Need to know age of a Smith 686-1 Revolver

[6.5s4ever]

Hi, Does any one have information on The age of a Smith & Wesson Revolver by its serial #? I aquired a S&W 686 -1 Stainless revolver with a 6" Barrel Its serial# isAVA760x Can anyone tell me the date it was made? Thanks Roy:)

[6.5s4ever]

The year of this 686 S&W 357 mag was 1987, It has got to be the nicest shooting Revolver I own. Somebody put wolf springs in this and it has the lightest trigger pull and smoothest Double Action ,which is also very light and easy to pull.Take a look at this one Tree Doc!:)

[gumpokc]

That time fram is about right for when one of my friends on active duty down at Ft. Hood bought one.

His wife ended up being able to shoot it better than he did :)

[Jack]

Dunno where you could look up the serial # of a 686...maybe S&W's website?
I can tell you the L frame series (the 686 was the first of the L frames) came out around 1980 or 81.
The L frame is a bit heavier than the K frame.
Traditionally, the Model 19 (K frame 357) was sold to a ton of police departments. Years ago, police departments would practice with 38 Special ammo, and carry 357 Magnum ammo as duty ammo- and the 19 was very, very popular with police departments.
As time went on, it became more common for police departments to practice with the higher powered duty ammo equivalent (357 magnum). The model 19 started showing some wear when fed a steady diet of magnum loads.
Smith and Wesson responded with the slightly heavier L frame to stand up to constant firing with magnum ammo, and in the 80's, tons of 686 were sold to police departments. So much so that for the first year or two of production, it was really difficult for a civilian to get a 686.

[6.5s4ever]

Thanks for the info Jack, Wow! I didnt know it was a popular Police carry gun!:D

[Jack]

Yeah, they were (the 686's) kinda the last police revolver. Wasn't too long before police departments started switching to high capacity 9mm's, and other auto's.

[the tinker]

If you want to find out the personal history of your SMITH & WESSON handgun you can go to : (Home Page - Smith & Wesson)
click on ABOUT US, then follow the directions to get it.
It will cost about $30.00