Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6346, along with NGC 6345, on 13 May 1887. Swift communicated the position (2' south of NGC 6345) directly to Dreyer. Dreyer referenced Swift's 6th discovery list, which was still being prepared when the NGC went to press, but Swift only included a separate entry for nearby NGC 6345 and NGC 6346 never appeared in any of his dozen discovery lists.

Malcolm Thomson notes that MCG mislabels NGC 6345 as NGC 6346. Then it misidentifies NGC 6346 as IC 4650.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/18/88): faint, very small, slightly elongated ~E-W, gradually brighter halo. Forms a close pair with NGC 6345 2' N in a NGC 6338 group.

600/800mm - 24" (7/21/17): at 375x; fairly faint or moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated E-W, ~30"x25", gradually increases to the center. At the south end of a north-south string with NGC 6345 1.7' N and NGC 6338 5.3' N.

IC 1252 lies 4.4' NE and LEDA 2562439 is 3.3' ESE. The latter galaxy (misidentified in NED as IC 4650) appeared faint, very small, round, 15" diameter.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb