A guy out here that gives firearm instruction recently switched to a S&W 1911.  He was using a Sig.  I'm thinking of buying one eventually.

I recently snagged a Smith 10mm auto. Fookin' Mack truck. Big, heavy and badass.
Good shooter. Goes bang everytime and very little recoil with DT rounds.
Glad I bought it . Fun to CCW. If I can only find a 1006 now. 610 too.

Quoted: Why no love for smith and wesson autos?   'Cause they're FUGLY.

+1

They just don't look right.

Got a 4506 and love it!

The sell-out did a lot of damage to them and to their reputation, but perhaps the main reason is that when compared side by side to other manufacturers (Sig, Glock, etc. etc) they are generally uncomfortable to shoot, the triggers are gritty and heavy and accuracy can be poor.

Some friends (long-time rifle shooters) bought their daughter a S&W semi-auto for her birthday. A week or so later at the range, she bought the gun over to me and complained that she was having trouble getting decent groups with it, and asked me to try.

The best I could do at 50' was about a 4" group (I can regularly get >1" with my Sig). The only thing I could suggest was to put a lot more rounds through it and hope it smoothed out -- I am guessing that it would. It was good enough for personal protection, but a long way from what you would expect from a mainline manufacturer.

I have seen a few (very few) at CHL classes, they tend to shoot bigger groups too.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: imo the only good s&w autos are the ones that have been out of production for at least 15+ years. like my model 52. img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/763090/mod52.JPG You don't like the 952? 38spl wadcutter > 9mm. its  like compairing  a race tuned ferrari  to porche . Night and day sort of thing.

9mms can be "Ferraris", unless you consider the Sig 210 a "Porsche"...

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The only real reason they aren't more popular is that they have not been featured in a COOL shoot em up movie. Reservoir Dogs... Sonny Crocket carried a 4506 after the second season, when he stopped carrying the Bren Ten.... That being said, I love my 1006....but I like big heavy semi auto's. And I can't find a Bren Ten

FYI-Crocket's Bren Ten was converted to 45ACP, because 10mm blanks were extremely difficult to get at that time, circa 1984.

SEVERAL years ago, I had to send my personally-owned Glock 21 back to Glock for an upgrade. While the G21 was gone, I carried a PD-issue 5906.

After a good detail-strip and cleaning, it was a tank. It fed and functioned with EVERYTHING I ever put through it. Accuracy was decent, if not spectacular. It felt decent in my hand, too. Not great, mind you, but decent and, for me, pointed pretty well, too. This particular weapon had been shot enough that the trigger was even pretty decent.

As for the mag safeties, a S&W mag safety saved the lie of an Officer here quite a few years ago. The Officer was responding to a call where two bad guys were breaking into the coin boxes at a local laundrymat. He didn't know there were two of them. One started talking to him, the second one jumped him (we won't get into situational awareness here and now) and got his S&W 5906 (the same one I had carried a few years before this, as a matter of fact). During the struggle, the Officer managed to dump the mag. It kept them busy till the Officer could make a strategic withdrawl (we were forbidden to carry back-ups at that time, this call changed that policy). Back-up arrived at that point and the two perps were taken into custody without further incident. In fact, they are still both doing hard time for it.

Now, I know about the fact that, if the trigger is even SLIGHTLY depressed when the mag is dumped, the trigger will still pull and the weapon will still fire. I also know that mag safeties should not be a substitute for weapon retention. However, because of this particular safety, this Officer is still around.

Say what you want about S&W autos, I like them. They aren't my favorites, but I like them. The Sigmas suck but every one of the 3rd Gen autos I've ever shot have been pretty good. In fact, I'm trying to talk a friend into selling me the 1006 he used when he and I went through the Academy with in '90/'91. It's a SWEET weapon! Over the years, I've owned a 6906 and a 4516. Both had to be sold a few years ago when the wife and I were having bad money trouble and I've been looking to replace the 4516 ever since. It makes a HELL of a bedstand gun!

