This belonged to mt BIL who died of brain cancer a couple of months ago. His oldest wants to get it fixed but with what the factory wants to charge and shipping both ways it will cost him over a hundred bucks. What say you all.

What's wrong with it, just the barrel off, or is there more?

Some gangsters shoot them that way...

Barrel will unscrew. He found it this way in his dad's safe.

The rare left-handed gangsta special...

The barrel is loose? Just check with a local smith to reset the barrel.

Sad part is I no longer know where to find one. The good one from years ago are long gone.

Without knowing how the barrel ended up like that I'd want the factory to fix it.

$100 is a cheap fix for getting it done right.

+1

What model and dash number is it (can be found on the yoke inside the crane). How does the forcing cone look?

It is a 868 but don’t have it here or know the model number. BIL was not a gun guy and just shot and cleaned it. The barrel was about ten degrees off when I saw it but will unscrew without any effort.

Have a 686 Scott. 868 never heard of that one.

A pre-lock 686 with a loose barrel is worth looking to fix especially if it's a -4 or earlier. There is still a factory modification in effect for the no dash and dash one versions for the hammer and bushing that could possibly be done at the same time. Looking hard at the picture, it looks like the piece that supports the forward end of the cylinder is discolored and bent. Is that an illusion or is there also a problem there?

Yeah, that appears to be a 686, Scott. A C note or so, would be money well spent putting that six shooter back in action.

Just an illusion. I will look it over again next week when I go see my nephew again and get the SN and dash number.

It may have to wait. My nephew is just out of school and working his tail off to support his mom and his four siblings. It will get fixed but it just may take a while. I should get a fair sized settlement from the VA some time next year and a hundred could go to getting it to the factory and back.

You might take it to Rich's Guns in Donald, Oregon, they're well regarded locally for their gunsmithing. I've never used them but have been in the store many times; good people and an interesting store.

Got to wonder what happened to that one. To me, it would be $100 well spent getting the factory to put it back right.

A friend of mine was the contractor that did his addition. I did not know he did smithing. I will check it out, thanks.

Scott I have been in the store and they have a full set up for gun smithing. The extension was for their shooting range. Cheers NC

You would be much much better off sending that gun back to Smith, and knowing it will more likely than not be fixed to factory standards, than letting an unknown person work on it. For $100. That is a no brainer to me.

I agree but this family lost 100% of it's income when their dad died. The oldest is trying to support his mom and four siblings. The hundred bucks will have to wait a while.

Understood ..... I'd just discourage him - under these circumstances - from being "penny wise and pound foolish" when it comes to getting it fixed. The gun has and will retain it's value only if it's repaired correctly.

I agree and may cover the cost myself.

Well, that would certainly be generous of you and I'd like to think he would most assuredly appreciate it.

We are pretty close and I am sure he would do the same.

I'll put $20 myself towards getting it fixed for him.

Thanks for the offer but I got it covered.

There is no dash. SN AUD20**

I'll guess that the birthday on this one is 1986 and as such it would be a real late no dash as S&W went to the dash 1 in that same year. Great pistol worth resurrecting. Good on you for taking the lead and helping your nephew with this project.
Kindest Regards

Thank you for the help.

Scott, you are a good man. Down the road this young man will be very thankful for you generosity in taking care of this fine handgun.

Thank you but I really don't see myself as doing anything 99% of the members of the Fire would not do.

As far as I am concerned, S&W should pay postage and fix it free no matter how old the gun is. I would call them and discuss it. They have done wonders for me.

That is part of my plan for next week.

Damn.
Here I sit, 50 years old, fat and happy. I still have both my parents and all three siblings. At 21 (and every year since for that matter) the only person I've had to take care of was me. I think I can speak for many members here when I say please pass along to your nephew my admiration and respect for stepping up and supporting his family.

I know firstcoues already offered and you declined, but I would drop a $20 Bill in the mail in a heartbeat if you change your mind.

Thank you for the offer but he and I have chatted and I have it covered.

I will pass on your comments.

THIS,

It's either unscrewed because someone un-screwed it (best case scenario), or it's unscrewed because it was improperly torqued (not a bad scenario), or it's unscrewed because someone at the factory set the shoulder back too far and it can't be properly torqued. In which case it either needs a new barrel (best solution) or a shim on the existing barrel (which works just fine, but people always turn their nose up at such a solution). If the proper barrel isn't available the shim solution will work and work just fine. But if you watch for a while, I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a barrel in about a month of looking.

If the factory says they can fix it for $100.00, I'd go for it. Unless their fix is a shim, at which it really shouldn't cost more than $50.00 if you ask me.

I am sure nobody unscrewed it. It was taken out of the safe, shot, cleaned, them put back in the safe for next time. I do not believe it was property torqued at the factory.

We will let the factory fix it. Thanks for the input.