Thoughts on S&W 986 9mm 2 1/2 snubby

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Does any one have any experience with S&W new 986 pro model revolver. It,s a 2 1/2 inch barreled snubby 7 shot that weighs around 29 oz. The original 986 has a 5" barrel. Thoughts??
 
I haven't shot one, but I like it on paper. I had a snub nose 686 and a lot of powder goes to waste with a 357 mag and short barrel. 9mm probably makes more sense. Plus the moon clips make it faster to reload.

That being said, I probably wouldn't buy one as I found the L frame just a little too big for carry.

What are you planning on doing with it?
 
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i'm intrigued with the gun but like wadcutter, never shot one. i don't see why i would replace the 9mm shield just yet for this to carry but on the plus side i'm a revolver guy and would buy this as a range toy. sorry i can't help but.......you son of a gun.......you planted the seed in my head. [crying]
 
Only down side to the gun is the moon clips, how can they be properly carried for a fast reload. I know they can pop right in and out very fast, but how does one carry a spare set???

A semi auto of course you can pop a mag in and its durable to shoved into a pocket or a pack, can a moon clip be subject to the same degree. I ask cause I like the idea for a 9mm wheel gun just cant get past a the extra backup carry option.

Jason.
 
I've heard folks having reliability problems with 986s. Some brass ends up sticking in the chambers after firing. I don't know if they've solved that or not.

Btw, the 986 is a big gun, even with a 2 1/2 barrel. It isn't what I would choose for carry, and for screwing around on the range I would get a longer barrel. So the 2 1/2" model wouldn't fill a niche for me. YMMV.
 
Yeah. I don't see the value in a 2 1/2 inch version. For me its about getting in revolver time using a round that I reload cheaply and quickly.

For a carry gun, that's less important.

For what its worth, I also own a S&W 547. Its a 9mm revolver that uses these itty bitty spring backed catches to work with 9mm brass with no moon clips. The round headspaces on the case mouth, but is ejected by the catches.

It works great.

Don
 
Just saw one of these today. Seems a bit useless to me.

I'm not worried about ejection issues (I've never had a problem w my 986 or 929) - they seem to be mostly user driven.

But a 2.5" barrel makes it useless for anything other than carry or a silly range toy. At least the 5" barrel 986 can be used for some games.

And as a carry gun it's kind of dumb too. As someone else pointed out, you need moon clips to shoot the gun, vs carrying a pocket full of 357s. And even out of a short barrel you can get more out of a 357 than a 9mm.
 
If you can find one check out the s&w 547. 9mm revolver without moon clips. Only 10k made and are a collector's item.
 
Yes, that plus the stains that you can't remove from the outside of the cylinder. I have had a few S&Ws with titanium cylinders and they are not my favorite.

Chris



There wasn't any photo or anything. Just the word "this".

Did you mean to show something like . . . This?

 
All of my snubbies and shotties come from Remmie and take a reasonable sized pill. [rofl] - those words just rub people the wrong way.


As far as this, I don't get it. It's a dog with cat ears. If I have a revolver, I'm not focused on a reload. Ever. So the moon-clip thing is moot to me. (and a royal PITA. I've got 2 moon-clip guns. Both 45. I have both mooning and demeaning tools. Still a PITA.) 9mm vs. 38/357. You MIGHT get a slightly smaller package with the 9, but not enough to matter. Finally, as mentioned, with all of the pocket-9's out there, a 9mm revolver is just out of place.
 
If I have a revolver, I'm not focused on a reload. Ever.

If I'm carrying a revolver, I'm a lot more focused on reloads than with a semi-auto. Reloading a revolver quickly is a lot harder than reloading a semi-auto. So if I decided to carry my K-frames again, I'd be spending a lot of time practicing reloads with dummy rounds.
 
If I'm carrying a revolver, I'm a lot more focused on reloads than with a semi-auto. Reloading a revolver quickly is a lot harder than reloading a semi-auto. So if I decided to carry my K-frames again, I'd be spending a lot of time practicing reloads with dummy rounds.

That's my point. It's too much fine motor skill. I'd carry 2 revolvers before I carried a reload. I'm no Jerry Michal. . . Mikaloo. . . . Mukuluk. . . that fast revolver (among other things) guy! ;)
 
I never understood why someone would buy a revolver in a pistol caliber although in posting this I'm sure I'll find out....
 
