Hello FineLine.
I have the same gun as you and mine has been back to S&W as well. When I bought mine, the barrel was perfectly clocked with no cant whatsoever. However, I found that to get it to shoot center, I had to crank the rear sight blade all the way to one side.
Well I finally determined that the barrel was off-axis from the frame. In other words if you looked at the gun from the top, the barrel pointed noticeably to the left!
Well I contacted S&W and they said send it in right away and they would take care of it. I received it back 8 days later and the barrel was in straight alignment with the frame but it is now slightly canted! Anyhow it now shoots straight and I was able to bring the rear site blade back to center. The slight cant does not bother me as long as the gun shoots well.
As for the grips, I liked the look of them, but they really didn't fit my hand well. I've since replaced them with a set of Ahrends Retro Combats that are really nice.
Hope your 686 comes back right. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with the rest of the fine people here.
