I believe there were more than one type of DAO trigger. I'm interested in the ones that had the exposed, partially cocked hammer without the extended slide that covered the hammer.

What were the trigger differences? How was the reset compared to the DA/SA triggers? What models had the exposed hammer?

I'm interested in these and I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, that I would be looking for a 3956TSW, 5946TSW, and 4586TSW. Finally, was there a similar version for the 69XX series?

My 3913 and 5906 are looking for company!

Others will have more information, but there were non TSW versions of the DAO pistols as well as the DAO versions. In addition there was a DAO version of the 3914 made for the NYPD as an off duty option for officers.

The difference between that gun and the other DAO pistols was that it had double strike capability, which meant that if it didn't fire the first time, you could pull the trigger again to fire it. The other guns required cycling the slide and chambering a new round.

There were some differences in the slide and frame between the "regular" DAO guns and the 3914.

Personally, I'd like a 3914 DAO if I could find one in my state since they aren't on "the list" and can't be brought in from other states. That, of course, is my problem.

I don't know that any had exposed hammers, but the hammers "sat" differently than the DA/SA guns and the 3914.

I'm pretty sure that there was a 4046 model as well and maybe some other .40 versions.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I'd forgotten about the 4046!

Thanks

You're welcome. They seem to pop up fairly often, more so than the others it seems.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I had a 3953. One of my nieces fell in love with it and Uncle Tom hasn't been able to resist her since she was 3 days old. Needless to say, she now owns that pistol (Her twin sister got my LadySmith. Dang it!) I liked the '53s consistent trigger pull when compared to a DA/SA design, however if I knew then what I know now, I'd have gone with a DAO 3914 as used by NYPD. I prefer a second strike capability. As unlikely as the need for it might be, I would rather have it and not need it, etc. I know there were some 3914 DAOs on Gunbroker awhile back; I was just reticent to scare up the money needed. Seems like they listed at the $700 mark. That's a fair price for a NIB third generation. Unfortunately, with shipping and FFL transfer, that was just too much at my current level of discretionary spending.
Someone will know specifics, but S&W used to offer a conversion to DAO on some of the 3rd gens. Do I remember reading on this forum that the service isn't offered any longer?

If I could get it transferred into this stupid state, I'd buy the one on GB right now. I'd have to finance it by selling one or two other guns, but to me it would be worth it.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

The 6946 is my favorite DAO due to its thicker handle but I never carry at any time. All my shooting is in my backyard range. The 3953 handle doesn't feel right to me but it would be easier to conceal.

So there is a 69xx series DAO.

OK, it seems some of the DAO guns are a 1/2 cock and some a 3/4 cock.

Thanks for the info so far.

The DAO guns without the second strike capability have much smoother and lighter pulls than the guns with the second-strike capability. The guns without the second-strike capability have the hammer partially pre-cocked, explaining the shorter and smoother trigger stroke. The slide need only be cycled a short amount to reset the trigger.

I much prefer the partially-cocked DAO to the one with the second-strike capability. I rather do a tap, rack, bang for the very rare event that a round does not fire than deal with a long , stiff DAO pull that allows me to hit that primer a second time. The tap, rack, bang is ingrained in my training process.

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Scott

All 3rd Gens had a DAO member in their perspective calibers, including full, mid, and compact.
I did see a long throw CS9 once but never a short version of any of the CS line, and there was a 457 DAO I think it was the 457D and supposedly made for the Chicago PD. it did make it to civilian sales though.
Dale

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"Long live the S&W 3rd. Gen.!"

DAO 3rd gen's can broadly be divided into 2 groups, the old & new styles.

The Old style parts were machined, and "located" the hammer further rearward (covered by the longer slide profile). Some production models might have had a lighter main spring. The old-style DAO parts were intended for use in the earlier production DAO frames & slides.

There were a couple production designs and vintages of the old-style DAO frames. One of them had enough room on the right side of the hammer for a firing pin safety lever. The other (newer) DAO frame design revision had room for both a firing safety lever, and a "spacer" lever.

This was done to simplify frame production for a machined cut in the frame. Early DAO guns had enough room for a firing pin safety lever. The revised DAO frames (still old style) had the same room machined next to the firing pin safety lever as the TDA guns. Instead of the sear release lever present in the TDA guns, though, a "spacer" lever was used to fill the slot in the new DAO guns (where a sear release lever would sit beside the firing safety lever in the TDA guns).

The "spacer" lever is basically a variation of a sear release lever, made without a foot extension, and containing a couple of holes, to make it REALLY identifiable as a spacer and not a sear release lever.

This change required a difference in the springs located under the levers, called the Spring Rule for DAO guns.

