Outside the interest group, some guns do look high priced. Waht are HK P7's running now? Over the original MSRP $1200. They aren't really that special, like any, it pushes a bullet down a barrel when you pull on the dingus.
It's people bidding them up because they are "enhanced groin jewelry" to put it politely. A lot of what guns are is just a tube and some way to put the ammo in it. The ammo does the work. The tube is just that same as the cardboard ones that litter the yard on July 5th, just a lot more reusable.
Yes, I have a 4566 TSW, apparently a TX LEO service pistol, which came on the market a few years back when 3Gens were already appreciating. The 10mm's were already bid off the market, they went for hundreds more than the .45 or 9mm. It's now working down - one local gun show 2 years ago still had some trade-ins for under $400 but that is quickly getting rare when folks look up the high prices on Almost Never Been Carried models with matching boxes and mags. Chiefs Specials are getting rare, too, and Ladysmiths in normal colors have just about dried up.
The TSW is apparently the first LEO handgun on the market with a rail, in the days when one maker had the market to himself, and that is a not a picitinny, either. It's riveted on and was meant for the first introductory lights and lasers available in the mid 90's. Mine showed very little wear in the notches and likely never had one mounted. On the S&W forum website there is an explanation of what internal differences there are, one being the barrel ramp having slightly different shape to slow unlocking (as said) and the better models are actually the MIM hammer and sear which are smooth, no grinding marks, and whicn were considered some of the best out of the box for a working SW. It's frequently described as almost custom shop in it's lack of grittines and crisp break, which is common for MIM. It's a process which needs no further work as it's a finished part once sintered. A typical machined trigger needs extensive finishing to remove all the blanking, grinding to shape, and rough finish.
Some TSW owners have removed the rail - as holsters are a pain to find that accomodate it. The integral rail models came after and there's no choice over it. The tritium sights are from the mid 90s and are typically dead as the half life is 5-7 years, and it's been over 25.
The reason I bought it? The Army scheduled pistol trials for 1954 to supercede the 1911, as it was considered obsolete and heavy. They specified a 9mm 4" barrel, DA/SA, lightweight, and wrote those with the Walther P38 in mind. Colt and HR (? IIRC) submitted, then S&W entered late with the M39. Beancounters reminded everyone 2.5 million 1911's in service and millions of rounds of ammo would be expensive to replace, and Command gave it up because Korea. Handguns are not a priority in the service and another 30 years later the Beretta M9 - a Walther based pistol, too - was finally adopted.
Smith had already done all the work and went into production, in the late 60's it was adopted by the Illinois State Police and after that most departments looked over auto pistols as a replacement for all their revolvers. As that market was mostly Colt and Smith, they rode the wave of adoption and became the most commonly issued auto for LEO's. Then Glock appeared.
I see the 4566 TSW as the .45 equivalent of what we could have had rather than the 1911 for another tour of duty and a third arsenal rebuild. The Navy did buy them for the SEALS in a suppressed version. There is really a lot more history to the Smith autos than many know right now, because a lot of that did not jump from print media to the internet. Those in the know are who snap them up. An all metal duty pistol is practically non existent any more, the M9 superceded and most production has moved to polymer. If you want an American piece of firearms history the Smith 3Gens are the last.
