I sold my third generation smith pistols.
I had read/herd that S&W was not going to support them any longer. parts ect.
Can anyone tell me if this is true?
Any concern for parts?
I know they are tanks. I was very happy with mine overall.
Did not like the mag safety.

Hey Wendal I haven't seen anything in print, but I noticed huge price increases in the secondary market on mags. Seems all the supply houses are sold out and there will be no more produced.
Have seen asking prices as much as $100.00 for a 10mm and $80.00 for a .45 mag. Thankfully I always buy a nice supply of mags for any semis I purchase. I wouldn't sell my 3G Smiths for anything! So many were made, I wouldn't worry about finding parts. Of all I own I've never had to replace anything except a spring.

I wouldn't worry about parts. If you can afford the time and cost in ammo to wear one out means you can afford to buy another.

You are welcome, of course, to opine as you please on the mag safety but to me it is a non-issue.

Almost 27 years using 3rd gen pistols, over 39 separate examples in multiple calibers and I only ever broke one part.

A MIM mag catch on my LE 4516-3 snapped during a match like the cheap pot metal it was. I replaced it with a forged steel example from a 4566 and have never had another problem. With any of my 3rd gens.

I don't worry whether the current company calling itself s&w will support the 3rd gen guns. There are other gunsmiths and companies who can do whatever I may need done.

And I hear a persistent rumor that Apex Tactical, the company that currently gives the m&p everything the factory can't be bothered to, will be producing some 3rd gen replacement parts. Should they be needed. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

OK I want another.
But which one do I want?
5906? 5903?
I like the stainless look but would not turn down a nice 5904.
Is their a 5905?
Was looking at a 6906. I am not sure I like the bobbed hammer.
I may only get one for now. Which one would you suggest?
Probably wont carry it.

I think for 9mm a 5906 is a classic

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I like the bobbed hammer...clean look and don't cock these guns often anyway. I've been stuck on the DAO guns lately so like the 3954 and the 4053 that I have.

Are the 5906 with the rounded trigger guard newer guns?

I don't think I'd sell any of mine 3rd Gen guns due to lack of parts. Unless you had some weird model , I'd say most all parts other than the frame could be found somewhere on the web. My 4026 daily carry gun with the frame mounted decocker could be an issue if the decocker parts failed. But I'd never think of selling it on a chance of what ifs.

Yes.

Curiously, S&W started out with rounded guards on the 1st gens, stayed with them then transitioned into square guards on the 2nd gens, stayed with the square guards after transitioning to the 3rd gens, then when back to the round guards for the remainder of production.

John

OP, I'm confused. You sold your 3rd gens. NOW, you're asking if parts are a concern. You hear they are tanks. You were happy with yours overall.

Then, you sold them. I'm confused.

Just to be plain...I still have mine, they are tanks, parts have not been a concern, and I'm happy with them, not just overall, but totally. Mag disconnect, or whatever is still extant on many other handguns. Choices.
I'm confused.

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Fight socialism. Never stop.

Get the 6906. If you really want a bobbed hammer, it's still not hard to find a spur hammer off any of the 3rd gen S&Ws and just swap it out. You'll need to swap the hammer struts, but the pin drives out and can be reused.

Personally, I thought I'd dislike the bobbed hammer but it's really not an issue. On the range, it's cocked after you cycle the slide to chamber the round, so you really don't use the spur, and in a self defense situation you're going to shoot it DA anyway.

There are some 6906s showing up as police trade ins in very good to excellent condition. I got this one recently for $299 out the door. I also scored pair of magazines for $20 each.

I liked it so much I added Meprolite night sights. It'll hold the 10 ring on a B-27 target at 15 yards, and it's become one of my primary self defense pistols.

Even tanks brake sometime. Nothing last forever.
I was afraid parts would be horded and impossible to find.
S&W CS sometime ticks me off.
I sold them to fund other projects.
I found a 6906 but it's missing the safety.
Will the 5906 safety work? Are they hard to install?
I will most likely get a LE trade in gun. If my rifles sell I will get 2 hopefully. If they brake I will deal with it then.
thanks guys

If it is the safety body and left side lever, or right side you need, send me a pm as I have several extras from rearranging things on my 3913 and believe they may be the same part for the 5906 and 6906.

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DAV Life Member

My emphasis added above.

