what's the story on them, any good?

I had a 39 back in the day,    Very high quality that never missed a lick.    Single stack mag is the only drawback.

I had a M59 for about 13 years.  Shot very well, never misfired and was fairly accurate.

Smith and wesson autos are addictive.....their quality always impresses me.

Dated, but very nice guns.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Not the most friendly DA trigger. M59s will bark when they jump out of a holster during a foot pursuit and land hammer-first.

Carried it briefly before my dept. switched to 1911s.

They have magazine disconnects if that matters to you.

I removed mine.  Its a one minute task.

eww

mag disconnects are one of the most inane creations ever

To each their own...

I own 3 of the 5900 series guns / They are based on the 59 .

Guess I like em .

Nothing wrong with a single stack.

After shooting a M52 (based closely on the M39) way back when, I picked up a M39.  Damn, I love that gun.  I had a big problem with FTExtract I traced down to a weak extractor spring.  I replaced it with a Wolffe spring for no problems since.

I had an old set of aftermarket grips I sanded down for a slim grip.  Looks great and feels good.  The old grips were probably 3/8" thick and made the gun feel like a club.

My next gun project is to make a M39 frame from 7075 with finger grooves that fit me with a rail.  Got a box of parts, and a block of aluminum that was going to be a 1911.

I shoot a 5906.  It is beautiful, well built, always reliable and shoots very well indeed.  

The DA first shot is excellent as is the single action trigger on follow up shots.

The safety ears on the slide look more fragile than those on a Ruger P-89 or a Beretta 92FS.

The 5906 is louder to the shooter than the Glock 17, P-89, 92FS, etc.  

In very fast point shooting the 5906 does well but I like the others better, along with the CZ 75 and the BHP.

Those older SW pistols are works of art.

9(?) rounds of 9mm for the 39. Woo, woo.

15 rounds for the 59.


Great, an alloy frame 15round 9mm.

Shitty sights. Shitty trigger. Nickel finish! Can't believe that I traded a Winchester 9422 mag. and CASH for a Model 59.


I was a fucking dumbass.

Got a state trooper buddy that was disarmed in a fight. As they were rolling around fighting over the gun he dropped the mag and when the guy wrestled the pistol from him it would not go bang. Was a 4506. Saved his life.
I carried a 4006 for several years before the dept made me carry a Glock. I love those old Smiths.

I love my 3914. Single stack is a big reason I'm comfortable CCW all the time. Biggest drawback to me is the lack of holsters, grips, etc due to age and market share. If anyone knows where to get that stuff for the 39s let me know!

I'm a huge fan of this pistol series especially the ASP derivative. I really like the lady smith version. It is just the right size for ccw.

I have a 39-2. It is a sweet shooting pistol and fits the hand great.

GREAT pistols! Generation 3 got it right. I have two 5906s (great, heavy house guns with night sights and 20 round Mec-Gar mags) a 5903, 6906, 3913, and tomorrow, I go to pick up a 3904 I just bought to conceal carry some during the Summer. I want a Chiefs Special in 9mm (CS9).  Amazingly under rated pistols. They just flat feed and work and their stock trigger reset is the best. I just bought a Sig 229 and I swear it is not quite as good as any of my Smiths. (more bulk, slightly heavier and not so great trigger reset, I need to buy and install the SRT)

I had one and the first time I went shooting the mag release and spring went bye bye. Took S&W 9 months to get around to sending a new one to the gunsmith. Shortly after that I sold it to my BIL and it ended up killing some dude in a car full of hookers and blow, true story.

I purchased a 59 in 1982, I have put thousands of round down range with it. It is one of my go to guns in a time of need.

Only thing I dislike about it. If you have small hands the double wide mag can feel like a 2 by 4 in your hand.

excellent. If you can buy one of each. Go for it.

My 439 couldn't hit shit. Mags were ~$8 - 10 at the gun shows sometimes. The 459 was like holding a coke can with a trigger and it was just as accurate. I hated them both.

Nickle Model 39 is one of the sexiest pistols ever made. If I were to find a nice one at a fair price I would buy without consideration.

I have a 908. Wonderful reliable gun.

http://www.firearmssite.com/smith_wesson_908.htm

posted this mostly for the history of the 59 and 39. ignore the other moronic chatter such a s "too easy" and "gun master"

I bought a 39 soon after they came out.



It might  fire two shots in a row without jamming, but never three shots.



I took it apart and polished every surface on the frame and slide that came in contact with anything else.  I polished the feed ramp,  I polished the rails, polished every damn thing.  There was a disturbing amount of aluminum displaced on the frame rails by the rough finish of the steel slide.



And so on.



After that it would feed ball ammo normally, but only 7 or 8 at a time.  



I sold it and got a used Browning High Power, and never looked back.




 

Mel Tappan was really big on them in the day as well.  Liked the BHP better and the M1911 best though, IIRC.

CS45 and 3913 hands down the most reliable auto loaders I have owned.  Trust them with my life.

