3rd Generation S&W Autos

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SwampWolf said:
I carry a Model 6906 (concealed) with some degree of regularity. All of Smith "Third Generation"variants are great, if sorely unappreciated, pistols, imo.
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Great carry guns. Mag disconnect IMO is their only fault if I have
to be critical.
 
Belt and suspenders heavy all stainless steel S&W 639. No one's ideal carry gun but it is so soft shooting with full powered 9mm.
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dodo bird said:
Great carry guns. Mag disconnect IMO is their only fault if I have
to be critical.
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Fault? For a LOT of years, S&W's were the choice in law enforcement in part BECAUSE of this feature. I wonder how many LEO's would agree this is a fault who were losing their gun in a struggle with a perp and dropped the mag had it save their lives. Like other things it's a feature that the overwhelmingly many times it's invisible.


The ONLY issue with it is the gun is temporarily disabled while changing mags. Answers to that?

1. Don't miss 15+ times
2. Change mags from cover
3. Change mags quick.

All require training, something many don't do enough of.

Anyway, I'd venture a guess that LEO's struggle physically more with a perp than run out of ammo without a BUG or other officer standing by.
 
Mine is humble, the "budget" Model 915. I got it from Gary Cole's company, maybe four or five years ago.

It's a good pistol. The trigger is pretty good, the sights are decent, it has good balance, has yet to malfunction, is as accurate as most service pistols, etc.

It's at the upper size/weight limit of what I'm willing to carry, but with a good belt and holster I've done it a few times OWB with a cover.

IMHO, a S&W Gen 3 is as effective as any other good service pistol roughly the same size.

A good service pistol is a reliable effective handgun. If it's been chosen by multiple PD's and or military organizations, I assume it's probably okay. After that, it's just a question of what kind of trigger system I prefer, how well that particular pistol fits my hand, if I like how the levers and buttons are placed, how it points for me, etc.

I have the typical ones: 1911, Hi Power, CZ75, Glock, etc. My 915 works as well as any of them.

Smith And Wesson Model 915

Smith And Wesson Model 915

 
gnappi said:
Fault? For a LOT of years, S&W's were the choice in law enforcement in part BECAUSE of this feature. I wonder how many LEO's would agree this is a fault who were losing their gun in a struggle with a perp and dropped the mag had it save their lives. Like other things it's a feature that the overwhelmingly many times it's invisible.


The ONLY issue with it is the gun is temporarily disabled while changing mags. Answers to that?

1. Don't miss 15+ times
2. Change mags from cover
3. Change mags quick.

All require training, something many don't do enough of.

Anyway, I'd venture a guess that LEO's struggle physically more with a perp than run out of ammo without a BUG or other officer standing by.
Click to expand...
I dunno. Is there any current service pistols used by Leo’s or military with a mag disconnect? I understand the concept I just wouldn’t want it.
 
gnappi said:
Fault? For a LOT of years, S&W's were the choice in law enforcement in part BECAUSE of this feature. I wonder how many LEO's would agree this is a fault who were losing their gun in a struggle with a perp and dropped the mag had it save their lives. Like other things it's a feature that the overwhelmingly many times it's invisible.


The ONLY issue with it is the gun is temporarily disabled while changing mags. Answers to that?

1. Don't miss 15+ times
2. Change mags from cover
3. Change mags quick.

All require training, something many don't do enough of.

Anyway, I'd venture a guess that LEO's struggle physically more with a perp than run out of ammo without a BUG or other officer standing by.
Click to expand...

I've been an LEO for 27 years...I've carried a few 3rd Gen S&W's with the mag disconnect, and several other handguns w/o a mag disconnect. Never has a magazine disconnect factored into my weapon retention plan/training. Any time the topic came up, no one I've ever talked to said they'd prefer a mag disconnect safety on a duty weapon.

I'm down to one 3rd Gen. now (4506), and don't carry it on duty anymore...the magazine safety has been removed on it.
 
kwb377 said:
I've been an LEO for 27 years...I've carried a few 3rd Gen S&W's with the mag disconnect, and several other handguns w/o a mag disconnect. Never has a magazine disconnect factored into my weapon retention plan/training. Any time the topic came up, no one I've ever talked to said they'd prefer a mag disconnect safety on a duty weapon.

I'm down to one 3rd Gen. now (4506), and don't carry it on duty anymore...the magazine safety has been removed on it.
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The fact is like on a Hi Power, it's there, train with it or not, use it or not. Whoever felt the lack of need bought another brand. Anyone who carried one and did not factor it into training was risking more than diatribe in a web comment.

As far as REMOVING parts the manufacturer installed, good fodder for the attorneys to question a LEO (current or ex or civvy) on the witness stand WHY they needed to remove a factory dafety. YMMV.

I don't care one way or another what others do but every one of my S&W's and Browning's still have the mag safety and my series 80's still have the firing pin safety.
 
3rd gens are great guns. Well made, durable, reliable and accurate, the only downside is that they’re heavy. Not an issue for me, but it is for some people. A 5906 was my first gun. Carried it in Desert Storm. Still have it. Liked it so much, I’ve got another 5906, and a 4006, a 1006, a 4506, and a 6906.

The 6906 is an alloy frame, so, a bit lighter. I’ve got a couple holsters for it, and carried for a while. I replaced it with a P365XL, which is much lighter and slimmer, while having the same capacity.

I would carry a 3rd Gen again without hesitation. Great guns. I’ll second the advice on getting magazines. They’re out of production and not getting any cheaper.
 
