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05-23-2012, 10:10 AM
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Why "6906" and not "6903"???
Hi, Gentlemen:
Does anybody know why the model 6906 was "misnamed" 6906 instead of 6903, which would be more in line with the configuration of stainless steel slide mated to an alloy frame?
Same holds true for the 6926 (stainless steel slide/aluminium alloy frame/frame mounted decocking lever) and the 6946 (same materials/DAO), which more correctly should be designated 6923 and 6943. I have always wondered why this is the case whereas numbering is correct with the blue 6904, 6924 (very rare as per SCSW #3) and 6944.
Your comments are most welcome.
Best.
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05-23-2012, 10:51 AM
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6906...SS double stack. 6904...blue double stack.
3913...SS single stack. 3914...blue single stack.
Same guns...different mags. Go figure! There is probably a reason but that is why Smith came up with the Wiz Wheel. I have never taken the time to chart the model numbers of all of the 3rd gens but the numbers are all over the board! I use my SCSW regularly when referring to Smith autos.
The upside of this numbers battle is that no matter what you wanted in a semi-auto during that time...Smith made it!
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05-23-2012, 11:37 AM
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Maybe they ran out of 3's to stamp with? being a smart aleck here...who knows why Smith does some of the things they do......
Randy
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05-23-2012, 11:42 AM
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Is'nt a 6906 a rebadged 669?
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05-23-2012, 01:21 PM
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aren't the threes all single stacked? if so then there is your answer. 6s being double stacked thicker handled pieces. I love my 6906 by the way, great gun. Have the CADC piece and replaced the recoil spring very accurate and small perfect for Concealed Carry.
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05-23-2012, 02:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James&theGiant1911
aren't the threes all single stacked? if so then there is your answer. 6s being double stacked thicker handled pieces. I love my 6906 by the way, great gun. Have the CADC piece and replaced the recoil spring very accurate and small perfect for Concealed Carry.
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Yes and no, what about the 4013, the original was a single stack on a .45 frame, then the Tactical and .40 Tactical 4013 came out on a 9mm frame and double stack.
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Mike in SouthCentral Kentucky
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05-23-2012, 03:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcode
Yes and no, what about the 4013, the original was a single stack on a .45 frame, then the Tactical and .40 Tactical 4013 came out on a 9mm frame and double stack.
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I don't think it had anything to do with the magazine type, the last digits designated the frame and slide material. But, like the OP pointed out, there were exceptions.
FIRST TWO DIGITS
39: 9mm
59: 9mm
69: 9mm
10: 10mm
40: 40S&W
45: 45 ACP
35: .357 TSW
THIRD DIGIT
0: standard model
1: compact
2: standard with decocker
3: compact with decocker
4: standard with DAO
5: Compact w/ Double Action Only
6: nonstandard barrel length
7: nonstandard barrel length with decocker
8: nonstandard barrel length with DAO
FOURTH DIGIT
3: aluminum frame with SS slide
4: aluminum frame with carbon steel slide
5: carbon steel frame and slide
6: SS frame and slide
7: SS frame and carbon steel slide
*** Source SCSW, 3rd Ed.
Here's another list I made up to sort out what is what (and there are still exceptions). I made this list using the grip PN's in order to determine which grips are interchangeable. In some cases a round or straight backstrap can be substituted on a model it isn't usually found on.
Sub Compact Frame, Single Stack
9mm,
CS9
.40 & .45 cal
CS40, CS45
Compact Frame, Single Stack
9mm
3904, 3906, 3944, 3946, 909, 3953TSW, 3913, 3914, 3914DAO, 3953, 3954, 908
.40 & 45 cal
4513TSW, 4553TSW, 4013, 4014, 4053, 4054, 4513, 4516, 4556, 457
Compact Frame, Double Stack
9mm & .40 cal
4013TSW, 4053TSW, 4056TSW, 6904, 6906, 6944, 6946
6924, 6926 (frame mounted decocker)
Large Frame, Single Stack
.45 cal & 10 mm
4563TSW, 4566TSW, 4583TSW, 4586TSW, 4505, 4567, 1006, 1066, 1086, 4506, 4546, 4566, 4586, 4596
1026, 1076, 4526, 4576 (frame mounted decocker)
4536 (frame mounted decocker)
Large Frame, Double Stack
9mm & .40 cal (LG359)
4006CHP, 4003TSW, 4006TSW, 4043TSW, 4046TSW, 410, 4003, 4004, 4006, 4043, 4044, 4046, 411, 5903, 5903SSV, 5904, 5906, 5943, 5943SSV, 5944, 5946, 5967, 5945RCMP, 5903TSW, 5906TSW, 5943TSW, 5946TSW, 910, 915, Super9
4026, 5923,
5924, 5926 (frame mounted decocker)
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05-23-2012, 04:15 PM
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Id speculate the S&W did that to cut down on mistakes and errors in the ordering process.
Let us hop in Doc Brown's Delorean for a trip to the 1990s. Assume in this alternate timeline S&W named the 6906 and the 6926 "properly" . We'd walk into the 1990s gun store to find an irate guy yelling at the hapless owner. Turns out three days before the owner phoned in an order to S&W for a 5923. Not a problem, except the customer paid for a 6923, which is a very different firearm. Oops.
Even in this universe, things get wonky with S&W model numbers. I can't count how many times ive called dealers looking for S&W 3rd gens and they've said something like "umm yeah we'll keep an eye out for a 5903. Oh, uh, what's a 5903? Thats the .45 , right?"
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05-23-2012, 09:28 PM
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I think the 6906 was designed by a couple of weekend mountain climbers working at S&W. So, when asked "Why would you do that?", they could answer " Because we can!"
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05-23-2012, 11:54 PM
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Thoughts
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcode
Yes and no, what about the 4013, the original was a single stack on a .45 frame, then the Tactical and .40 Tactical 4013 came out on a 9mm frame and double stack.
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This is only a guess, but I believe the 4013 was originally going to be a 10mm compact. Look how easy it is to convert. Remove the mag spacer, rechamber and new springs and it is done. With 10mm interest going down, they made it a 40. Once it really went down, they scaled it back to 40 size and the double stack and TSW was born.
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05-24-2012, 07:18 AM
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The 3rd gen numbering system took some cues from the 2nd gen numbering system. You notice there are 3 different designations for 9mm's (39XX, 59XX, and 69XX) and the rest only have one series. My theory has always been that because there was the the, X39, X59, and X69, with the X representing the frame material, in the 2nd gen pistols, they continued the three different series in the 3rd gen pistols. Where the 10mm, .40, .22, and .45 has to fit all of their guns into one grouping the 9mm had a "grandfathered" in system that they wanted to include in the new system.
The frame material confusion is still one big mystery though, because even on the 2nd gens a 639 and a 659 had a SS frame and a 669 had a SS slide and Alloy frame. This confusion just continued in the 3rd gen naming system.
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10-03-2012, 05:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lhump1961
The upside of this numbers battle is that no matter what you wanted in a semi-auto during that time...Smith made it!
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Except for an all-stainless, compact single stack 9mm I'd pay handsomely for a "3916".
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08-23-2017, 10:21 PM
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Just to add to the fun, how does the 4040 fit in?
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