Quote:
Originally Posted by bodyarmorguy
A local pawn shop has a Model 439 sitting on the shelf for $425, I don't know if there is a box to accompany it. It has the winged rear sight assembly. Another shop has a 908S for about the same price...I'm in a buying mood.
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That depends, for a few reasons:
1. The Model 439 is a legitimate third-generation heir to the Model 39 (Note: think about it. If so, one would realize that it might well be a fourth generation gun if model numbers or, rather, one no-model numbers are taken into account). If you seek a more highly developed Model 39, the 439 is certainly a stop along that evolutionary line.
2. While on the Model 439, it was produced for roughly seven years ('81-'88, replaced at the latter time by the 3904) and there's a nice little feature that makes some 439s more desirable than others: the extractor. "The first few thousand were supplied with a short wide extractor before reverting back to the Model 39-2 style extractor." (Blue Book of Gun Values)
3. The 908 was developed as Smith & Wesson's "value gun" line with the 908S following as a stainless steel version. Some will say the 908 is a continuation of the 3913 LS (or NL) but only so with respect to the exterior.
However, the 908/S are decently-accurate guns. I've got a 439 (actually, three) that I've not shot. But I have regularly shot one of my favorite 39-2s, just last Sunday placing 12 of 16 rounds in the head of a full-size human profile at 20 yards. I dare say so too will a 439.
The two guns, graded at 100-percent, are within $5 of each other according to the Blue Book of Gun Values ($495 for the 908S and $500 for the 439, or is it the other way around?
Good Luck.