Bub

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: imo the only good s&w autos are the ones that have been out of production for at least 15+ years. like my model 52. img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/763090/mod52.JPG You don't like the 952? 38spl wadcutter > 9mm. its  like compairing  a race tuned ferrari  to porche . Night and day sort of thing. 9mms can be "Ferraris", unless you consider the Sig 210 a "Porsche"...

garsh dern spellin natzi's.....

the 210 is more like   duesenberg sj

Back in the day many troopers carried a S&W 39,nine+1,the navy and seals carried them!

The 439was the secound gen of this pistol!!!

Some of these old  S&W pistols feel great in the hand(they have some really delicate trigger parts)and I would prefer any 1911A1 over this for carry!!

I have a 39-A ,and a 439 nickle plated with factory adjustable rear sights,amby safety  that I enjoy to own and shoot!!!

+1 on twenty or thirty year old S&W autos!!!


Bob

S&W autos (except the 1911) are crap in my opinion. I have shot a couple, and did not like any of them. IMO, they are bulky, inaccurate, and the DAO trigger is the worst! I put them in the same basket as the Ruger(P89,90,94) semi-autos. I haven't shot the S&W 1911 nor do I know anyone who owns one, so I can't say on that model. I hear the Ruger P345 is pretty nice, but I haven't handled one as of yet.
Again, just my opinion.

Quoted: Quoted: Why no love for smith and wesson autos?   'Cause they're FUGLY. +1 They just don't look right.

+1000
They even make Rugers look good.

Well to each his own I guess...I've been carrying a 3914 for over 10 years, and I absolutely love the gun.  I put it on hiatus for a few months and tried replacing it with a Glock 19 and two Sigs (a P225 and P226) but I found myself coming back the my Smith & Wesson.

Maybe it's just a comfort thing, but to each his own.  One's choice of gun is as individual as your choice of underwear, and equally personal.

Rule #1 of a Gunfight: Bring a Gun.

<---Owns a S&W SW99 in the .40 flavor. I LOVE IT!! Feels better than Glcoks or most any other gun I have tried. I have found a new love for Kimber 1911's though. So there on par with me.

Quoted: The only real reason they aren't more popular is that they have not been featured in a COOL shoot em up movie.

Resevoir Dogs was a good promo IMHO. Made me want a 5906.

ETA, we had a 3913 and 6906 for rental and they took the abuse very well. Shot great too.

I own a S&W 4046 and while the trigger sucks in comparison to my P226. In the 10,000 rounds I have put through it in the past 5 years i've never had a single malfunction of anykind nothing, zip, nada. Every time I pulled the trigger the gun went off and the spent brass ejected properly which is surprising since ive cleaned the thing maybe about three times ever. So even though I dont plan on purchasing any other S&W autos I got plenty of love for them.

If you count the .22's, I have 12.  My carry weapon for years was a Smith 59.  I've carried all three generations thru my career. There is a 4506 on the desk beside the computer right now. Those guns will still be ticking along way after we all are gone.  I have yet to break any part on any of them.

I find it funny people whine about "Looks"  on what is esssentially a piece of lifesaving equipment. (While probably carrying some plastic pistol made famous by Arnold.)

Do firemen bitch about the "looks" of an particular fire extinguisher or Hurst tool?

I have a 4506 and a 410.  No problems with either one.............

My first handgun was a used S&W Model 59A. I loved that gun, but I was young and stupid so I sold it. A few years back I picked up a S&W 908S. I love that gun too. I have never had a single problem with it.

I dhot one SW auto, trigger sucks

Quoted: As for the mag safeties, a S&W mag safety saved the lie of an Officer here quite a few years ago.... Now, I know about the fact that, if the trigger is even SLIGHTLY depressed when the mag is dumped, the trigger will still pull and the weapon will still fire. I also know that mag safeties should not be a substitute for weapon retention. However, because of this particular safety, this Officer is still around. ...

I don't think all their autos have mag safeties. I think my SW9F will fire with no magazine inserted.

