I saw this chunky little beast for sale on the EE a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t resist picking it up—I owned one back in the late 1980s when they first came out and sold it back in the early 1990s. Some of you are probably already familiar with this model but for those that aren’t I’ll give a quick overview—I’ll also quick my first impressions of the VZ grips I added.
First—a little history. This was a special run of revolvers that Smith & Wesson developed for the US Customs Service in the mid/late 1980s to their specifications. In addition to the round-but 3” model I have (intended for plainclothes use) they also made a 4” round butt version, I’ve read that there were approximately 4900 3” models made and 7000 of the 4” ones, including ones intended for the Customs Service and contract over-run examples, like mine. I’ve read that these were manufactured to stricter tolerances than the typical S&W revolvers but I’m not sure if that’s true or wishful thinking.
My frame is stamped both with “CS-1” and “686”, as well as the serial number and the “M”, indicating it’s had the firing pin bushing recall work done.
One of the most obvious differences is that the finish is matte bead-blasted, which was unusual for its time. I prefer it to whatever the normal finish was called at the time, although any scratches can’t be easily buffed out like you can with the normal finish without shining it up.
The other main difference is that the CS-1’s front sight is a pinned all-black serrated ramp instead of the usual machined stainless sight with the red insert. The other difference is that it’s 0.10” wide instead of the usual 0.125”.
The rear is the usual S&W adjustable sight, and it’s also all-black with no white outline.
The sight picture against a lighter background is very nice and clear—the narrower front sight makes a real difference. I’ve thinking against a darker background it might be tougher to pick up the sight.
The hammer is the normal-width version.
and the trigger is the smooth version that (I think) all 686s have.
No lock!
I think that a medium-heavy frame short barreled revolver was likely not the best choice for this revolver’s intended use. It’s heavy and not all that small—I like to say it’s big for its size
. I think that a 3” K-frame like a Model 13 would have been a better choice, or if an L-Frame was truly wanted the fixed-sighted 681 might have been a better starting point. But, this is a fairly rare, fun-to-shoot example of what the 1980s had to offer.Now—on to the grips. The CS-1s were originally issued with Pachmayr Compac grips, and the over-run models came with “Magna” wood grips. Magna grips are, to me, next to useless on anything than maybe a J-Frame, while I like the Compac or Compac Professional grips OK. They are a little small for a revolver this big, and I wanted to try something else.
This revolver came to me with Pachmayr “Gripper” grips which don’t fit my hand at all so they didn’t last. In the past, I’ve used Hogue rubber grips, but their finger grooves aren’t that great for me either, or Ahrends wood grips—I really liked them but the place I used to buy them from doesn’t ship to Canada any more, and I couldn’t find any place that had ones that I wanted.
I’ve used VZ grips on all my 1911 pistols for a few years now and could not be happier with them (well, maybe other than the price!) I’ve owned, I think six different styles for my 1911s but I’ve not tried any of their revolver grips. They make both square and round butt grips—the square but has no finger grooves while all their round-butt ones do. I generally prefer non-grooved grips on revolvers—I’ve never had a set fit me—so I was apprehensive to try these.
These are their “320” grips which means that there is only a slight texture…almost like my youngest child's pet corn snake…but they’re not slippery like other smooth grips. The other available version has checkering which I usually don’t like on a hard grip. Oh right—these are made from G10 and are really hard with no “give” at all.
The grips fit very well—there is a very slight misalignment at the “peak” of a couple of the finger grooves but a quick pass with one of my wife’s emery boards fixed that. The top of the front of the grip is flatter, which I thought might bug me a bit, but it actually feels quite comfortable to me.
These are open-back grips—I like that since with my small hands I need all the help I can get with trigger reach! The fit at the back of the frame is just about perfect.
There’s a nice palm swell, too, that I really like.
So—how is the fit? Well, not bad, actually. The grips are longer than the Compacs, which I think works well for a revolver if this size. They are fairly short front-to-back, too, especially at the top of the grip, which I also like. The finger grooves are better for me than Pachmayrs or Hogues have been, but I still find the bottom one is a smidge too low…maybe 5mm or so. They still fit pretty good, overall—they're "rounder" than Hogue or Pachmayrs.
I’ll have to see how these fare at the range—I will be curious to see how they handle full magnum loads!
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