Lindell Training Guns

[JoelR]

Bobby asked me to do a review once I received my first Lindell training gun, so here it goes.

I ordered the S&W Model 686 4" revolver.

First impressions out of the box were:

1) It looks like a Model 686 revolver.

2) It is obviously sand cast.

3) That's a big chunk of aluminum.

Everything of importance is in place and is well defined. Being sand cast, there are a number of obscured or missing elements that are not overly important for molding a holster, but I am brutally honest when I review items so they should be mentioned. The index slots on the cylinder are perfect on one side of the cylinder, not so much on the other side. It looks like clay was used to fill in voids and it shows. Some areas were filled nicely, others could have use a little more care to detail. Edges along sharp contrasts, such as where the barrel and underlug meet the frame are not well defined and I feel I need to file them out a bit however the outline of the frame and trigger guard are perfect. The underlug itself is a little awkward. I can't tell if it is an illusion due to bad clay filling, or if the underlug is actually flattened and it appears that the underlug near the end of the barrel protrudes further away from the barrel than it does near the frame. Unfortunately my micrometer is broken so I cannot confirm this but it appears the same in Scott's photo so it may just be an illusion. Either way, neither of these items appear to be enough to cause any problems forming.

All-in-all, money well spent. To be fair, sand casting a revolver is much more difficult than a boxy Glock or even a 1911 so based on this example, I would not hesitate in ordering anything else being offered. Bobby has informed me that the next batch to come out should have a smoother finish than this one, but the finish is more than adequate for our uses. I will compare this with the next revolver already on order once it arrives.

My recommendations for improvements:

1) Take more care in void filling if for no other reason than for aesthetics.

2) Would be nice to see it offered with a solid sight channel - I'll have to hand it off to a fellow shooter to have this done.

3) I've said it before and it is big on my want list: interchangeable barrel lengths.

4) A little better care of the mold to ensure the definition of transitions would be nice.

5) Personally, I would not mind seeing a little of the cylinder gap and underlug ejection rod recess left in place

These can be purchased from Bobby Clevelend who is a member here and has a web site http://clevelandsholsters.com/Training_tools.html

Edited December 28, 2011 by JoelR