Basically:
Left side of frame - Ejector lever must always have a spring in the spring hole.

Right side of frame - If the frame has space for 2 levers, a spring must be used. If the frame has space for only 1 lever, a spring must not be used.

The New style parts were created for use in the newer production TSW's (after the "original" compacts), and are MIM parts. Being made to be used in the standard TDA frames & slides resulted in the DAO hammer being "located" further forward (so it wouldn't protrude too far behind the slide when the gun was charged and the hammer was located so it could engage with the drawbar). This meant a longer and heavier trigger press, too. (The actual DAO trigger is different than the TDA trigger, too.)

Now, old style (machined) and new-style (MIM) DAO parts CANNOT be mixed in the same gun. Mixing them would result in improper contact between the parts (hammer & sear). The sear nose must engage the DAO hammer's "location notch" in a specific manner to "locate" the hammer (meaning to rotate it) so the hammer's throw notch is rotated forward to engage the drawbar, so it can be engaged by the drawbar. The machined & MIM parts have different profiles at the hammer "location notches" and the sear noses.

The old-style slides used a firing pin retained that was round on each end. Since the new style DAO parts were made to fit in a TDA slide, with the machined recess on the left side for the manual safety, the TDA safety assembly recess had to be covered with a differently shaped part. (Unless the owner/user wanted to keep the manual safety assembly & function even though the gun was converted to new style DAO).

Here's an older thread where I posted some further info on the 3rd gen DAO's ... (detailed disassembly is different than with the TDA guns, for example).
Need Help/Advice with reassembly of 5946 /Slide problem(PICTURES)

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Wow! Thanks Fastbolt! Will S&W still convert a TDA to DAO?

You'd have to call and ask. I don't know if the work would be sent to Houlton, or if one of the depts at Springfield (PC?) would still do it.

It would probably be a bit pricey since it's not warranty work, so shipping would have to added on top of the cost of the parts & labor.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

I have one that is rather strange. It is a black 5946TSW. I say "black" because I don't believe it is Melonite. It reminds me of the finish on my
586-3. It is clearly stamped 5946TSW and has the riveted on rail. Here's where it gets strange. No magazine disconnect. It also has the second strike capability. It is marked CAI and is obviously a re-import. I spoke with several folks at CAI and they all swear it is RCMP, however it bears no RCMP markings. I've posted about it before here, but no one seems to know anything about it.

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

The company will make some limited and unusual productions runs for special LE customers. Never say never, and that sort of thing.

Those variations haven't made it into the various 3rd gen armorer manuals I've received, though.

On the other hand, the special run of SW99's made for NJSP that were the regular sear action (AS), but didn't have the standard decocking button in the slide (for field stripping without pulling the trigger), were covered in one of my SW99 armorer manuals.

Never say never, and all that ...

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Hey, SCWV67 if your "3913 and 5906 are looking for company" I think it'd make sense to find another similar TSW, like my 5906SW, so that you mustn't undertake an excess of acclimation.

Hey SCWV67, if your 5906 is lonely, how about an arranged marriage with another 5906 that went to grad school? ->

The off-duty version made for NYPD was the 3953TSW / DAO / no mag disconnect. To this day, it's my favorite Gen 3 Smith.


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I didn't know that they made that, but there is definitely a 3924 DAO still available. They have been listed on Gunbroker and up to a few months ago the FFLs that carry them in the New York area were advertising them to officers coming out of the academy.

If you search "3914 DAO NYPD" on the internet, you'll come up with some interesting results.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Thank you for saving me from making a fool of myself. I was just about to complain to a seller about an early 3rd gen I recently purchased that was missing a spring under the firing pin safety lever. It's an older DAO with only a single lever slot. Without this post I would have whined about the missing spring and stuffed one in there. Now I know better thanks to your informative post.

At first I thought the 1076 I bought was missing the spring for the firing pin disconnect lever too. Of course it's not a DAO but because it has a frame decocker it ends up being equipped the same apparently.

Thanks for the explanation Fastbolt. (Guess I missed the original posting. )

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1076 firing pin disconnect lever


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De nada. It's not surprising the info may be less well known, as the DAO guns were reportedly designed with their primary intended market being LE agency customers. Armorer manuals still include a section on a page to inform armorers of the difference in the older DAO frames regarding the Spring Rule.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

I've never supported or worked on a 3rd gen frame mounted decocker gun. They were dropped out of the armorer manuals a long time ago, before my first class and subsequent recert classes. I have an older line drawing manual section (before black & white pictures were used) somewhere out at the bench that contains armorer info on them, but I've never had to use it.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer