Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 686 or GP100?

Yes.

On the forcing cones, I’d closely inspect that on either, prior to purchase. Seems to be one of the current potential ‘issues’ in bad QC, on these current revolvers. The machining of them. Look for smoothness with the tip of your pinky. Around the edges and particularly inside circumference of the cone. Some are what you would expect to be ‘normal’ and fine. An equal number, I have found, to be nothing resembling that. Some say to bring a Q-tip, insert it in the cone, drag it out closely against the side and see if any of the cotton hairs hang up. You could do this on the crown of the barrel to. Another thing to look at closely. But what kind of azzwipe carries Q-tips around with him waiting on a revolver inspection? lol.

Your finger can tell you plenty though. If it’s all rough as shcitt around the outside, prob same on the in. Pass.

GP100 for me. If it's a 357 mag, that's what I'm shooting in it.

I like the looks of a Smith, but I’d go with the tank of a Ruger.

LOL

My GP 100 6" is a very, very accurate pistol with 125g Sierra and Hornady XTP's with IMR 4227 and H110. I replaced the front sight with a beade sight and a V Notch rear sight. This combo makes for some very accurate pistol shooting at some distance. I doubt you will ever live long enough to shoot a GP 100 loose from hot loads.

Replace the spring in the grip of the GP 100 and you have one more sweet trigger.

My 686 6" is a really nice gun, but it is not as accurate as my GP100, but the trigger is smoother on double action. The 686 is not as robust as the GP100 in terms of strength. You can do nothing on the 686 Sights.

I have killed 6 coyotes and two Javelina with the GP 100 with the 125's.

If you ever get the chance to get a Ruger Red Hawk in 357, Buy it!

Have both the 686 and the gp100, both are great guns

All this talk of how robust the Ruger is, and it certainly is, but how many have actually seen a L- frame shoot loose?

crickets.........

Out of the 2 offered, I'd go 686 all day long.

"Shooting loose" is not a term I used. But anybody that has any time around an L-frame and a GP-100 will quickly determine that the GP is the tougher of the two.

And you've never shot or used a GP.

So STFU.

686

I haven't even shot the 6" gp100 I recently bought yet but it does have a solid feel to it. I should have kept the 4" gp100 I had in 327fed. It was a good shooting solid gun but I have a single 7 in 327 too and in cull the herd moment decided I didn't need both. A local shop actually has a 4" gp100 7 shot 357 in stock that they said they'd go $750 on. I think I'll look around this week and see if anyone has a 686 like I want locally.

Maybe I'm getting old but I really had almost no interest in 357 for years. I have several 44s and just figured that was where things started as far as revolvers went. I think that starting to cast bullets again and the python being released again has perked my interest. After running a dozen or 2 of hotter 270g gold dot 44 mag loads through my 329 pd this week I realized that type of shooting just isn't fun anymore. I dropped down to a 240g nosler jsp over power pistol at about 1150 fps in the 329pd and it's tolerable but not enjoyable.

The 329 is what I carry the most revolver wise so I like to practice with it but it feels more like work lately than pleasure. I spent last night casting more lee 148g tumble lube wad cutters and thinking how much fun they'll be to just practice with at 38 special speeds in the heavy gp100. I'll get them powder coated and try loading them over about 4.5-5g universal and give them a try in that 6" gp100. They might even make my 360 pd enjoyable to shoot. I think I've grown out of the full power all the time stage.

Bb

If you want an Vee notch rear for the 686 get a sight set from the 329PD. You’ll have to break the windage screw and stake the nut on the new one but that’s just how S&Ws work.

And for the record give me the L frame if that’s our only two choices.

An L frame in 357 is sublime. 125s to 180s, hot to target loads. They are awesome.

The ruger sure won’t fall apart, but the aesthetics and ergonomics never seemed right to me.

Despite deflave’s spurious accusations, I’ve shot a handful of the rugers and just couldn’t love them.
.

The single most accurate handgun I've ever owned was a 4" blued GP100. It would put 6 170 grain Sierra JHCs into a group too small to measure, around 0.2 to 0.25 inch center to center .. had to just estimate from how big a single hole was vs how big the group. It would do it over and over and over again. It was an educational gun .. showed me what I could do from a bench with iron sights, showed me that bigger groups are the gun / ammo, not my eyes or trigger finger.

Today, I'd probably go with a still NIB pre lock x86 (not too likely to find), then a GP-100, then a x86 with the lock in that order. I would have to throw the S&W M27 4" and Dan Wesson in there as well, maybe even a 5.5" barreled Redhawk.

Sorry to hear 'bout your Python's SA pull, I've only shot one and for me they are/were a dream gun. Based on feedback here on the Campfire, I wouldn't buy one of the new ones.

Tom I wouldn't let the ol' campfire naysayers run ya' off one. I have a new Python and Anaconda, and the trigger pulls on both are more than acceptable.

You can't shoot double action worth a damn anyway.

Where the 357mag cartridge comes into it's own for me is well packing into the back country. Savings on weight and bulk can be a boon depending on intent. Yet there's still enough power in select loads. Usually, again depending intent.

? What’s so funny about a shoddily machined forcing cone? Never seen one?

I put down the 4” I wanted and bought a 3”, because I could pick at the burrs on the inside of the cone on the 4” with my pinky nail.

That job is K frame country in my opinion. I occasionally pack my old M19 6" for scouting deer sign, mushroom hunting, hiking, ect. We have a lot of hogs, a few bears and the occasional mountain lion in my neck of the woods. 158 gr. XTP's at around 1300 fps are accurate.