Comments like this always make me chuckle-especially the adjective "cheap". You have to wonder how many MIM parts in the 39 Gen 3 pistols performed without issue. I can understand about being peeved due to a gun failure during a match but we all know that couldn't possibly influence an opinion concerning the cause of the difficulty.



Bruce

What's your thoughts on the 3913?
They look to be a little more money. Is it the size of the 5906 or 6906? I know it's a single stack. The slide looks shorter like the 6906 but how long is the grip?

Just for fun. Round trigger guard or square? I like the round, but would not turn down a deal on a nice square trigger guard.

I found magazines for 69 Series at keepshooting.com. $24.95 and they are made by United Defense LLC. I haven't bought or tried any yet. I have 6 original ones with spare Wolff mag springs and spare followers.

OK in my searching for a third gen gun I came across 910 and 915 models.
Looks like they have plastic sights, plastic gide rode and safety on one side.
They are just blued. Looks like they have less checkering.
IS that about right?
So what do you think of them?
I am looking at a 5906 a 6906 but now looking a 915 too.

910 has plastic part 915 steel.

Go with the 915. It is superior in build and function to the 910. And yes, I own both.

Out of my 39 owned and issued 3rd gen guns, only 4 have the CHEAP MIM parts. The 910 being one of those. The 915 is full of forged parts lovingly created by elves in the black forest. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

S&W decided in the early 90's to attempt to make a "value priced" 3rd Gen pistol... save some of the extras, cut a couple corners where possible all with the goal of dropping the price and hopefully selling MORE pistols. This attempt was the 915 (9mm) and 411 (.40cal) and these were made only two years but in heavy volume. The 915 especially is quite easy to find. In their short run, God knows how many they made but it was a lot.

However, that's not the whole "value line" story -- apparently S&W figured they missed their goal with the 915/411 because they didn't cut costs enough.

This is where the 910/410 came in. These guns further reduced manufacturing costs and these are cheaper guns. So while the 915 is certainly "less" than the 5903 it was modeled after... the 910 is FAR less.

915's and 411's remain a fantastic value even today, a quarter century after S&W debuted them.

So yes, great gun a 915 -- but it's still lesser a gun than a 5903 and most definitely a 5906. But you can definitely find some good buys on them. Gunbroker currently has fourteen gujillion of them (I just counted them. )

I have both a 5903 and in December bought a 6906. I was able to buy six Mecgar magazines (OEM for a ton of manufacturers to include S&W) for $19.99 each and six factory S&W 6906 magazines for $22.95 each. There are a lot of parts for 3rd generation S&W's, and believe it or not, there are a few big agencies that still have the 3rd generation Smiths.

FWIW, United Defense is part of BAE Land Systems, one of the biggest military contractors there is.

That's great to know!
Do you know which agencies those are and what models they are issuing?
We all know the price drops when an agency upgrades and it's pistols temporarily flood the market.
There has to be fewer and fewer agencies still issuing 3rd gens as S&W has certainly indicated a preference to sell plastic (not that there's anything wrong with that ).

If we knew who had what and how old they are, we could plan our future acquisitions!

John

JohnHL here are a few off the top of my head. NYPD - 5946/3914DAO RCMP 5943/5946 LAPD MULTIPLE 9MM AND 45 3RD GENS WVSP - 4566TSW. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Last year I was visiting Yakima, WA where I lived for 2 decades and ran across a cop (grey haired) who was still using his 2nd gen as a duty gun. How 'bout that for longevity? The newer guys were getting issued M & P's and apparently there were a few problems with a few of the new guns. This guy said he had no reason to change. It wasn't broke or even "tired" enough he said. Thought that was interesting.

I really like the first issue of the "Value Line" guns. I have a couple of 411's and like them quite well, so much so that now I'm looking for a 915 in great shape.

Being a Righty I like the non-ambidextrous safety/decocker as it results in a slimmer gun.

And yes Wendal there IS an all steel 5905 in black. They are pretty rare (less than 1000 made) because stainless was all the rage back in the '90's


5905 w/30 rd mag

digiroc

I won a auction for a 915. Will post a pic or 2 when I get it. I am not a huge 40 guy. However if I come across a 40 gen three I might buy it. What are your thoughts? 4006?

I think the CHP is still issuing or at least using the 4006TSW with integral rail.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

You don't have a left side only safety body, by any chance, do you? Or know where I might find one.

