I am looking for a 9mm and a 5906 is on my "want" list. I am looking for a full size 9mm, prefer all metal. Are these guns all stainless steel? What is the weight unloaded? What do you like/dislike about your smith 9mm?

Thanks,
Keith

Unless you have $$$$ to burn, I strongly urge you to shop used. There's plenty of used police trade-ins that have been hardly shot that are readily available.

KY Imports is a good source for used trade-ins on S&Ws.

The 5906 is a good gun, sometimes accuracy is better than average, sometimes it's a bit to be desired. A new barrel will almost always solve that problem though.

Hope this helps.

The older ones were almost all silver/stainless steel, the newer ones are being sold with more blue parts, I'm not sure why.
But the 5906 frames are still stainless steel, with the 5903 being aluminum.
Weighing in at 37.5 oz. for the fixed sight version and 38 oz. for the adjustable sighted model.
Rounded or flat grips are available.
I don't like the front sight width, it could be narrower...I like lots of "daylight" between my sights.
A lot of folks aren't giving rave reviews on the triggers as they come from the box.
I worked mine over a bit, making them quite acceptable.
One note...treat them almost as a blued gun, they will "freckle" fairly fast if not taken care of. (rust)
I still have an older 659, the forerunner of the 5906 that shoots so well, I still use it, along with a 5903, 5906 and 645s.

I hope you find what you are looking for and that it shoots great too.

Some of the parts on older guns were hard chromed to give them a silver colored match to the rest of the gun (stainless frame and slide). S&W, due to EPA concerns, no longer hard chromes those parts, so you get hammers, triggers, etc now that are blue instead of silver.

The Novak sights are excellent, and can be easily replaced with night sights for a reasonable cost. The police trade-in guns are an excellent value; most have been fired little, and just have cosmetic wear. Since the pistol is all stainless, it can be bead blasted to refinish it easily.

There are a lot of hi-cap magazines available, because these pistols were very popular with law enforcement. KY Imports, I agree, is a good place to shop for used pistols and mags.

I have several 5906's in various forms, and they are my favorite 9mm. For very little cost, you can get an action job done to improve the smoothness of the trigger. Usually, a $25 re-crown of the barrel will turn a so-so shooter into a very accurate pistol.

I believe the 5906 is about the best value in a 9mm pistol. They are very underrated by folks that haven't shot them, but are excellent values, and a good, solid pistol.

Have run Smith nines for years.  I'm quite fond of them.  The all steel versions can be a bit heavy for everyday carry, but they also dampen recoil a bit.

Still a fair number of police trade ins out there tho not as many as in years past.  I have a 5646 that I believe came from Austin, Texas and is almost new.  Friend has one just like it in almost as good condition.

Smith's work great but, they like to be kept clean and lightly oiled.  Nothing special, just plain old gun oil works fine.