Both will need a trigger job. All commercial firearms require a trigger job due to frivolous U.S. law suits. Doing one on a GP is far easier than on any Smith. Smiths require a special tool(buy it from Brownell's at about $20US or make it) to get the rebound slide and spring out. No such part in a Ruger.
coldestcanuck
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Sorry jeff. I gotta call you on the "Smiths can't handle the full load crap" Don't know one person with a 686 that has ever had any kind of timing problem after thousands of full hit loads. Model 66 or airweights, different story. smiths do a lot more work on smiths because there are a lot more smiths out there and a lot more Smith shooters that want custom trigger jobs etc. And because there are so many Smiths being shot so much more than Ruger or Colt for that matter. there is bound to be more of them on the list for maintenance. I like my Ruger but, I love my Smiths.
Your comment about crappy accuracy shooter/gun is true. BUT, same shooter -- different guns-- I shoot way more accurately with my Smith than I can with my GP 100.
If your Dad has consistent problems with his 686, he might want to get a second gunsmiths opinion.--Just sayin'
coldestcanuck
CGN frequent flyer
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What tool? nice to have but definitely not required on S&W's built at least into the 90's
If you look at my posts you will see I collect and shoot (with my wife IPSC and ICORE) predominantly revolvers and some pistols. Without making this personal, through my observations at matches and practices, my coleques shoot various calibres but the revolver of choice is the S&W by far. And I do shoot and compete with all of my revolvers, life is too short not to. Yap from Pythons, M27, Officer Match to 686. My wife only shoots 686 4.2" in the open class with only a set of lighter springs and little bit of polish. After thousands of rounds, not a single issue, knock on wood!
Guys...a few 1,000 rounds over a few years does NOT make you a heavy shooter. I am talking 750 - 1,250 rounds or so rounds a MONTH, so after 2-3 years that a lot of lead down range. Hand loading ammo to factory specs so by no means is it "hot" ammo.
May sound extremely expensive and its not, not with hand loading. Add to this that we are not a family with coffee (timmies runs) or smoking addictions and drinking is an odd occurrence, not a case a weekend thing. As well as no paid TV serives or home phone...we download anything we want to watch and have cell phones with voice mail. This frees up $100s of dollars and lots of time to put to other activities.
May sound extremely expensive and its not, not with hand loading. Add to this that we are not a family with coffee (timmies runs) or smoking addictions and drinking is an odd occurrence, not a case a weekend thing. As well as no paid TV serives or home phone...we download anything we want to watch and have cell phones with voice mail. This frees up $100s of dollars and lots of time to put to other activities.
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Not many will wear out guns in their lifetime and if they do a replacement gun should get most of us through to the end!
For sure if you mange to shoot a Smith to death in a few years by all means try a Ruger for the next piece....
For sure if you mange to shoot a Smith to death in a few years by all means try a Ruger for the next piece....
You just have no idea when to shut up do you? As I stated before whenever someone like you puts out posts like this it is always someone elses gun and never there own. If someone out there reads your posts and does not know better they might beleive you and that will end up being a sorry day for them won't it? You like to quote things that you have read well here are some documented things for you to consider.
I own 14 Smith & Wesson 357 Revolvers of which 9 of them are in the K&L frame type. For you that means that all but two of them are either 586's or 686's. The difference between a 586 and a 686 is that the 586 is a blued gun and the 686 is a stainless steel gun. These are the facts you can check them out if you like but I figure if you read it you will consider it to be true. The other two are a model 19 and a model 66 which are both K frames.
I shoot a lot and all my range sessions are documents in books and can be verified if it was nessecary to do this. I will go back three years, In 2010 I shot just over 38,500 rounds. In 2011 I shot just over 40,200 rounds and in 2012 I shot just over 38,700 rounds. Now in no way does this make me an expert I am just listing some facts for that can be verified if they need to be.
Out of these numbers more then 75% were shot with my revolvers and out of that 75% more then 45% was 357 ammo so in round numbers that means that out of that it means that I have shot in the last three years I have shot somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 rounds through these guns and that is only in the last three years and I can go back 10 to 15 years if nessacary if needed.
I have not had to send one of my S&W revolvers back to any gunsmith for any reason. Not one of my 357 models, not one of my 10 mm models, not one of my 41 mag models, not one of my 44 mag models, not one of my 460 models and not one of my 500S&W models has ever gone back to a gunsmith. How do you explain this? Am I just lucky or what?
Quit will you ahead and stop spouting off about something that you obiously know nothing about. You are like everyone else who goes on like this, you only know what you have read. I have listed facts, so untill you do a little shooting young fellow maybe you should stick to something you know something about.
Have a great day.
Graydog