I never understood why someone would buy a revolver in a pistol caliber although in posting this I'm sure I'll find out....

It is fun in an IDPA match when you are shooting a revolver, reloading with speedloaders, and you still beat a bunch of guys shooting Glocks, even though they have 10 rounds in their magazines and you only have six in your cylinder.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
It is fun in an IDPA match when you are shooting a revolver, reloading with speedloaders, and you still beat a bunch of guys shooting Glocks, even though they have 10 rounds in their magazines and you only have six in your cylinder.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This^

At our clubs center fire plate shoots I've seen a 70 year old man running an old s and w model 15 smoke the shit out of the young guys with $3000 worth of Go faster gear! The last match we had.....dude shows up with an sti steel master 9mm with optic, racemaster magnetic holster (we start low ready not holstered), go pro on head linked to his iphone that he set on the table in front of him to make sure the video was lined up (guess he needed to be sure and capture all his "action"), and 8 mag holders (only shooting 3 sets per relay).....his run times were in the 50 - 55 range out of 87 runs averaging 12 seconds to hit 6 plates and still leaving some standing! Mr old timer with the model 15 ends up running 5.5 second averages with a totally clean run in 20th place out of 87!

THAT is what revolvers are all about!!!!!!!!!
 
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It is fun in an IDPA match when you are shooting a revolver, reloading with speedloaders, and you still beat a bunch of guys shooting Glocks, even though they have 10 rounds in their magazines and you only have six in your cylinder.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Ahhh. I never though of that.
 
The squib load I had on Stage 6 pooched my score, but I had some decent reloads at this match:

 
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This^

At our clubs center fire plate shoots I've seen a 70 year old man running an old s and w model 15 smoke the shit out of the young guys with $3000 worth of Go faster gear! The last match we had.....dude shows up with an sti steel master 9mm with optic, racemaster magnetic holster (we start low ready not holstered), go pro on head linked to his iphone that he set on the table in front of him to make sure the video was lined up (guess he needed to be sure and capture all his "action"), and 8 mag holders (only shooting 3 sets per relay).....his run times were in the 50 - 55 range out of 87 runs averaging 12 seconds to hit 6 plates and still leaving some standing! Mr old timer with the model 15 ends up running 5.5 second averages with a totally clean run in 20th place out of 87!

THAT is what revolvers are all about!!!!!!!!!

When it comes to pin and plate shooting, a lot of folks haven't figured out that you can't miss fast enough to make up for not hitting. The old fart who goes 6 for 6 at a steady pace will just decimate the guy shooting 17 rounds out of his Glock as fast as he can while not looking at the sites.
 
When it comes to pin and plate shooting, a lot of folks haven't figured out that you can't miss fast enough to make up for not hitting. The old fart who goes 6 for 6 at a steady pace will just decimate the guy shooting 17 rounds out of his Glock as fast as he can while not looking at the sites.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

Don't get me wrong.....We also have guys show up with STI platforms that run sub 3.5 second averages for a rack of 6 plates and take the top scores consistently. I just giggle inside when guys show up with all that top shelf equipment and absolutely suck. They are trying to buy a better game and it doesn't work. You still have to actually know how to shoot.
 
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

Don't get me wrong.....We also have guys show up with STI platforms that run sub 3.5 second averages for a rack of 6 plates and take the top scores consistently. I just giggle inside when guys show up with all that top shelf equipment and absolutely suck. They are trying to buy a better game and it doesn't work. You still have to actually know how to shoot.

Slow is slow. Sub one second reloads look smooth because they are fast and practiced not because they're practiced slowly and smoothly.
 
can see the value of a 9mm revolver for competitive shooting for obvious reasons, but for defensive applications i just never understood the point. if i'm going revolver it's gonna be 38+P, 357 or even better perhaps the 327 federal magnum which i've been eyeing lately to tinker around with an LCR in 327.
 
Slow is slow. Sub one second reloads look smooth because they are fast and practiced not because they're practiced slowly and smoothly.

You miss mis understand. I'm talking about the novice shooter......The one that takes 6 pokes at the rack and misses 4-5-6 because he's just rushing it. Practice HITTING the plates and the speed follows. Some of them don't understand that shooting speed can't make up for penalties. You gotta knock em all down.
 
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