I like the sights JJ....the front is now more of a Patridge than the original ramp that came on them. May have to give them a call one day and have one of the 657s done.
R Walter
Maybe the reason that no one has mentioned the 686 MG is that there were not a lot of them made. They are also very pricy when and if they come up for sale. There has been a second edition but it has the IL and I believe the two piece barrel...
As to the differences between Mountain Gun and a standard Magnum...for me it is balance. For whatever reason the combination of slim barrel and rounded butt just comes out of the holster faster for me than a standard Magnum with square butt.
A few years ago I took three guns and tested them on a shot timer...they were all equipped with the same Hogue grips...
657 4"
657 4" MG
357PD 4" AirLite
As said all had Hogue grips, all drawn from the same DeSantis Speed scabbard holster and shooting the same 210 grain Berry's plated bullet with 8.0 grains of Unique/950 fps load.
Five singles, five doubles and five triples were fired from 5 yards at 9" paper plates. A shot (or all shots) had to hit the plate to score the round.
After all the shooting was done, the MG came out just ahead of the others and was the most consistent round to round. Because of its light weight the 357PD would often come in first for the fastest first round fired but splits were slower due to its light weight.
The difference between the two all steel guns would not even be noticed by most shooters and the only way to tell what is best for you and your shooting style is to be able to fairly test them over a period of time.
Bob
