A little background on me first i think helps to bring light to this entire review. I turned 21 in early June of 2012, this year. Being raised in a military household and growing up shooting guns since i was 6 years old, Though, I mainly grew up shooting rifles and shotguns, never shot many pistols at all growing up. Naturally, being that I turned 21, i wanted to buy a pistol. I did quite a bit of shopping around for a few months. I was almost set on buying a Bersa 380. My keys to it were, A: from all my research it was a fairly reliable gun. B: It was in my BUDGET. (Being a 21 year old i dont have much money to be throwing around on guns. lol, not that many do these days anyway.)
I was talking to a Co-Worker about my decision, and he chuckled a little. He asked, would i prefer a larger caliber pistol. I acknowledge and replied, of course i would but they are out of my budget. He then informed me he had a buddy selling a Smith & Wesson 4013 which also came with 5 extra magazine's. I laughed and said, yeah, once again, budget issues. He then replied, let me see what i can do.
Needless to say, by looking at the name of this thread. It ended up being within the upper limits of my budget. I walked away with a Slightly used, Retired Police officers, Smith & Wesson 4013 with 5 extra magazine's for $400. I did do some research on it before i bought it, and from what i saw it was a deal i could not pass up.
Although i have grown up around guns most of my life, and have been taught guns safety and how to use guns, i am now just starting to learn more about more technical things about them. As in more into the full workings of a gun, like how all the innerds work. Formal names for multiple features, and parts in a gun, beyond the standard, trigger, safety, firing pin, bolt, and magazine. So bear with me a little in this review........On to my review.
Smith & Wesson 4013: (NOT THE TACTICAL MODEL)
40: stands for the caliber of the round it fires. It is a S&W .40 Caliber round. Slightly smaller than your .45s and noticeably larger than a 9mm or 380.
1: stands for the design, Compact.
3: Stands for the material used, Aluminum Alloy Frame.
It has a 3.5" Barrel, 8 Round magazine. The original Magazine is a flush, flat bottom. The extra 5 magazines that i have, all have the additional Pinky finger lip, giving me, a person with larger hands a better grip on the handle.
It is a double or single action pistol. It does have a ambidextrous safety, which also serves as a de-cocking mechanism. Another safety feature on this pistol, if you have a round in the chamber and drop the magazine from the pistol, while cocked or none cocked and then pull the trigger, the pistol will not fire the round that is still in the chamber.
Due to the fact that this gun is a aluminum alloy, it is a little heavier than you plastic framed guns. But it doesn't not feel too heavy. It is a vary comfortable weight for some, atleast like me, who is used to handling guns.
I was expecting a larger recoil from this gun than what it is, im not sure why i was, but i do know I have a tendency to expect things to be tougher than what they usually are.
I have now had the gun for 4 weeks, and have put about 500+ rounds through it. So here is what i have experienced. The first 100 rounds i put through it were Winchester 165gr FMJ rounds. These first 100 rounds where just me getting used to holding and handling the gun. I did not take any consideration nor do i think at this point it is relevant to how well placed or tight my patterns were. After that i switched to Federal 40 S&W 180gr FMJ FN, Brass casing. This was solely because they were a cheaper round at my local Walmart. These rounds are the ones that i think count for pattern. Because i had a fairly good idea and feel for the gun.
I started with 200 rounds at about 35 feet. I was keeping in a pattern of about 9-10 inches. I thought ok, not a bad start, maybe ill bring it down to about a 6 inch pattern, id be happy with that. through those 200 rounds i constantly kept it within a 8-10 inch pattern. i couldnt figure out why i couldnt get it down further. At this point my old man had joined me in shooting, but he also brought out my uncles Highway Patrolman .357 6 shot revolver, so we shot that as well, and i couldnt understand why i could get a 4-5 inch patter with the 357 but not with my pistol. then it clicked, wait a minute, the 357 has a 6 inch barrel, my 4013 has a 3.5 inch barrel. duh. I moved up to about 15-20 feet away from the target, and bam. 3-5 inch patterns. i continued shooting through another 200-300 rounds, going back and forth between 35 ft and 15 ft. and consistently at 35 ft im hitting about a 9 inch pattern, and at 15 ft about a 3-4 inch pattern.
I did try 50 rounds of an even cheaper ammo called, TulAmmo, Which i also picked up at my local Walmart, This is a Russian made .40 S&W 180gr FMJ Steel Case. I got through about 40 of the rounds, and then 1 ended up getting stuck on reload after a fired shot. I did notice when loading the ammo into the magazines, the steel casing did not slide quite as well with the magazine as the brass did in the Federal ammo. 1 out of 50, not bad, but i do think i will stick with the Federal ammo, being its only $2 more per 50 rounds. Just to be safe.
Over all, now having what i think is a good understanding to this gun and its ideal range. I am fully in love with this gun. its is a vary consistent, reliable gun, minus the one round with the steel casing ammo. I will deffinetly keep this gun as long as i possibly can. And, as far as what i can tell, with also what appears to be a lot more people in the gun community and their recommendation, i would deffinetly recommend this gun to someone else, if you have the chance to get one. Which, from what ive seen online, it is becoming harder and harder to do, Being that this gun is a discontinued model from Smith & Wesson making it a collectors piece, and because it is such an awesome gun.
Well thank you for your time if you read this whole review. Being that this is my first gun review im sure, if you have been in the gun world longer than i have or have more experience you probably picked up on that. lol. But anyway, thank you for your time, and i hope that this review helps you in your search for finding more out about this gun. Thanks, and God bless.
Smith & Wesson 4013 Review
Nice pistol to go with a kick -ss review. Thnx for taking the time.MIKE
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