Since this is an L-frame revolver, it will fit some holsters designed for the 686 series, albeit with some wiggle in some cases. This gun was born forВ the range and we enjoyed slaying steel just as much as shooting paper. The FMJ with the narrower, rounded nose gave a little more grace going into the cylinder.

I did run into some challenges from a time standpoint when reloading flat, wide-cavity JHP rounds, though. The clips provided allowed the ammunition to jiggle just a little bit, which I think helped in ease of reloading quickly. Otherwise, the casings would get stuck in the cylinder and would have to be individually tapped out from the front after being fired. If youвЂ™re not familiar with moon clips (I wasnвЂ™t overly familiar with them), they hold the rimless 9mm cartridges so that the ejector rod on the revolver can eject the spent brass all at once. Additionally, a tool from someone like TK custom might save your thumbs if you wanted some help loading and unloading the moon clips on higher volume range days. Obviously, a shooter who wanted to put a lot of rounds through this gun would need to order a lot more moon clips. The 986 came in the standard blue plastic S&W case with a cable lock, an ownerвЂ™s manual, a set of keys (this is a post lock model gun), and two moon clips. The hammer has an aggressive texture and when my thumb made contact with it, my thumb became one with that hammer. The action is smooth and the lockup is tight. The stainless steel frame juxtaposed against the darker gray of the titanium cylinder is absolutely beautiful. The two-tone finish of the 986 really makes it pop and it appealed to me the instant I saw it. I would have really liked to see a fiber optic or gold bead front sight because my aging eyes need all of the help they can get. IвЂ™m not a huge fan of black-on-black sight setups. ItвЂ™s huge and black and it sits in front of a two-screw, adjustable, black rear sight. The next item that I noticed was the patridge front sight. The standard black rubber Hogue monogrip felt a bit small in my hand-this isnвЂ™t a huge negative but my pinky finger does hang off the bottom of the grip when I am firing. Once I got home, I was able to inspect the 986 further. I fired off several moon clips before packing up and heading home. The double action pull measured a smooth but heavy 10 pounds, and the single action weighed in at a crisp 3.5 pounds according to a Lyman digital trigger pull gauge. Both trigger pulls were smooth with little to no stacking and were indicative of the fact that the 986 is a Performance Center revolver from the ground up. The gun grouped very well at 7 yards firing double action and tightened up even more when fired single action.

The sight radius on the 5вЂі barrel is borderline cheating. The 124 grain ammunition I used was delightful to shoot and the gun returned to point of aim instantly after being fired. I had no problems putting all 7 rounds into the down zero ring on a standard IDPA target at any distance. I didnвЂ™t hesitate to load up the first moon clip with 124 grain FMJ 9mm (more on moon clips shortly). My first impression of the 34.9 ounce L-frame was that this gun needs to be shotвЂ¦like right now. I have been reading up on these guns for quite some time and was very happy to finally get my hands on one. My last review of a Smith & Wesson product was well-received, so I was ready for my next assignment. When I was handed the task of reviewing the Smith & Wesson 986, I was beyond excited.

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