686 chip/ding in cylinder

[JohnKSa]

The main thing I'm worried about is it growing in size.

It will not grow in size by itself.

It's some kind of a dent or ding. Something hit it and dented/dinged the metal. Unless something else hits it in the same spot and enlarges the dent/ding, it's not going to get any bigger.

It's not going to affect function.

It's not going to rub on anything and cause any damage to any other parts of the gun.

It will have exactly zero effect on anything functional or on anything related to durability.

It is purely an aesthetic/cosmetic issue.

You can legitimately obsess about how it looks and on the appearance of the cylinder including the ding. Any other worries are baseless.

[tango1niner]

If it catches on your clothing or skin (like a hook) I would get a flat fine India stone and remove the burr. If it does not catch , leave it alone.

[TestedTwice]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

No 2000 grit is not coarse enough.
It's not a chip, it's a ding, or dent where something hit it.
600 grit won't take too much metal off.
Use the stick to keep your sanding straight....
Maybe you better send it to S&W.

So this will sound pathetic, but I just found a DIFFERENT thing to worry about with my gun. This one has actually completely taken my mind of the cylinder ding, as this one MAY have potential to ruin my gun by shooting it? I'm not sure as this is my first revolver. I took a good look at the muzzle and noticed this little crack/seam right next to the crown. I'm not sure if this is a common thing with S&W revolvers or not, but does this seem problematic? It was really hard to get a picture of it as it's so small. Link to the picture is below.

https://imgur.com/a/uZxNpvu

Below is another picture of my muzzle without trying to emphasize the crack/seam in anyway. There's also a nick on the left side of the muzzle in this picture, which means it may have been dropped on the muzzle....

https://imgur.com/a/4t55eNf

[wild cat mccane]

It's not big...but I kinda wonder if anyone would lend me their revolver to drop an equally sized mar?

Bet that took some force...

[P-990]

Originally Posted by TestedTwice

So this will sound pathetic, but I just found a DIFFERENT thing to worry about with my gun. This one has actually completely taken my mind of the cylinder ding, as this one MAY have potential to ruin my gun by shooting it? I'm not sure as this is my first revolver. I took a good look at the muzzle and noticed this little crack/seam right next to the crown. I'm not sure if this is a common thing with S&W revolvers or not, but does this seem problematic? It was really hard to get a picture of it as it's so small. Link to the picture is below.



https://imgur.com/a/uZxNpvu



Below is another picture of my muzzle without trying to emphasize the crack/seam in anyway. There's also a nick on the left side of the muzzle in this picture, which means it may have been dropped on the muzzle....



https://imgur.com/a/4t55eNf

That looks again like where a tool was allowed to contact where it shouldn't. Again, only cosmetic, nothing to stress about. The crown actually looks pretty good to me.

Here's a story to help ease your mind: I once rebarreled my AR-15 match rifle with a nice, new, White Oak Armament stainless steel, 1-7" twist, .223 Wylde-chambered match barrel with matched bolt. The very first time i tried to zero it, it wouldn't run. I didn't get the front sight gas block quite lined up. Annoying, but I could fix it when I got home. However, that's not the point.

I was shooting it slung up in prone on a range with a concrete firing line. As I unwrapped myself from the sling, the front of the rifle went "screeeeee". Yep, dragged the muzzle on the concrete in front of my shooting mat. Had 3 shots through the barrel. Kicking myself, I checked it, saw no harm to the crown or rifling, went home and "fixed" the gas block alignment.

That barrel then went to 3500 rounds and I won a few matches with it. The very first 5 round 200 yard group went 1-MOA with ammo leftover from the previous barrel.

And wild cat mccane, I'm fairly confident at least one of my S&W has similar dings on the cylinder. I'll look tonight but they're finished in blue, which makes me think S&W did it when machining things originally.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[TestedTwice]

I’m assuming you’re referring to the nick on the left side? What do you make of the little crack/seam/crease? Is that common for revolvers, or do you think the steel could be brittle in that spot?

As for your story, I’m glad that turned out alright for you! I can only imagine how far into space the exploding of my brain could be seen had that happened to me.

[buck460XVR]

I'm wondering where you got the gun from? Was it a display piece that many folks would've handled? The minor blemish on the muzzle would not concern me, the crown itself looks good. The ding on the cylinder and on the muzzle speak more of rough handling as opposed to a factory defect. Have you ever seen folks unfamiliar with revolvers looking at them in the store? Have you seen how some display guns are handled by the store itself? I'll never forget the time our local Gander Mountain was having a firearms sale and they had all of the guns on sale packed tightly together on portable tables in the middle of the store with a LOG CHAIN thru all the trigger guards. Couldn't pick one up without disturbing several on each side with the chain dragging thru the trigger guards and over the rest of the gun.

That said , nuttin' on the gun I've seen would give me any concern. Most all of my guns have similar dings on them from use.

