More S&W 9mm '90s Retro Goodness!

[Miami_JBT]

Got the NIB S&W SW9F Sigma last week. Well, just today, I snagged another NIB 9mm S&W.



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Yup, a S&W "Value Series" Model 910 pistol.



These were the last of the consumer grade guns made by Big Blue. They cut every corner they could to make them cost competitive against the GLOCK.



Less machining to the frame and slide (ie, more blocky), replacement of some metal parts with plastic parts, and the same style sights as what would later be found on the Sigma. Prior to that, S&W used NOVAK sights and those cost Big Blue a pretty penny.



The 910 and SW9F were what S&W had to compete against GLOCK. The 910 is not a bad pistol by any means. But compared to the earlier 3rd Gen guns, the Value Series is like buying a fleet vehicle built Ford Ranger with a 4 cylinder engine, bench vinyl seats, AM only radio, roll up windows, and no A/C.

 

[Miami_JBT]

 

[Riomouse911]

I remember those being advertised and thought about picking one up, but I was a) newly married (to my future ex wife) and money was tight and b) I finagled a 4013 a couple of years earlier as an off duty so I figured I would quit while I was ahead.

That Smith looks like its in really, really good shape, I bet it wasn’t fired much at all.

Stay safe.

 

[Tallball]

Mine was a LE turn-in. IIRC, the 915 had the external cost-saving features, but not the internal ones.

This one has been completely reliable. The trigger is so-so, but it's a good shooter and would be just fine for SD.

Good way to get a 3rd Gen S&W without paying the increasingly high prices of the fancier ones.

Smith And Wesson Model 915

• Tallball
• Feb 14, 2018

 

[armedwalleye]

I found a 908 on Armslist years ago, and the guy, upon finding out it was “value series”, made a counteroffer against his own asking price.....and I added it to my collection as my first value series for 2.5 Benjamins.

Sweet little shooter, and found some mislabeled magazines cheap at a gun show.

As luck would have it, those same magazines also fit a recent purchase, a 3953....

Sometimes things just work out well.

 

[commygun]

Had a 411 (which the AWB turned into the 410). Nothing wrong with it other than it had no lasting niche with me. So I traded it for something I can no longer recall. Heck, I guess I don’t miss either of those guns.

 

[gnappi]

Sigh, I got all my "Vintage" S&W's before they were vintage

 

[Beck]

Nice score on a brand new 910. That's something you don't see every day.

My 915 was my duty weapon in the 1990s right up into year 2000. I still have it. I've rarely come across such a reliable weapon. Funny that it was introduced as a budget version of the 5904. There's nothing budget about the quality, only the lower price.

I replaced the factory sights with Novak sights and put Hogue rubber grips on it. That's all it took to make it into something I would still prefer over anything else out there in a firefight.

It's still my main squeeze. I just bought 3 new Mec-Gar 17-rnd magazines for it earlier this year. I've got a drawer full of original S&W 15-rnd mags for it... a few stainless and the original blued magazine that came with it, as well as some older Mec-Gar 15-rnd. They all function like new. That gun was built to last and it certainly has in my case.

In retrospect the 915 came to be favored by a lot of LEOs over the 5904 and 5906, especially small departments like mine where you had to buy your own duty weapon... or live with whatever *&%#@ they issued. A buddy of mine who was an Illinois state trooper in District 10 was instrumental in me choosing a 915. At the time ISP carried the 5904 and 5906.

The "features" they left out on the 915 and the first run 910, like the ambidextrous safety weren't necessary for most people. I sure didn't need it.

The "Less machining to the frame" where it tapers down to the front resulted in a stronger, more robust frame than that of the pricier 5904. In many ways Smith & Wesson accidentally made a better version and sold it for less.

The later runs of the 910 did have more significant corner cutting like those plastic parts, but nothing that can't be remedied with some spare parts for the 5904 or 915. Nearly all parts are interchangeable within the full size 3rd Gen 5900 series.

Anyway, nice find on both of those Smiths you snagged. I'm feeling a little envious at the moment.

 

[Anchorite]

Love my 915.

 

[Miami_JBT]

Sigh, I got all my "Vintage" S&W's before they were vintage

I got most of mine before they were vintage too.

 

[Miami_JBT]

Nice score on a brand new 910. That's something you don't see every day.

My 915 was my duty weapon in the 1990s right up into year 2000. I still have it. I've rarely come across such a reliable weapon. Funny that it was introduced as a budget version of the 5904. There's nothing budget about the quality, only the lower price.

I replaced the factory sights with Novak sights and put Hogue rubber grips on it. That's all it took to make it into something I would still prefer over anything else out there in a firefight.

It's still my main squeeze. I just bought 3 new Mec-Gar 17-rnd magazines for it earlier this year. I've got a drawer full of original S&W 15-rnd mags for it... a few stainless and the original blued magazine that came with it, as well as some older Mec-Gar 15-rnd. They all function like new. That gun was built to last and it certainly has in my case.

In retrospect the 915 came to be favored by a lot of LEOs over the 5904 and 5906, especially small departments like mine where you had to buy your own duty weapon... or live with whatever *&%#@ they issued. A buddy of mine who was an Illinois state trooper in District 10 was instrumental in me choosing a 915. At the time ISP carried the 5904 and 5906.

The "features" they left out on the 915 and the first run 910, like the ambidextrous safety weren't necessary for most people. I sure didn't need it.

The "Less machining to the frame" where it tapers down to the front resulted in a stronger, more robust frame than that of the pricier 5904. In many ways Smith & Wesson accidentally made a better version and sold it for less.

The later runs of the 910 did have more significant corner cutting like those plastic parts, but nothing that can't be remedied with some spare parts for the 5904 or 915. Nearly all parts are interchangeable within the full size 3rd Gen 5900 series.

Anyway, nice find on both of those Smiths you snagged. I'm feeling a little envious at the moment.

It is a nice gun....

 

[Anchorite]

Remind me of the difference between the SD and the SV variants? I still see them for sale at gun shows, etc. Price always seems very reasonable.