My 4566 Melonite came today

Dparker · #1 04-26-2016, 01:27 PM

Better condition than expected. Purchased from original owner, box & goodies.

. One of 300 produced. RJF serial number prefix

18DAI · #2 04-26-2016, 04:10 PM

Very nice pistols. Congrats! Regards 18DAI

timn8er · #3 04-26-2016, 04:32 PM

That is sweet!

Aegis · #4 04-26-2016, 06:32 PM

Beautiful gun..

OK Hog Shooter · #5 04-26-2016, 07:44 PM

Good get! I'm envious! Congratulations on a great find...

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loeman · #6 04-26-2016, 08:33 PM

Congratulations sir, you have acquired a beauty!

twistedracer · #7 04-26-2016, 11:13 PM

Very nice!!! Congrats!!!

4506517 · #8 04-30-2016, 09:22 AM

That's good looking.

Decock only? Or regular safety?

Are those night sights? What are they dated?

18DAI · #9 04-30-2016, 09:44 AM

Dparker I'm curious. Where did you get the 300 figure? Did you get any other history? Thanks!

Regards 18DAI

Dparker · #10 04-30-2016, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 18DAI

Dparker I'm curious. Where did you get the 300 figure? Did you get any other history? Thanks!

Regards 18DAI

18DAI. The 300 production number came from the skjos list 4566(-M) Melonite finish. He has documented in the list less than 300. If you have info that contradicts that please let me know.

Additional information I obtained from the owner was....he bought this sometime time back from an online (not sure if I can mention the name in this forum but not an auction site). The salesman there told him that S&W had found a group of this model stuck in the back of a vault 10 yrs after production had stopped. The online site apparently purchased some from that group. All were NIB. I'm sure that story has been covered in another thread. Seems I remember reading about it in the past.

If you know the story or have additional thoughts, I'd be interested in learning more!

Cheers!!!
David

18DAI · #11 04-30-2016, 11:20 AM

No, no info to add. I asked a few years back about production of these fine pistols. Based on the observed serial numbers it was surmised , at the time, that less than 400 were made.

They are indeed scarce. I owned two at one time. One I carried at work for a short time. The other was kept LNIB and has since gone to a good home.

I recently got a part time job at the local public indooor range. My Melonite 4566 has gotten a lot of holster time as it is my "teaching gun". For those who want to learn to shoot a 45 but are not enamoured by 1911s or striker fired plastic.

It is on of my favorite pistols. Good looking and extremely accurate. The finish has held up well too. My night sights are very dim. Not surprising as they are dated 1999.

4506517 all the RJF prefix 4566Ms were decock only. Although there are some 4566Ms with different serial prefixes that have standard decocker safety assemblies. Regards 18DAI

Shoo2tr · #12 04-30-2016, 11:31 AM

What a stunner. My bobbed hammer de-cock only 4566 is hands down the best used firearms purchase I have ever made. Congratulations on that rare beauty.

Dparker · #13 04-30-2016, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4506517

That's good looking.

Decock only? Or regular safety?

Are those night sights? What are they dated?

4506517
My apologies, I overlooked your post...as 18DAI stated decock only, night sights (but mine are very dim). As far as the date my production code is 148670 Special Order 8670. Others can look in their S&W book and determine the exact date of this one. I do not know the time frame to when they were produced (1999-2001?)

Cheers!!!
David

4506517 · #14 04-30-2016, 02:26 PM

Interesting.

Almost to a gun, every factory decock only I've seen have not had the red safety dot between the grip and slide. This is the only Melonite factory decock only that I've seen with the red dot. I've seen 4566s that have gone back and been converted retain the dot. I was always under the impression that was one way to discern if the gun was converted later in its life. Does this pistol have the verbiage on the other side about "decock returns hammer to fire position"?

Dparker · #15 04-30-2016, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4506517

Interesting.

Almost to a gun, every factory decock only I've seen have not had the red safety dot between the grip and slide. This is the only Melonite factory decock only that I've seen with the red dot. I've seen 4566s that have gone back and been converted retain the dot. I was always under the impression that was one way to discern if the gun was converted later in its life. Does this pistol have the verbiage on the other side about "decock returns hammer to fire position"?

4506517

Yes it does pic is attached. Any other info you can share would be greatly appreciated. I started collecting 3rd gens Oct 2014, so I'm kinda a newbie. Always eager to learn all I can on 3rd gens!
I've seen some threads that speak of a serrated slide and other prefixes other than the RFJxxxx

Cheers!!!
David

Gunhacker · #16 04-30-2016, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4506517

Interesting.

Almost to a gun, every factory decock only I've seen have not had the red safety dot between the grip and slide. This is the only Melonite factory decock only that I've seen with the red dot. I've seen 4566s that have gone back and been converted retain the dot. I was always under the impression that was one way to discern if the gun was converted later in its life. Does this pistol have the verbiage on the other side about "decock returns hammer to fire position"?

The red dot must of been part of the specs for the run... I have one from the same group, it has the red dot... on both sides.

It was a virtual twin to the OP's (RFJ sn prefix) until I put on some Hogue dress shoes, now rethinking and considering the wood KSDgrips which are thinner than Hogue.

4506517 · #17 04-30-2016, 06:14 PM

Those wood grips look really sharp.

Normally I'm not a big fan of wood grips on pistols, but I like that a lot.

HOUSTON RICK · #18 04-30-2016, 11:34 PM

Parker, your 4566 looks very nice, like a 45ACP version of the Model 915. It looks like this general model was produced from 1991-1999. Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 3rd edition does not include the 300 information. In 2000, production was shifted to stainless. A nice looking gun and probably good shooter if anything like the Model 915.

Exchipy · #19 05-01-2016, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 18DAI

My night sights are very dim. Not surprising as they are dated 1999. 18DAI

If your night sights came with Trijicon tritium lamps installed, Trijicon will replace them for a nominal fee. Look in the FAQ section of their website for particulars. I've been updating all my old night sights using this service, even the discontinued versions.

Dparker · #20 05-01-2016, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOUSTON RICK

Parker, your 4566 looks very nice, like a 45ACP version of the Model 915. It looks like this general model was produced from 1991-1999. Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 3rd edition does not include the 300 information. In 2000, production was shifted to stainless. A nice looking gun and probably good shooter if anything like the Model 915.

Houston Rick

It does have some resemblance to the 915. It also looks very close to my 4505 as well....I doubt I will ever shoot it...if I want to shoot a 4566 I'll just pull out my 4566 in stainless that has been well shot.

Cheers!!!
David