Alright, in about ONE HOUR I'll be off to my FFL to pick up my CDNN 5906. Since I'm getting a "select w/ box" option for my gun, does this mean it is brand new? Will I need to break it in? And how many rounds will be needed to break in my new pistol?

Also, what is the "preferred" 9mm bullet weight for the 5906? I've heard people saying 124 gr. bullets work best, then again I've heard everyone else saying 115 gr. is best for it I've only heard one or two tell me to use 147 gr. bullets but I really don't want something that extreme because of the relative rarity of any 147 gr. 9mm ammunition in my area, and even then it's SD ammo and not good for plinking.

So what do you S&W gurus say?

P.S. If I get enough interest I'll post up some pics later of my newest acquisition...I haven't even seen it yet

"Select" usually means that whoever pulls the guns off the shelf at CDNN took a little longer than usual to pick out your gun...it might be the best one out of 10 guns they looked at. Bear in mind that #11 could have been pristine, but they only looked at 10. Or they may have seperated the really dogged out ones from the not so bad ones. Doubtful the gun is new, but will probably be in excellent shape. I've owned many S&W autos and not one needed a break in period...they functioned just fine right from the get go, even new out of the box. Not true with some other makes. I like 115 grain 9mm ammo..can't go wrong with Federal 9BP as a starting point. There are about as many opinions as to what's best as there are types of ammo to choose from. Have fun and enjoy your new 5906...great pistols.

Clean it, lube it and have at it. It won't need any breaking in period whatsoever. Be prepared to be greatly impressed.

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

Let us know what it looks like. Been thinking about ordering one of those myself.

All of my 3rd gen handguns will shoot anything put through it. I shoot 115 gr. at the range and carry 124 gr. Have never had any issues shooting them new straight out of the box. Enjoy and post some pics when you get it home.

Nearly all 3 Gens will shoot any rounds put through them. Heck, my 6906 worked fine with my (very first) LRN reloads. I thought it would have at least some kind of problem, but no....

Alright, I got home, pics to follow soon. MAN she is nice! The white dots are a little dirty and there are some scratches but all in all, its almost perfect!
Now I'm having a problem disassembling this. I read how to disassemble/reassemble the gun and when I take out the slide stop and pull the slide forward, it jams halfway. It seems like smacking it with the palm of your hand fixes this. Is this normal? Also, when getting the guide rod and spring on, it seems like no matter what, even if you look at it just right, the guide rod flies off! I know it has to be in the little slot, but it seems like that slot isn't big enough.
Any thoughts about what causes the disassembly jam and the guide rod problem and how to fix them?

P.S. I'll have pictures up before the weekend is up everyone

I shoot 147 gr. exclusively and all of my 3rd generation guns eat it up with not problem.

I seem to remember hearing about problems with 125 gr. Silvertip ammo, but that was years and years ago.

If you have the safety/decocking lever up (red dot showing) when you take the slide off it should come off without stopping...if the safety is on you are decocking the hammer at the same time and it is meeting that resitance as you take the slide off. I don't have one in front of me, but that's the gist of it I think. The guide rod sits in a very tiny crevice, almost like a very small cresent just big enough for the edge to fit in (easy to overlook) but once in there it should stay in place.

I have the guide rod in that little crevice but it only stays in if I hold it while putting the slide back on the frame. I believe the guide rod is falling out of the crevice when I take it apart. When I can actually get the slide off the frame, the spring and guide rod fly off like they weren't actually in right

Never experienced that before. The crevice is very small and is in front of (toward the muzzle end) the larger indention on the barrel lug. You have to compress the spring to get it to fit. If you're putting it in the right crevice and is keeps falling out, then the crevice itself might be worn down.

If the crevice is worn down, how could it be fixed? Would a very careful filing job fix anything?

Yes. A little filing or very careful dremel work to dress up the crescent a bit won't hurt a thing. The crescent is there for re-assembly, once the slide is on the gun the crescent is of little importance.

The crescent being a bit worn is a common thing, easily remidied-or ignored-and nothing to worry about.

As for preferred bullet weights...if it says 9mm on the box, the 5906 will shoot it-as long as the magazine and recoil springs are good.

Heck, even if those springs are weak the darned thing will try its' darndest to work-and still mostly will.

I have a 5906 with over 4,000 rounds through it without any issue of any kind. These are amazing guns.

Good choice!

Forgot to add: No break-in needed. They come from the factory working. Really.

Also, don't get too fixated on a few scratches or dings. The 5906 is so ridiculously robust that a few thousand rounds just makes them even slicker. I think the 5906 could be good for 100,00 rounds. You may have to replace the barrel at that point, but the slide and frame wil keep going...and going...and going....

Best,

Heekma

hello
nobody here shoot cast bullets in an 5906 ,i will buy one the seller have fire 250 rds an good price for here 450 € i like these steel guns
before i shoot during 30 years an cz75 .
seeing the posts it's an trouble free pistol.
how difficult to have smalls parts if need?
thanks

An unfired 3rd Generation S&W should not require any break-in and a used gun certainly would not need it.

Shoot and enjoy!

Here is my 5906. There is some wear on the slide and hammer but overall is in near mint condition on the inside. I emailed S&W to see what they recommend to do about my guide rod issue. It does not impede normal operations of the gun so I'm not concerned about it.

DA is long and smooth and SA is very light and crisp. I'll take this to the range in a few weeks and see how it shoots.

No one here experiencing excess frame-slide wear from the stainless on stainless? Had one and put several thousand rounds through it (20yrs ago) and the accuracy got so bad I got rid of it, figured it was frame-slide play. Always kept it lubed and clean. Stainless on stainless has such a bad rep for galling in most industries.