Lewieke,

Obtaining a Super 9 at a price equal to $500 American is an outrageously good deal. One of these with the three barrels sold over here at auction not long ago for almost $3,000!

While it is true that many shooters (of the very few that own 356TSW pistols, which include six semi-auto models and one revolver) do hand-load their ammunition, factory ammo is still available through online auctions or from places like this Forum where Smith enthusiasts gather. There is an ad right now in the classified section offering to sell 356TSW ammo, which was made by Federal in full metal jacket and hollow point versions, and by Cor-Bon in hollow point.

The ammunition is not prohibitively expensive or too valuable to shoot, with the full metal jacket rounds going for 75 cents to $1.50 per round, and the hollow points $1.25 and up. Yes, the ammo is precious, but it is still a viable round for target or self-defense shooting.

I am still astonished at the low price of that pistol overseas (though I don't understand the vagaries of exchange rates, etc.) and I can assure you that if you purchased it over there, and are legally able to sell it here, you could do so very, very quickly.

Congratulations on an amazing find. There were only 170 total of the pistol you have, with 100 shipped to Wischo and the others retained here in the U.S. With the other 356TSW models made by Smith, there are less than 1,500 of these semi-autos in the world, along with however many of the revolvers (the PC Model 940 "Pocket Rocket") Smith produced, for which I haven't seen numbers but would suspect they are very low (say, less than 500, as a guess.) See TJ Popkin's post above for a series of photos that includes the 940.

I am not a reloader myself, but I have read that those who do have used 9mm x 19 dies successfully, and I have seen both new and used brass offered for sale in the 356TSW case. Standard 9mm projectiles are used in this process, and reloading data is available online and from folks here who "roll their own."

__________________
Ukraine -- now more than ever