A 439 was the first handgun I bought, some thirty-four years ago.  Still have that 439 and still shoot it regularly. But it isn't one of my go-to guns after going through the 9mm vs .45 wars.

I've got a 4006 that I've owned since the mid 90's. I bought it used so I don't know what the round count was when I bought it but I'd say from the looks of the pistol it was low. I've put THOUSANDS of rounds of every type of ammo you can imagine through the pistol and have never had a single failure of any kind. It just shoots and shoots and shoots. I've never done anything to it but clean it. I'd like to have another one to keep it company. I will say that I don't carry it, it's far too bulky for that. But if I had to choose just ONE of my pistols to keep forever it would be the one.

I bought a S&W Model 59 in the mid 1970's, for $179, plus 4% sales
tax. I paid cash, showed them my driver's license, and carried the
pistol out of the shop. The good old days.





I put over 30,000 rounds through that Model 59, firing my reloads, using
cast lead bullets that I cast one at a time, in a cast iron pot over a
charcoal fire





Back then, I could reload a box of 9mm for almost exactly $1, including all costs for bullet casting.





I put a MMC fully adjustable rear sight on it. It was a LOT of fun to
shoot at soda cans, and it was very respectable on paper. At about 20
years 2"  groups were typical. Given that I was shooting cast lead
bullets from mixed manufacturer, MANY times reloaded brass, I found that
very acceptable.





Later, I bought a Browning Hi-Power, and I discovered that it wasn't as accurate as my aging S&W Model 59.





Shooting them side by side from a rest, using both lead bullets and
jacketed, the Smith and Wesson had a substantial edge in accuracy over
the venerable John Browning design. I attributed it to the design of the
Model 59 using a barrel bushing, which the Hi-Power lacks. Or, I had an
exceptionally good Model 59, and an exceptionally bad Hi-Power. The
sample size was too small for conclusive testing.





When the Model 59 was new, it was a jam-o-matic. It took several hundred
rounds before it was really reliable. After that, unless I had a
dented/deformed case that I didn't catch during reloading, it was 100%
reliable.





I didn't know you weren't supposed to fire 30,000 rounds through a
semiauto, and never replace any of the springs, even the recoil spring.
It was as reliable the last time I fired it as it was once I got it
broken in.





I traded the Model 59 in on an all stainless steel Model 659. I got $200 trade-in on it.





I would LOVE to get my hands on a really nice condition Model 59 again.





I owned a Model 39-2 for several years, as well. By this time, I a half
dozen handguns, and it didn't get that much range time, unfortunately.
It shot just as accurately and reliably as the Model 59. The grip, being
a single stack, was more comfortable than the Model 59. I REALLY liked
the Model 39-2, but, to my everlasting regret, I traded it away on some
other firearm.





THe first generation of S&W semiautomatic pistols lack a firing pin safety, just like the Hi-Power.





I have never heard of a Model 59 or 39 firing if dropped on the hammer,
but I did read a few stories about them firing when dropped muzzle down,
since there was nothing to keep the inertial firing pin from hitting a
chambered round.





IIRC,  in tests it took a drop of at least 4 feet onto a hard surface to (sometimes) get a Model 39/59 to fire.





Now, a third generation S&W semiauto, a compact 6906 is my daily CC
pistol, almost all of the time. I like the long DA trigger pull for the
first shot.





You just don't hear about negligent discharges involving DA/SA pistols,
like you do for Glocks and their similarly operating semiautos, do you?
 

I have and have had several. Nice pistols.

I like my 2nd Generation, a Model 659. It was made in 1984, according to the S&W Customer Service rep I talked to some years back. It belonged to the Old Man, who used it as an off-duty and undercover gun before he retired. It was his second one.

He gave it to me back in the Christmas of '93. It was my first centerfire handgun.

I had a 5906 for several years, duty carry. found a 39, wood grips nice shooting handgun.. I thought I'd use that as off duty,, then realized the 39 weighed just as much as the 5906 loaded... alloy vs steel.. I soon found out the differance..

My late father had a Model 39, which my brother has now.  It's been fired only a little, but never malfunctioned on me.  Feels great in the hand.

And how many of those ASPs were ever made?

I have a Ladysmith 3913 that was my first CCW. I need to take it out shooting. This was my winter gun and I had
a PPKS for summer. Got lazy and carried the PPKS all the time. Really need to go back to the 9mm.

Just enough to make them awesome tier 1 badass!For the record wikipedia states 450 ASP units produced. However the design grew legs and became the Devel and SW 3913.

Good stuff. Same size, weight and capacity as a Glock.

My 5904 is my favorite pistol. GF inherited a true model 59. Very good also.
IMO, these are really finely built pistols, and their durability is excellent.

Wife has a 3913 - I have a 5906.  Very good pistols, accurate, reliable and ergonomics that work with my hand.  I never considered letting them go.  GTG.



 

Still got a 5906 & 4006 very well made and reliable.