The only thing I don't like about my pre rail 3913TSW is the ambi safety. Some of my shirts don't like it either as it seems to poke holes in them.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

915 is a great pistol! If you want a .40cal to match the 915, look for a Smith & Wesson 411. However, if you want a .40cal to match a 5906... then find a 4006.

How is the recoil on them. I like my usp 40 but did not like the glock 40.

Recoil is horribly subjective and hits everyone differently. In my opinion, felt recoil on 3rd Gens tends to be heavier or hasher or worse than same caliber guns that are more modern and plastic frame -- because the bore axis is typically higher and the force seems to have more leverage.

This is merely what I feel and for darn sure, this doesn't stop me from shooting and enjoying my 1-2-3rd Gens including a 4006 and a 1006.

Between a 411 (alloy frame) and a 4006 (steel frame), the 4006 would surely be more pleasant. But both would be noticeably more snappy than a 915/5906.

Would you go with a gun with MIM parts or the other ones?
Are the third gen complicated to complete disassemble? If a person bough a blued gun that my need refinished. cericoat
thanks

If given a choice between the two, I would choose the better overall pistol or the better price. If absolutely everything between the two was equal and it was too close to call and the only real difference was the MIM parts versus the silver parts, I would choose the MIM parts. Both are fantastic.

Complicated to do a full detail strip? Not really... certainly more complicated to re-assemble them, and you need to be comfortable using punches and tapping pins and doing so without scratching or dinging the frame. You often have to hold many little things and line things up and work a pin in to place, one man's "easy" is another man's "holy nuts I will never do THAT again!" so it's tough to judge at the question.

Blued guns will [u]NEVER[b] "need" a cerakote or Duracoat job. Some of those aftermarket spray-on or bake-on finishes look decent, I must say, but it will never be necessary. Consider that an old gun in really beat-up shape won't ever have "collector value" and you simply cannot use a spray-on finish to enhance or raise that "collector value."

Can you make it look better? Certainly! But the gun can be just as functional and 'protected' with the chemical bottle bluing and aluma-black stuff without going for a full spray-on re-do.

If cerakote is something you wish to do, I'm all in favor of doing what you like! But I will never believe that it could ever be "necessary." But I also know that they made 10,000 dumptruck loads of these S&W pistols and if you find or own a beater and you wish to cerakote it, don't ever let anyone try and talk you out of it like it's a shameful thing to do.

That's nonsense, enjoy the gun and know that there are 300 others for sale on Gunbroker right now if someone doesn't like the color you cerakoted yours. Especially when you find a beat-up one for low money, you should totally do what you want to do with it!

Thank you for your reply.
I have cerakoted glock, m&p, cz75, cz83, beretta 92, AR15, mossberg 500, remington 870.. I did not take the trigger groups apard on the shotguns.
The CZ83 was the the most difficult because of one pin and spring.
I guess it's kinda a hobby.
Anyway thanks again
I will try to buy a nice looking third gen first. I like the clued and stainless looks of them.

Not the best pictures but here is the 915 I bought.

915's are pretty good lookin' guns. In a world of stainless 3rd Gens, the flat black is handsome. And while still a double stack 9, it has a trimmed down frame. Fine looking pistol. Would look even more handsome with a Novak rear sight.

I got some novak sight for it.
I took the rubber sleeve off.

I considered selling my 5906 but after couple days deactivated the Ad. I have a extra grip, pins and springs so planning keeping it for awhile. I know how it is , I kinda' regret selling my first pistol a 469 couple years ago. I'll redeem myself when have enough saved for a nice Revolver

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Good thing I did not see your ad. LOL

Well this thread has been around for 3 weeks ...... so my two cents.......

3rd Gen Smith autos....... must be a million...or so.... of them out there..... while I'm not a gunsmith my guess is that all the "small parts" are interchangeable..... so parts is not a worry....and hasn't been in 27/28 years of carrying/shooting these guns.... absolute worse case......I have to cannibalize one of my guns

IMHO

the 3913/14/NLs are the best single stack concealed carry 9mm you can find.

the 915 is the best hi-cap utility 9mm going

the stainless .45s and 9mms are tanks

6906s have got to be the best all around 9mms going; the size of a 3913 with a 'fat butt", can be used with 15-20 round 59xx mags with grip spacer

the PC guns from the 90s.........custom carry guns right out of the box.