[Bayou]

Concur that these items are not worth ruminating over. If you give it some time, inevitably, a real life problem will overtake annd overshadow all of this...

Bayou

[Jim Watson]

The semicircular mark on the muzzle is probably from a burred cutter or trapped chip on the machine tool that finished off the crown. The dings on muzzle and cylinder are from rough handling. Once upon a time, they might have gotten you a discount as "shopworn."

I would stone the sharp edges off the cylinder ding so it didn't "catch the fingernail" and go shooting.

[Bill DeShivs]

I suggest you return the gun and buy some pepper spray.

[TestedTwice]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

I suggest you return the gun and buy some pepper spray.

That’s absolutely out of the question. Last time I bought pepper spray I had to return it because the label was peeling, rendering the pepper spray completely ineffective.

[TestedTwice]

Originally Posted by Jim Watson

The semicircular mark on the muzzle is probably from a burred cutter or trapped chip on the machine tool that finished off the crown. The dings on muzzle and cylinder are from rough handling. Once upon a time, they might have gotten you a discount as "shopworn."

I would stone the sharp edges off the cylinder ding so it didn't "catch the fingernail" and go shooting.

I’m sorry I keep double posting; I have no idea how to quote multiple posts like in other forums. I think I’m going to run a box of ammo through it today. I’ll bet my OCD stems in part from the fact that I see this as a shiny new gun. Shooting it might bring it into “tool” territory where it should be. As long as the “crack” isn’t anything to worry about, I think I’ll be happy. I’ll report back if anyone isn’t tired of my stupidity yet.

[JohnKSa]

I took a good look at the muzzle and noticed this little crack/seam right next to the crown.

It is neither a crack nor a seam. Mr. Watson has the best explanation for its origin. It is not a concern from a functionality/reliability/durability standpoint.

I kinda wonder if anyone would lend me their revolver to drop an equally sized mar?

Bet that took some force...

The steel used for the main components of guns is not as hard as most people think. It is not nearly as hard, for example as even a really pathetically soft knife steel. There are some small parts (sears, for example) that may be very hard, but most of it is relatively soft. I can see dropping a cylinder from even a relatively low height--maybe even a few inches--onto a hard surface making a ding like the one pictured. IMO, it likely happened before the cylinder was assembled to the gun and nobody noticed.

[Bill DeShivs]

I rest my case.

[Sgt127]

Load it. Put it in a holster. Get in and out of your car a couple hundred times. Let it bang on the door frame.

Get a gun locker. Put it in the gun locker while holding someone who is fighting you. 100-200 times should be fine.

Put it back in the holster. Get in about 50 fights with a big drunk in a gravel parking lot.

That’s just a little bit of the life of what a revolver was intended to do in its life. Bet it survives. Bet you stop worrying about the road rash and dings.

[bamaranger]

Ya'know, what caught my eye was not the chip on the cylinder rim, but the machining marks on the extractor star!

[TestedTwice]

Originally Posted by bamaranger

Ya'know, what caught my eye was not the chip on the cylinder rim, but the machining marks on the extractor star!

Oddly enough, the machining marks on the extractor star don't bother me at all. As matter of fact, I actually think they look really neat; even pretty in a way. Haha.

Anyway, I put 100 rounds through my 686 today and she fired perfectly. No exploding muzzle, no exploding cylinder, etc. I can finally say that, after removing the "shiny new gun" aura from my 686, the dings and marks on it don't bother me in the slightest now. Thanks, everybody, for trying to put a moron's mind at ease!

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by Jim Watson

I would stone the sharp edges off the cylinder ding so it didn't "catch the fingernail" and go shooting.

Any stoning or filing of the burr is going to enlarge the blemish....period. If there is a sharp edge that needs to be smoothed, I'd try peening it first.

[wild cat mccane]

You know, I hear what you are saying but you are excluding from thought those of us who doesn't carry a massively heavy, $700+ revolver. My 686 is for range use beauty.

This isn't an LCP or P365 that will have scratches--which I hard chromed my LCP, so maybe I am soft...

Resale would suffer from that, because everyone who has comment here would use that scratch against the seller or not even purchase 2nd hand that revolver because of that mar....

[buck460XVR]

Originally Posted by wild cat mccane

You know, I hear what you are saying but you are excluding from thought those of us who doesn't carry a massively heavy, $700+ revolver. My 686 is for range use beauty.

This isn't an LCP or P365 that will have scratches--which I hard chromed my LCP, so maybe I am soft...

Resale would suffer from that, because everyone who has comment here would use that scratch against the seller or not even purchase 2nd hand that revolver because of that mar....

For the most part, a new 686 is a $700+ OTD revolver. The reduction in overall value due to those two slight dings is minimal if any. Iffin cosmetics are such a big concern, then one should use more caution before taking it home with them.