If you carry a 6946, what is your 9mm loading of choice? I'm liking the 115-grain +P+ (I keep my 5946 "house gun" loaded with it), but I worry about the wear and tear on the aluminum frame. Thoughts?
Gonzo

Gold Dot 124+P. I don't worry about wear in my defense loads.

I certainly agree with ShelbyV8 -- GD124+p have an excellent reputation for penetration and expansion. However, I've been carrying a 6906 with Winchester 147JHP for a couple of years now primarily because I use 147JHP for my full sized framed "house guns".

Changed to the 147JHP because I found it to be the most accurate round for a 5946 I was carrying a few years ago. Your results may vary!

New Years Resolution for me will be to try some Gold Dots for the 6906! A recent post by Norfdet, IIRC, did note frame wear in LEO 6900 Series guns after a long steady diet of +P ammo.

Don't worry...that aluminum frame will take a steady diet of 9mm 115 grain +P+ for longer than you could imagine. It'll last you a lifetime.

I speak from actual experience.

quote:

Originally posted by jed1177:
Don't worry...that aluminum frame will take a steady diet of 9mm 115 grain +P+ for longer than you could imagine. It'll last you a lifetime.

I speak from actual experience.

That seems to be the general agreement. Thanks!
Gonzo

You can put what you want through your 6900 series guns but i can tell you from a 750 man department, those aluminum frames will take a beating over time and as a Firearms Instructor, I saw my fair share of cracked frames and slides and we were NOT using +p ammo in them. When we eventually transitioned to the 5900 series guns we did issue +p ammo to those that had them but the other that had either a 6900 or 3953 were strictly forbidden to fire +p ammo out of them and they were still issued the 147gr subsonic 9mm loads for their pistols (our original duty load since the early 90's).

However I will add that a personally owned 6900 series pistol will probably fair better than an LE gun that is knocked around daily, I still would not trust putting too much +p if any at all through a 6900 series gun.

YMMV.

norfdet:

Approx how many rounds went thru your department's 6900 series guns before they began to have cracked frames (and slides?)?

quote:

Originally posted by Tony S45:
norfdet:

Approx how many rounds went thru your department's 6900 series guns before they began to have cracked frames (and slides?)?

Hard to tell as some weapons were recycled over and over until they just wore out, some of the older ones which were probably the original ones (circa 1990-1991 approx). I had an older gun which was issued to me used in 1998 and I put about 8,000 rounds through it over an 18 month period and I started breaking pins on the inside of the gun and have to have the decocking lever deburred (what ever that means) quite a few times in order to get it to decock smoothly without hanging up. Mine also sounded like a bag of change when you locked the slide to the rear and shook it. However, had I been issued the gun NIB, I can assure you that it would have fared better. Most of the ones that the original offers retained until we transitioned were in much better shape than those that were issued over and over again.

My former partner was NOT a shooter and his 6906 was probably 8 years old or so and it had a crack on the underside of the slide. I would average his round count at somewhere around 5,000 or so. That one was sent back to S&W and they said that it was ok for duty.

It was also not uncommon for the older guns to have decocking levers come off (there is a retaining pin on the right lever, when that pin breaks the lever comes off and you essentially have 2 razor blades sitting there) and have decockers hang up and have to be smoothed out in order to function.

Other departments also had 6900 series pistols and IIRC they switched out their weapons about every 5 years whether their officers needed it or not. In my opinion we extended ours out way past their service life, probably 10 years or more.

I have said it many times before, if you buy a LE trade-in S&W (6900 series or aluminum alloy frame)and you have the opportunity, check it out throughly before you buy it. Check the frame rails, especially around where the slide stop pin goes through to ensure there are no cracks and check the underside of the slide for hairline cracks, these were the most common places I saw them. Also remove the grips and check for rust underneath, this was extremely common as most LEO's don't remove them and clean under them.

norfdet:

Thanks for the info.

Based on the way I clean, shoot, and baby my guns, I therefore estimate that my current 6906 should last until the year 2525, or my passing into eternity, whichever occurs first.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony S45:
norfdet:

Thanks for the info.

Based on the way I clean, shoot, and baby my guns, I therefore estimate that my current 6906 should last until the year 2525, or my passing into eternity, whichever occurs first.

I would say that you should be fine, I owned a 6906 before they issued me one and my personal one was much tighther (tolerances) and in much better shape that the one they gave me. But then again, I was not banging mine getting in and out of cars, subjecting it to the weather, scraping it against buildings, etc.

The one noticeable thing that I noticed was that the bicycle officers would usually have rust around their rear sight. This came from resting their elbow on the gun when they got off of the bike and the accumulation of sweat settling on the sight. When the guns came in for their yearly maintenance, I would make the individual officers scrub the rust off of their sights.

I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL CRACKED FRAMES. EVERYONE WAS CAUSED BY THE SAME PROBLEM. THE OWNER NEVER CHANGED THE RECOIL SPRING.SPRINGS DON'T LAST FOREVER.PEOPLE KNOW TO CHANGE THE SHOCKS ON THEIR CARS BUT NEVER CONSIDER CHANGING THE RECOIL SPRINGS ON THEIR PISTOLS.

AND BY THE WAY I SHOOT WINCHESTER RA9T , 147GR SXT IN MY 5943SSV. I HAVE HAD IT FOR A LONG TIME WITH THOUSANDS OF RDS THRU IT . NO SIGNS OF STRESS AND VERY LITTLE WEAR. BUT I DID CHANGE THE RECOIL SPRING SEVERAL TIMES. JP

Excellent point, PPCSHOOTER.

Thanks. Will order new recoil springs in my ususal monthly call to Brownells.

PPCSHOOTER, excellent point. I had never really thought about what effects a worn out recoil spring could have on a frame, I usually experience a malfunction when my springs wear out but never put it in perspective. I don't remember if we had a scheduled replacement for recoil spring replacement other than an experienced problem. Something to consider. I know when I buy a used Semi-Auto I almost always buy a replacement recoil spring for it.

HERE IS A SIMPLE GUIDE. WHEN YOU GET A NEW PISTOL BUY A NEW RECOIL SPRING. IF IT IS A USED PISTOL BUY 2 NEW SPRINGS.REPLACE THE USED SPRING IN THE USED GUN WITH A NEW ONE AND FOLLOW THE GUIDE.

LEAVE 1 SPRING NEW IN THE PACKAGE BUT HAVE IT IN YOUR CLEANING KIT. WHEN YOU CLEAN YOUR PISTOL COMPARE THE USED RECOIL SPRING TO THE ONE THAT IS NEW IN THE PACKAGE.THE USED SPRING IN THE GUN WILL SHORTEN WITH USE. WHEN THE USED SPRING APPEARS 3 COILS SHORTER THAN THE NEW SPRING SIMPLY REPLACE IT. SIMPLE GUIDE, EASY TO FOLLOW.

I HAVE BOUGHT MORE BROKEN GUNS THAT WERE FIXED WITH A SIMPLE RECOIL SPRING CHANGE THAN I CAN REMEMBER. JP

I carry a 6904 with Federal EFMJ reduced recoil rounds. And thank you for the suggestion as I've just ordered some recoil springs.

What about the rest of the springs in the gun?