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I'm struggling with what I'm looking at with your photo and the photos from others of the star. And, I struggled even more trying to get a decent picture of my 686+. When I look at mine, the star looks like the cuts in the star are far from perfect/symmetrical. But, when I slowly rotate the cylinder, they look much more alike than I thought from looking at the "still" view. I suppose I should just quit reading this thread, since I've always been 100% satisfied with my pistol. LOL I have had this pistol a long time, but it has probably seen less than 3K rounds in its lifetime. Only about 25% of those were .357 Mag, the rest .38 Special.

I'll attach my best crappy picture. If you can educate me further, please feel free to try. I've gotta go hang a treestand for an older buddy, so I won't be able to respond until this evening. Thanks.

View attachment 1072649
@Bobbygun , yeah, when blown up that's a crappy picture. But it looks to me like your extractor star isn't cut like the one @boattail and I have shown. Does that gun have a small pin in the cylinder with a hole in the star that keeps everything lined up? Or are the tips of the star cut at alternating angles, like very well shown in @boattail 's pics in post #19?

Like I mentioned, the 686+ I had is one of the very few guns I've parted with that I'd love to have back. Selling it was a stupid move on my part. :(
 
@Bobbygun , yeah, when blown up that's a crappy picture. But it looks to me like your extractor star isn't cut like the one @boattail and I have shown. Does that gun have a small pin in the cylinder with a hole in the star that keeps everything lined up? Or are the tips of the star cut at alternating angles, like very well shown in @boattail 's pics in post #19?

Like I mentioned, the 686+ I had is one of the very few guns I've parted with that I'd love to have back. Selling it was a stupid move on my part. :(
I don't see a small pin in the cylinder with a hole in the star. The tips of the star appear to be cut at alternating angles. The ratchets (?) on my cylinder appear to be cleaner/more consistent in shape, but that may be due to less use.

Interestingly, I did notice a difference to the left and below the cylinder release. Your pistol and boattail's pistol have a raised rectangle, where mine has a gap, then a raised semi-circle about 1/4" in diameter. I have no idea what difference that might make. Maybe just the result of mine being older or newer.
 
I can't think of one practical reason to choose a revolver for carry
One practical reason I can think of is not leaving any empties behind. For people who might find that fact handy. Most people involved in a defensive shooting aren't gonna be blasting off enough rounds to require reloading on site. Just something I've thought about.

The downgrade to cheaper metal in some parts and poorer fit and finish was made to lower cost of production.

I love my older S+W revolvers. The one I bought in 2009 and the one I bought in 2019 were absolute junk. I will say that most all makes have issues or poor design built into them. I firmly believe that a revolver cannot be made the same way a semi auto is made. Revolvers need hand fitting and solid designs to work right and be timeless.
As to the above quotes and the other comments re. contemporary Smith & Wesson quality. We were told that the advent of CNC in gun making (and other manufacturing enterprises) was going to eliminate the human error factor and increase quality. Well, my experience with Smith & Wesson is that hasn't happened. For one thing, humans have to look it over to ensure the quality is taking place, which I'm not sure all that much of is happening.

There are a bunch of guys that have posted a revolver checkout procedure to use as a guide when buying a new or used revolver. Those procedures need to be updated as they were written before MIM parts and these 7 and 8 shot cylinders that have weak areas. Modern manufacturing has changed the revolver and introduced a whole new set of issues.
It's just my opinion, but I think going beyond 6 chambers in a centerfire revolver is marketing fluff. Something to sell more guns to the boobitry. My sad experience was with a Ruger Single Seven in .327 Fed Mag, we won't discuss the deficiencies of the cartridge here. But the gun had to make a sojourn back to New Hampshire to get it to function semi-correctly, and after all was said and done, I felt a new owner might be happier with it.
 
I have a Taurus 66, a seven shot .357 that works well. A seven shot J-frame in .22 Magnum, again it works well. Eight and Ten shot Ruger's in .22 LR, just fine for me. Eight shot Blackhawk in the SPLENDID .327 Federal Magnum, both caliber and revolver are fine.
 
I have a Taurus 66, a seven shot .357 that works well. A seven shot J-frame in .22 Magnum, again it works well. Eight and Ten shot Ruger's in .22 LR, just fine for me. Eight shot Blackhawk in the SPLENDID .327 Federal Magnum, both caliber and revolver are fine.
What? No pics? ;)
 
This is another reason why I love wheel guns. No black framed poly semi auto will ever get me as enthused as something like this:

 
I can't think of one practical reason to choose a revolver for carry
My woods gun is a SP101 with a 3" barrel that holds a whopping 5 rounds. When I beat feet in the woods, sometimes I get wet and dirty. My gear does too. I trust my revolver to function better under these conditions than a plastic pistol. I hunt with rifle. While I always do my best to put an animal down with one shot, unfortunately that doesn't always happen. For the sake of saving meat and not making a bigger mess than necessary, I prefer to finish an animal off with a .357 rather than a 30-06.
 
Although the first handgun I ever shot was my dad's Colt .45ACP, like any other six-year-old, I was in love with revolvers from an early age. Sadly, my dad didn't have any kind of revolver in his stash, so I had to wait a good few years before I could justify having one. Living an Army life divided up into two and a half year segments meant that I was unable to give legal justification for ownership [UK, remember] until 1977, when I bought my first revolving handgun. It was a pre-Bangor-Punta era Model 29, and was followed by many more. All but three were S&W - a Korth in .357Mag, a Ruger Redhawk and a Ruger Old Army. All I have now, except for the ROA, is the somewhat odd-looking Ruger Super Redhawk in .357Mag that is mainland-UK legal. If I lived in Northern Ireland, I could have any kind of handgun without the ridiculous additions that make us the laughing stock of the handgunning world.
 
IMG_20211021_045009.jpg 20211014_071301.jpg
Original pinned barrel goodness. Models 49, 28 & 10. Also have a ruger bh 45 convertible. Revolvers rule.
 
Seven and eight shot revolvers do have a marketplace, and not just for "fluff." Take a look at ICORE or Steel Challange competition shooting. Gun strength isn't over concerning because ammo is low pressure "bunny fart" loads. Round count and less reloading on the clock is the appeal of more than 6 rounds.
 
I'm a revolver guy, carry three on my ccw permit. I have a pile of single actions and a few double actions. I am also a mechanical minded person and like the simplicity of how they work. I can see how they work. A semi auto relies on a non mechanical step to operate ( pressure blowing the slide back) and in doing that step it pitches the case out. As a reloader it bugs me to shag brass off the ground. I will say the 1911 platform is the best platform I have ever shot, hands down. I just cannot get past the fact that it launches my brass.

I'm also a country boy and grew up on farms, ranches and around logging so the old west appeal to a revolver has always been with me.

For those having issue with the 686 you are not alone. I owned one and sold it off after having it repaired. Check your ejector star to cylinder fit for slop. That ejector star is what turns and stops the cylinder and the 686+ has incredibly thin legs on that star that will wear and get the cylinder out of time. Look at these two photos and how much slack is worn into the star, one pic with it turn left and one turned right...over 1/16" slop...

Even a brand new 686+ has too much slop there for my taste.....sold it the minute it came back from S+W.
I have 2 new 686+ and nether shows the slop your talking about
thousands of trigger pulls - dryfire and live fire
in mass production, you will always get some deviations
sorry you had problems - I'm quite happy with my pair of Smiths
 

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