SW-semi-model-chart-1.jpg Please note: the frame of the "Standard" 6904 is a Compact frame. Confusing.o_O
My previous 3rd. Gen. (5906: solid Steel frame and slide) was bought just for variety at the club.

But being curious about the lighter weight 3rd. Gen. options, bought both a 908 and 6904 last December on GB (prices weren't bad, considering...). * Despite the 908 having only Three numbers, it's also a 3rd. Gen.
Sometimes the 6904 is carried, and prefer the even better ergos of the 908. Mostly carry the Walther P99 AS in the summer, Only due to the > plastic frame against sweaty inner t-shirts< .

If you are Really Into these guns ("obessesed" , ;)my wife's words - never mind her dozens of hand-made 19th Century German Meissen figurines) , there is a > list with tiny print < on Google images ( ** won't let me paste :scrutiny:), which lists many more variations. That long, Non-graphic list "blew me out of the water".

Guide to Smith & Wesson Semi-Auto Pistols & Their Model Numbers (luckygunner.com) Nice descriptions with the same color-coded chart, but much easier to read.

S&W 3RD GENERATION DISASSEMBLY/TEARDOWN (FRAME) VIDEO #1 OF 4 - YouTube His videos are excellent, close-up, well-illum. and his techniques are clearly explained.
My only previous dis- and reassembly of Any handgun frame (never did any slide) was the Sig P6. You can easily 'do' both guns' frames with the right videos.
 
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dodo bird said:
Is there any current service pistols used by Leo’s or military with a mag disconnect?
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Yes. More than you'd think. Including my department. Which is somewhat ironic, since when our officers go to buy a personal pistol the same as we issue, the commercial versions don't have the magazine disconnect "safety," the LE model is special order.

Back on topic, I'd feel fine packing my S&W 3913 but the 5906 as mentioned is a brick. A cool brick, but a brick nonetheless.
 
I'm reluctant to remove the mag safety in any of these guns.

Would a future owner (no idea now who they would be)... who I might not ever meet if suddenly incapacitated, or even a 'following owner'....> possibly assume< that they still have the mag safeties?
And possibly rely on the mag safeties while being careless, with a chambered round?

They might be new to guns or to these DA/SA S&Ws.
 
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dodo bird said:
I dunno. Is there any current service pistols used by Leo’s or military with a mag disconnect? I understand the concept I just wouldn’t want it.
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Mag disconnects are not as popular as they were in the 90’s, that is true. I love them and they’re a big reason why I love Smith and Ruger autos. Despite what “tactical operators” will tell you, there is ZERO real downside to them. I know I’m about to hear how the trigger is slightly improved when they are removed from the Browning High Power, but my targets never showed that. They have saved many documented lives, and since they prevent AD’s they have saved many many more that we”ll never hear about.

So now here comes the “what if I’m doing a tactical reload while I’m in a gunfight and need that one round” argument. It’s nonsense. To think that anybody other than a supremely trained combat veteran, not some guy who takes some course at Thunder Ranch, is gonna not only have the presence of mind to count his shots while he’s being shot at, but he’s also gonna have the manual dexterity under great stress to manipulate the weapon and get the magazine back in smoothly, is laughable. And what if he is that good, and he pulls it off? What are the odds that in that 1.5 seconds when the gun won’t fire, that he’s gonna need the one round in the gun? Aren’t tactical reloads supposed to be done under cover? And let’s say he did need that round and he fires it? He now has an empty gun that requires two hands to get working again since the slide is not locked open.

Mag disconnects are fine. The aversion to them is no different than the aversion to manual safeties. Completely unfounded regurgitated internet lore. My carry gun is a Ruger LC9S, specifically for the mag disconnect. I also carry a Smith 3953 for the same reason. I just bought a new Shield Plus for the added capacity. It doesn’t have a mag disconnect but I wish it did. I would have bought the Ruger Max 9 if it came with the disconnect but it didn’t so I went with the Shield. I carried a 5946 on duty and it is a heavy gun. I wouldn’t carry it off duty.

As for magazines, they are getting harder to find so they’re more expensive, but Mec Gar still makes excellent mags for the double stack series. I just bought a brand new 17 round Mec Gar mag yesterday for $25. I wish they’d make them for the single stack series.
 
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Homerboy said:
They have saved many documented lives,
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Happen to have any documented instances on hand? I've heard that they have allegedly been useful in struggle, etc, but I've never actually seen a real story about it.

Not that I've looked terribly hard.

I never really had a problem with them in the Rugers I've owned but I don't care for it in the Hi Power I used to have since the mags didn't drop free and the baseplates are awful small for stripping out quickly with any consistency.
 
JR24 said:
Happen to have any documented instances on hand? I've heard that they have allegedly been useful in struggle, etc, but I've never actually seen a real story about it.

Not that I've looked terribly hard.

I never really had a problem with them in the Rugers I've owned but I don't care for it in the Hi Power I used to have since the mags didn't drop free and the baseplates are awful small for stripping out quickly with any consistency.
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ive seen a few dash cam videos showing it. There are multiple law enforcement forums where their usefulness has been discussed. There’s a guy on YouTube named hrfunk who had a video up about one of the 3rd gen’s he has. Somebody mentioned it and he spoke at length about it. And of course, nobody hears about 98% of them since they’re not really newsworthy. If it bleeds, it leads. And the person not shot doesn’t rate much air time.

bottom line, the benefits outweigh the perceived drawbacks. And quite frankly, I think the “what if you need that one round during a tactical reload?” Excuse is pure fantasy.
 
I really like the way the stainless gen 3's look. They and the hi power just look so classy to me. I just wish I like shooting the gen3 as much as I like looking at them. They just don't fit me right.
 
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