SMITH & WESSON 686

Forty years old and you’d never know it. This 686 dates to 1985, back when Smith’s L-frame was the heavyweight answer for folks who wanted to run full-house .357 all day without loosening up a K-frame. The stainless still looks great—the kind of patina-free clean that makes a four-decade-old revolver feel like a sleeper. No box, but originality counts more than cardboard, and these older Smiths have a build quality the catalog guns chase.

Vintage Smith hunting? Consider this your excuse.