Model 39 Military Magazines

[kwill1911]

Never used magazines and dust cover:

These were designed in hopes of appealing to military customers, but other than small shipments, S&W never landed a big contract for the Model 39. After a couple of years of tracking early pre-Model 39 and Model 39 pistols I cannot detect any pattern as to when the military magazines were shipped with a gun and when a standard magazine (with holes, rather than skeletonized) were in the box. It appears to be random. Same with the dust cover. Does anyone know differently?
Regards,
Kevin Williams

[Tom Kent]

I can tell you that Navy Seals in Viet Nam had access to S&W 39s. I am told by former Seals from that time period that the 39s had NO serial numbers or markings of any kind on them. I am also told that they had steel frames. Perhaps they used that type of Magazine.

[grif684]

I have read about ( I think it was here on the forum) about a dealer who would give purchasers of model 39s a dust cover as sort of a "throw in". Like you, I beleive S&W probably shipped model 39s randomly with military magazines until the inventory was exhausted. We will probably never know for sure, it seems S&W did not document which (military or commercial) magazines were shipped with each pistol sold. I have an early 39-2 transitional that came with a dust cover, but no way to know if it was shipped from S&W or added by the dealer. I recently bought a military magazine, but the seller had no history on it, nor any idea what it was.

[t-bird]

Thanks for the info and pics.

[SmithNut]

I've really not studied the M39, but once owned this steel framed M39, it had two mags - one was the military mag - do not know if it was originally shipped.

Have only seen a couple dust covers, never had the chance to procure one.

Is Richard McMillan (sp?) still around and active? I'm sure he could provide some info, he was a pretty dedicated M39/M59 collector. Not sure if he's a member here.

[kwill1911]

Nice one! Do you mind sharing the SN (PM, if you like) so I can add it to my survey?

Thanks for considering it,
Kevin Williams

BTW--Mac is still around and I correspond with him pretty regularly.

[model3sw]

Originally Posted by kwill1911

Nice one! Do you mind sharing the SN (PM, if you like) so I can add it to my survey?

Thanks for considering it,
Kevin Williams

BTW--Mac is still around and I correspond with him pretty regularly.

Kevin, found this old post. I have one black and 2 "chromed" military magazines. I'm uncertain if the chromed mags were OEM S&W or done afterward. I presume they are chrome as I evaluated that they were chrome when I purchased them about 25 years ago, and ... true to my belief that they are chrome and not nickeled is that all these years they never even slightly tarnished. They are as bright and clean as the day I purchased them.

What's a fair value on these. THe black/blue is as new, too. thank you. Sal Raimondi

[Green Frog]

OK, now that this thread is back active, I’ll ask a question... how does the dust cover work? What does it do (besides keep dust out) for the gun? Is there a reason I should make an effort to find one? Inquiring minds want to know...

Froggie

[toddimusnimski]

And does it have any markings on it?

[cherrypointmarine]

I too would be interested in what these military M39 mags are worth .

[gmborkovic]

Mr. Frog, the cover not only protects the ejection port but very nicely
scratches the side of the slide. Just an added benefit.

[oldman10mm]

Do the mag bottom plate indicate S&W and 9mm ?

[Green Frog]

Originally Posted by gmborkovic

Mr. Frog, the cover not only protects the ejection port but very nicely
scratches the side of the slide. Just an added benefit.

I wondered about that, Mike. Also, in view of their likely use in high stress scenarios, would a Model 39 with dust cover installed be able to be fired, or would it become jammed? This seems like it would be a major consideration!

Also, could a standard Model 39 mag be “skeletonized” to the same configuration as the Military ones or are the holes too widely spaced. With the growth of fakery in the collectors’ markets, this could become a concern.

Froggie

[gmborkovic]

Mr. Frog, I have fired my 39 with the dust cover and experienced no
problems. I guess you could mill out a standard mag body. Never tried.
The ones I have, are stamped S&W on the long base plate.
The prices are all over the place, $100 to $200.

[cherrypointmarine]

Oldman10mm , mine says S&W , the & is sideways , but no 9mm .

[JudgeColt]

Originally Posted by gmborkovic

Mr. Frog, the cover not only protects the ejection port but very nicely scratches the side of the slide. Just an added benefit.

Must be bent. Mine does not touch the slide.