Old Smith Autos should be the new 1911.

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As an example, Gen3 S&W DA/SA semiautomatic pistols simply do not have the acceptance, thus after market manufacturing support base that the 1911 series pistol have. If S&W no longer supports their product line 3Gen, then who is going to pickup the slack? Most likely no one.
 
Actually, Apex Tactical, the company that gives the m&p everything the company calling itself s&w couldn't be bothered to - good trigger/accurate barrels - has said it will begin producing spare parts for the 3rd gen guns.

Not that they are needed. In almost 28 years of carrying and shooting 3rd gen guns, I haven't broken any parts. :)
 
I have owned three gen 3 Smith autos...a 6906, a 645 and I currently have a 4506-1...I never cared for the double action pull of any of them....and the single action pull was pretty sad also due to the design of the firing pin blocking system. The 6906 would stove pipe on a full mag so I had to keep it a couple of rounds low to get it to feed..not good! The 645 was reliable but trigger was pretty bad on that one. I kept the 4506-1 and removed the firing pin block and stoned the sear....the trigger will never be as crisp as a tuned 1911 but it is good. The double action is only acceptable but since this is my deer hunting gun I only shoot it single action. The plusses of this gun is that it is the most accurate out of the box .45 I have ever shot and is probably the simplest to convert to .45 super..which is what I did to mine. You can literally shoot Super in a stock gun. However I increased my recoil spring to 18# just to make me feel good (I really did not have to) and I installed a stronger firing pin return spring so that the firing pin would drag the primer a little less..although the gun functioned perfectly in Super wilthout it....I like this gun and I am glad I bought it new in the late '80's but there are better guns out there now....
 
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Had a couple of the S&W Model 469s and one of the Model 669 series and while it was compact, accurate, and extremely reliable the DA trigger felt like it was way too long and somewhat on the mushy side. Single action wasn't much better, at least on the guns I had. Never cared for the slide mounted safety and the original grips were not the most ergonomic or comfortable to use. While they were a decent design and fairly well made, I can't see any appreciable (or profitable), reason why any manufacturer (least of all S&W), would want to start building them again.
 
Richard Jay King said:
I have owned three gen 3 Smith autos...a 6906, a 645 and I currently have a 4506-1...I never cared for the double action pull of any of them....and the single action pull was pretty sad also due to the design of the firing pin blocking system. The 6906 would stove pipe on a full mag so I had to keep it a couple of rounds low to get it to feed..not good! The 645 was reliable but trigger was pretty bad on that one. I kept the 4506-1 and removed the firing pin block and stoned the sear....the trigger will never be as crisp as a tuned 1911 but it is good. The double action is only acceptable but since this is my deer hunting gun I only shoot it single action. The plusses of this gun is that it is the most accurate out of the box .45 I have ever shot and is probably the simplest to convert to .45 super..which is what I did to mine. You can literally shoot Super in a stock gun. However I increased my recoil spring to 18# just to make me feel good (I really did not have to) and I installed a stronger firing pin return spring so that the firing pin would drag the primer a little less..although the gun functioned perfectly in Super wilthout it....I like this gun and I am glad I bought it new in the late '80's but there are better guns out there now....
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Yeah the 4500 series is one of the few 45 ACP chambered pistols that can handle the 45 Super with mostly just a recoil spring swap.
 
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Bought a few 3rd gen Smiths a couple years ago and have been very impressed with their fit, feel, function, and accuracy. Only semi automatic I’ve ever seen that would chamber an empty casing. No need for that in the real world but it does prove that S&W did their homework!
 
JTQ said:
While I'm ready to admit the S&W TDA auto's have had their day and time has passed them by, and I've owned an S%W 4506 since the late 1980's, I always consider the "backwards operating, slide mounted safety" argument a little of a head scratcher.

It's a safety/decocker. Unless required by your employer to use it as a safety, nearly everybody simply uses the device as a decocker. Round chambered, hammer decocked, safety off.

I'll use the safety if I throw the gun in a bag, or if it's placed in a nightstand drawer, but if I have the gun on me, the hammer is decocked and the safety is off. It's an added safety feature that can be used for some circumstances, but is not normally used for carry.
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To be perfectly honest I do not own nor have I ever owned or carried a S&W 3rd generation auto. I do own & used to carry an old Ruger P-series. I remember reading people on forums like this one saying that one could merely leave the safety off & not worry about training to use it. That it wasn't a big deal. So I did that when I carried the Ruger until one day when I had left the safety off & then when unholstering at the end of the day I realized it was on. Now it didn't hurt anything because I didn't need to use the pistol that day. In all honestly I was hunting that day & using a climbing stand so I was probably more active than most would be. The thing is that just because a safety is left off doesn't mean it will stay off. If I am going to carry a gun that has an external safety I better train to take it off when I draw else I might be pulling a trigger & wondering why nothing is happening. The old Ruger might still get carried some if it was the decocker only version but for me the slide mounted safety is a deal breaker.
 
The.model 39 was a great pistol for its time. I never saw what the later pistols did better than the P226.
 
I had a 639 that was super clean and I should not have sold it. The super short trigger reset was one of its best attributes. It was great plinker. That's all I used it for.
 
I have a 59 that I sent to Devel in the early '80s for a function & reliability upgrade, a bobbed hammer for concealed carry and a beveled Magwell.

Back then NOBODY spent $150 to upgrade a $300 gun, but I was told that a representative from Bangor Punta was at Devel and examined my gun, which in turn gave rise to the 669 and several others.

I haven't shot it in years, but it is nice owning a little piece of firearm history.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
As much as I love my 39, it will never have the 1911 military pedigree or mystique- despite the fact that a few silenced "Hushpuppy" 39s did see action in 'Nam.
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i don't know about that. I know that some Brit fellas carried 39s while stationed in Northern Ireland. Once upon a time.
 
The old smith and wesson semi autos were great guns, as were the Ruger p series ........but they are too expensive to build today and still make any profit.
 
mrmike7189 said:
The old smith and wesson semi autos were great guns, as were the Ruger p series ........but they are too expensive to build today and still make any profit.
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You nailed it!!! Today it all about $$$$$. That is why so many glocks are in LE holsters. Glock 'markets' them to budget conscious LE 'administrators' at LOW prices.
 
Jim Rau said:
You nailed it!!! Today it all about $$$$$. That is why so many glocks are in LE holsters. Glock 'markets' them to budget conscious LE 'administrators' at LOW prices.
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It’s always been about money. Show me any company that didn’t care about it that’s still in business.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
It’s always been about money. Show me any company that didn’t care about it that’s still in business.
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ROGER THAT!!! It is $$$$$ keeps the world turning!:oops: But to some of us there are more important things than $$$$$.;) MERRY CHRISTMAS jar head!!!:D
The 1911 has been going strong for almost 110 years now. I wonder where the plastic guns with be in 100+ years!
 
Merry Christmas
I have a 1911 that had it’s 100th birthday last August. my oldest Polymer frame handgun is only 18 years old.
But I do remember all the talk about how polymer frame guns would never hold up.
Over the years we have seen guns come and go, with only a few sticking around.
I have seen where Polymer 80 is coming out with new frames for different guns. I wonder how they will do.
 
jar said:
Fortunately they don't have to come back since lots and lots and lots are still here.
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No one is shooting them for fear of parts breakage and searching far and wide. Yeah, I heard they don’t break. BS.
 
CZ can make and sell every one of their pistols priced at 2k but yet S&W can't build a modernized 3rd gen for completion.

Walter makes a steel framed PPQ and Beretta does a stainless 92.
 
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