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Hey everybody!

While I have read a ton and learned a lot here, I believe this is my first ever post on this forum!

I recently purchased a brand new S&W 686+ with a 6" barrel. First range day was two days after purchase and I am absolutely smitten with this revolver. It is absolutely great!

I am pretty strict/diligent about cleaning and maintaining my firearms; I always thoroughly clean whatever I ran immediately after a range session, and while I was cleaning my fresh new 686, I got the idea to polish it in hopes of achieving a mirror-shine.

My questions for those who read this post are three-fold:
1. Does anyone have any photos of stainless S&W revolvers which have been highly polished? I'd love to see finished results and what I could hope to achieve.
2. If so, what polish was used and what can you recommend?
3. Is it best to leave this incredible piece of living art as it was intended by the factory, or make it shine?

This is just a range gun for me, as it is far too large for me to carry, so reflections/glare are not a concern for me with this one.

Wonderful forum and collective body of knowledge. What say ye?

Hello,

I bought a Smith and Wesson Model 686-5 (I think that it was a -5 from my memory.) back in the late 90's - NIB, back east. Mine was a 6 round not the plus model (7 round.) and not the ported model back at the time. I had the 6 inch barrel too.

I left it alone and cleaned it up after I shot it. I used Shooter's Choice - liquid in the brown bottle. That was the product that I used 99.9% of the time on ALL of my guns. I still use it. I took a damp cloth and wiped off the stainless steel and Hogue grip and dried it with a soft, old white t shirt on the outside after I used the SC.

When I stopped shooting handguns several years ago, I gave that handgun to my MT husband and when he downsized ALL of his firearms and ALL firearm calibers especially in handguns... we sold it. We got out of all 357Magnum, 38Special and Plus P handguns and lever action rifles. Other calibers too.

I and/or we sold almost all of our guns at 2 places. That revolver sold in a couple of days and it appreciated in value as almost all of my and his guns did. I did have all of the paperwork and book on it AND I kept that for all of my guns. I had a pretty soft pistol case with the S&W logo on it and I included that with my gun sale too.

I never polished it - I left it alone as I did all of my guns. Even nice blued and wood firearms get a lovely patina to them.

Stainless steel looks good alone in MY opinion. They are not meant to look like nickel or some other shiny finish which I can't think of the proper name now in gun terminology. My MT husband had some nickel handguns.

Same as some of the OLDER and newer blued revolvers and pistols. You can look at some old sweet d/a and s/a revolvers and they have a distinct color to them.

You can look at some old 30's Colt Woodsman pistols (My MT husband had one of them.) and they have a different color on them compared to a late 90's S&W Model 41. (I had one of them and my late husband used to shoot that more than me.)

I say leave it alone and clean it up. Enjoy shooting it and if you take care of it - it will take care of you.

Good shooting to you! You will continue to love shooting that gun and if you do decide to carry it - you can get some very nice shoulder holsters for it in the Uncle Mike's black webbed fabric and in some sweet leather shoulder holsters too. It is a CLASSIC S&W sweet shooting revolver in my opinion!

Sincerely,

Old Lady Cate
 
Hello,

I bought a Smith and Wesson Model 686-5 (I think that it was a -5 from my memory.) back in the late 90's - NIB, back east. Mine was a 6 round not the plus model (7 round.) and not the ported model back at the time. I had the 6 inch barrel too.

I left it alone and cleaned it up after I shot it. I used Shooter's Choice - liquid in the brown bottle. That was the product that I used 99.9% of the time on ALL of my guns. I still use it. I took a damp cloth and wiped off the stainless steel and Hogue grip and dried it with a soft, old white t shirt on the outside after I used the SC.

When I stopped shooting handguns several years ago, I gave that handgun to my MT husband and when he downsized ALL of his firearms and ALL firearm calibers especially in handguns... we sold it. We got out of all 357Magnum, 38Special and Plus P handguns and lever action rifles. Other calibers too.

I and/or we sold almost all of our guns at 2 places. That revolver sold in a couple of days and it appreciated in value as almost all of my and his guns did. I did have all of the paperwork and book on it AND I kept that for all of my guns. I had a pretty soft pistol case with the S&W logo on it and I included that with my gun sale too.

I never polished it - I left it alone as I did all of my guns. Even nice blued and wood firearms get a lovely patina to them.

Stainless steel looks good alone in MY opinion. They are not meant to look like nickel or some other shiny finish which I can't think of the proper name now in gun terminology. My MT husband had some nickel handguns.

Same as some of the OLDER and newer blued revolvers and pistols. You can look at some old sweet d/a and s/a revolvers and they have a distinct color to them.

You can look at some old 30's Colt Woodsman pistols (My MT husband had one of them.) and they have a different color on them compared to a late 90's S&W Model 41. (I had one of them and my late husband used to shoot that more than me.)

I say leave it alone and clean it up. Enjoy shooting it and if you take care of it - it will take care of you.

Good shooting to you! You will continue to love shooting that gun and if you do decide to carry it - you can get some very nice shoulder holsters for it in the Uncle Mike's black webbed fabric and in some sweet leather shoulder holsters too. It is a CLASSIC S&W sweet shooting revolver in my opinion!

Sincerely,

Old Lady Cate

PS:

I personally like stainless steel guns to have a soft sheen to them not super shiny. I like sterling silver and silver plate jewelry, goods and flatware to have a soft patina or soft and clean sheen to them NOT super shiny too.

Your mileage may vary since we all have different tastes in guns, etc.

Cate
 
By the way, if you get tired of the original black Hogue grips if they (S&W) are still using that brand, you can buy original S&W wooden grips from the factory or from some other place.

Cate
 
Like this?
624-4.jpg
A whole lot more work than just rubbing on it with Mothers or another polish.
Really easy to ruin your gun if you don't know what you're doing.
and NEVER use any power tools.
 
I have a stainless 686-1 that I bought new in 1987. Have not some any polishing at all. Looks nice just the way it is. I just put a pachmayr rubber grip since the original wood grip was OK shooting 38 SPL rounds but took it toll when firing .357 magnum loads.

SW686-1.jpg
 
I'd say polish it if you plan on treating it gently. Not saying you wouldn't be able to use it, buy hard use would probably require frequent touchups. The revolver in my avatar is a Model 69. I bought it to fill the "gap" left after I'd sold my 686+ (stupid mistake). I'd never polish this gun because the use it receives sometimes borders on abuse. I don't care how much it shines, I care how well it works. :)
 
3A4B5729-9983-4227-9516-571E41E0CA6A.jpeg 9D523174-A7D6-4527-8B4C-49DA4C106B99.jpeg
I had the same question for the forum about 2 years ago for my smith 627pc. I say go for it.
The overall consensus back them was to leave it alone. I'm glad I didn't listen.
It looks a million times better and is actually much easier to clean, not to mention it is now possible to buff out scratches which is hard to do on a mat finish without going over the entire gun unless you own a bead blaster.
I used nothing but mothers mag polish and a buffing wheel attached to a dremel. I also gave it a nice trigger job while I had it apart.
I shoot the heck out of it and it is my primary cc handgun. It is much easier to keep pretty after polishing and no it won't revert back to dull unless you scuff it up all over. Carbon steal does (that's why they blue them) but stainless doesn't.
 
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