I have a 5906. First pistol I bought when I was of age to do so. I've fired a lot of rounds through it, and it's eaten everything. Never broke or malfunctioned on me. For a while it was the only pistol I had, and I never felt undergunned. Don't know where the accuracy question comes from, my Smith groups good enough for what I would use it for (to fight my way back to my rifle), and for informal target shooting, there's few cans or bottles or whatever I've missed with it.

The trigger pull is head and shoulders above a Beretta or a Glock, IMO.

Quoted: Quoted: I am totally predjudiced against them but I admit that I have never fired or even handled one. Maybe they do need to buy a spot in a cool new movie. So if Laura Croft had carried two Performance Center guns you'd like Smiths better?

Sometimes that's all it takes.

Quoted: Worst fucking, god awful, shitty triggers from a real manufacturer I have ever seen. Sweet wheels, craptastic autos.

That's my experience as well. I worked at a FFL who stocked S&W revolvers and pistols 13, 14 & 15 yrs ago when S&W was at it's peak in terms of semi autos pistol production.

Quoted: I had a 3913 and a 5906.  Great shooters and impossible to wear out.  That 5906 is on (at least) its 5th owner by now.   The Smith was a state-of-the-art gun back when Colt, Springfield, and Thompson were the three major players in the 1911 market and had forgotten how to make a quality 1911 (for you whipper snappers who were too young for that era).  The models, calibers, and configurations were so extensive at one point, it was mind boggling. Smith and Wesson politics essentially abandoned gun owners in the past, not entirely unlike Colt now. California Highway Patrol is still carrying the SW 4006, unless they recently changed.

I still have my 5906 9mm.  I bought it 1 week after I turned 21, right before the high-cap ban took effect.  In 14 yrs. it has only misfired due to faulty primers.

I never like the plastic grips so I put on the Hogue rubber.  It's a bit beefy to hold but it feels better in the hand.

The grip angle isn't great either, but I can't tell much difference between it and a Glock.


I don't think I will ever sell it.

Quoted: <---S&W fan. Screw the politics, my guns work.

I like my 6906.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The only real reason they aren't more popular is that they have not been featured in a COOL shoot em up movie. Reservoir Dogs... Sonny Crocket carried a 4506 after the second season, when he stopped carrying the Bren Ten.... That being said, I love my 1006....but I like big heavy semi auto's. And I can't find a Bren Ten

Doesn't Vic Mackey(character played by Michael Chiklas) on "The Shield" carry a S&W of some sort?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The only real reason they aren't more popular is that they have not been featured in a COOL shoot em up movie. Reservoir Dogs... Collateral too (Tom Cruise steals a guard's S&W auto at the end of the movie). Granted, he does most of his hits with an H&K USP .45, and one with a silenced suppressed Ruger .22. Edit: had to change silenced to suppressed before the suppressor nazis see that (even though Hiram Maxim, its inventor called it a silencer )

In "Collateral", I thought Tom Cruise's character was carrying a SIG of some flavor...

Alright. I'll admit it.

I never liked them because there were too many variants that all looked the same, none of which were my type.

Guity.

I loves me some S&W autos!!  

The trusty 1006 resides under the pillow, while my 4566 enjoys CCW rotation. Those are definately some thweet a$$ pistols.

I love 4506. But I love my Sig 220 more.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The only real reason they aren't more popular is that they have not been featured in a COOL shoot em up movie. Reservoir Dogs... Sonny Crocket carried a 4506 after the second season, when he stopped carrying the Bren Ten.... That being said, I love my 1006....but I like big heavy semi auto's. And I can't find a Bren Ten

After dumping the Bren Ten he went to a 645 then a 4506 in the last season.

I have a 4506 and while it is a huge fricken pistol for only holding 8 rounds it does what is suspossed to. The trigger pull is a little funky and takes some getting used to but it's not bad overall. I went with it over a SIG when I bought it in the late 80's while looking for  adouble action big bore because it had the ambi saftey and I hated the decocker on the SIG since i am left handed.

Quoted: The only real reason they aren't more popular is that they have not been featured in a COOL shoot em up movie.

Didn't "Sonny" carry a model 59.. in Miami Vice for a while?