I bought and enjoyed a M39 in early 60's. Shot it a lot as military surplus ammo was available for $2 a box of 64 rounds. It was pretty hot ball ammo. Gun functioned flawlessly for several years until I sold it. thinking of buying another and wonder how it might handle modern hollow point or flat nosed ammo?

The 39 was our issued duty gun from 1967 until 1981 when we went to the 439. The 39-nothings had a hump in the feed ramp that could be problematic with some bullet designs. However, if you pick up a 39-nothing that had been a dept issued then the hump would have very likely been removed.
Our issued duty ammo went from 125 gr SP with round nose to as light as Federal 95 gr SP. In HP ammo we were issued 115 gr W-W Silvertip, Federal BP and BPLE. I don't recall if we carried W-W 115 HP in the 39s or if that load came along after we went to the 439.
Before any ammo was purchased on contract the head range guys made sure that design was 100% reliable.
The Federal 95 gr SP was really short. It's in the upper left. In the upper right is the W-W 115 JHP +P+ and Federal 115 BPLE for length comparison. The lower left is a 115 gr S&W JHP. We were never issued the S&W rd but just included it for size comparison.

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183rd FBINA

Thank you; I will try to find a nice blue 39 or 39-2.