smith & wesson model 5868 review

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Picture courtesy of Arrows180.

Average Ratings

Value for Money	9.6/10
Reviewer Rating	8.7/10
Overall Rating	8.9/10

100% Recommended7 out of 7 Reviews

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By stratcat on 24th Jun 2005

stratcat's Ratings

Value for money	10/10
Overall value	8/10
stratcat's recommendation

Good Points

Accurate.
Well made.
Good Value.

Bad Points

About to be discontinued in UK due to new legislation(?).
Heavy, possibly too much so for some.

General Comments

This is, as previously stated by most of the other reviews, a CO2 .177 firing replica of the Smith and Wesson 586 .357 revolver, and is built under licence by Umarex in Germany. It comes complete, in a blue moulded and foam lined plastic case, with a cleaning rod, barrel removal tool, 2 alternative foresight elements and one pellet magazine, and is also supplied with very comprehensive instructions, safety notes and an exploded parts diagram with part numbers should anything ever need replacing; although as this pistol may well become unavailable in the UK due to the Serious Crime Bill which outlaws the sale (but not possession) of replica guns, any spares would need to come from Umarex directly, not the current UK distributor, Brocock.

On opening the case for the first time I was immediately impressed with the build quality of this pistol, having bought it as a more 'serious' plinker than my current Gamo PT80 - apart from the grips it's made entirely from well finished metal, although it did benefit from a good degreasing and re-oiling to remove the factory applied corrosion proofing. After this a deep, even chemical blued finish is revealed. The supplied instructions are very comprehensive and very clear in the English translation, assuming no previous knowledge.

In use the build quality is even more in evidence, with a smooth double action trigger pull that has a crisp let off, and a quite lightly weighted single action with again a predictable break point. The sight base over the frame and 8" barrel, and the length of the rifled barrel itself, make for an accurate gun, and power and consistency until the gas runs low seem very good - I was producing single hole 5 round groups at 10 metres almost immediately. The rear sight is adjustable for both windage and elevation, although the adjusting screws do not click around anywhere near as positively as I'd like and I am a touch worried about them staying where they've been set.

The zero out of the box wasn't bad, and just needed a tweak as the rear sight had been set flat against the frame for packing; the addition of a scope on the optional Weaver type mount would turn this into a very accurate pistol, although the added weight to what's already a meaty gun might be just too much. On the subject of weight, be aware that this is one large airgun coming in at about 1.4 kilos (3.2 lbs) and after a couple of shots the muzzle starts to wave about a bit as muscles get tired, although this mass does kill recoil from the escaping gas quite effectively.

The pellet magazine / cylinder fits into the frame very positively, and advances through the shots through what looks to be a very reliable mechanism, based on the same workings that Smith and Wesson have used on their 'real' handguns from what I can see in the parts diagram; the only problem comes when the gas gets low and a pellet isn't given enough of a charge to get it clear of the magazine, jamming the mag to the barrel and locking the action because of this. The fix is very simple - poke it back with the cleaning rod, but it's easy to do if you don't know the pistol well enough to gauge the gas left. The pellets I used (BSA round head) seemed quite loose in the magazine, but the recommended wadcutter pellets might be better. This doesn't seem to affect anything, and as there's no rubber breach seal, just a brass or bronze bush at the port, the worst that should happen is a flattened pellet skirt if anything moves.

I am very impressed with this pistol, as it's surpassed my expectations in both accuracy and feel, and it's the closest experience I've had to the cartridge revolvers we used to be allowed in this country before Dunblane - it feels a bit like a .22 rimfire target revolver. The criticism it's had in other reviews (in 4" and 6" spec) for the cylinder being part fake is, I think, pretty unjustified as it's an air pistol not a replica as such - if you want realism, buy a blank or pfc firer. If you want the experience of a small calibre cartridge pistol, or a good CO2 pistol for plinking / practical target, this'll do it.

Total Respect: +3