The Melonite 4566 with KJF serial prefix, as appears on page 379 of the SCSW. Doesnt somone here have one of those?

It has forward slide serrations. Does it have a Briley bushing? Is that Melonite finish or that black s&w sharpie marker finish? Thanks! Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I found this, 18, but you might know of it already since you participated in the thread....but then again, it's been five years now....and what a shame the photos are gone now....

4566 melonite history

I do wish very much that I was one who could answer your question with a "yes."

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Thank you vigil617! I reread that post in my search for info on this pistol.

Ive been watching for one to come up for sale, for around 18 years. The last two I bid on went out of my price range.

Due to the kindness of a member here, mine will be in my hands in another week. It differs from my RJF prefix Melonite 4566 in that it has the forward slide serrations. Looking forward to finally getting my hands on one.

With this guns, the RJF, PC 45CQB, LE 4566, 4566TSW and the early hooked trigger guard example, I only need the WVSP Integral rail Melonite 4566 to complete the line of 4566s.

Ill post pics when it gets here. Thanks again my friend! Best regards, 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I have one of the WVSP integral rail guns.

I posted it here years ago.

Really, quite a phenomenal pistol

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

I believe you 4506517!

Eventually I will add one. I missed one on a gun sale board a few months back. Seller didnt want to ship it. But I will locate one eventually. Working part time in a LGS I see a lot of stuff walk in the door.

Hopefully one of the WVSP 4566s will stroll in. But for now, I am more than happy to have one of the KJF melomite 4566 salesmans samples. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Outstanding! Nice score and congrats, 18DAI. Looking forward to pictures.

Thanks goes all to you paddlingman!!! Member paddlingman was kind enough to forward me a link to the sale of the Melonite 4566.

I cant thank you enough paddlingman! I hope I get a chance to return the favor! Best regards, 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Looking forward to pics. Any man who collects 4566s is tops in my book.

Got the text from the LGS. She is here. Going to pick it up this AM. Quick clean and lube and 100 rounds to test for function.

Ill try and get pics and an abbreviated range report posted tonight or tommorow. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I absolutely cannot wait for the pictures.

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

Just curious... was this the one on Armslist for sale near Muncie Indiana? I contacted the seller on that one... apparently somebody beat me to it

But I ended up getting the 4516-2 instead. Which I just shot, actually. Did great. Will post a range report soon.

18DAI you scurvy dog! I would love to have one of these melonite 4566's. I passed on a Colorado highway patrol melonite 4006 last year at Cabelas for $375 and I kick myself in the hind quarters all the time for not getting it.

Does yours have the older dim Trijicons or does it have Novaks? Did it come with a box?

SVT28

Pics and range report forthcoming later today. I ran out of time yesterday and didnt make the range. Wife 2.0 said she would snap a pic for me.

But I will answer the questions posed and add one of my own. Yes, this was listed on Armslist. And thanks to my friend paddlingman I was able to secure it.

But a 4516-2 is a VERY nice consolation prize. Congrats!

SVT28 this is very similar to the other Melonite RJF prefix 4566s. The differences being no night sights, forward slide serrations and the laser etched warning about the decockers returning to the ready to fire position is tiny and on the left side of the frame rather than on the right side of the slide on this one. I like that a lot better.

The Melonite finish is better on this KJF gun too. My RJF prefix gun missing the coating on the inside of the slide.

This gun is used and has been carried and was advertised as such. That said it is in very nice shape and is going to be used and carried a whole lot more!

Now to my question. Has anyone ever seen a factory 8 round 45 mag with the indentations stamped on both sides of the feed lips like on the CS45 mags? I checked all 30 something of my 8 round mags last night. None have it.

But the 3 mags that came with this pistol do. In 27 years of being around 3rd gen 45s I have never come across 8 round mags with these stamped indentations to keep the rounds from moving forward in recoil. Strange, to me.

Interestingly I have found two theories on how the KJF guns came about. One is that these KJF Melonite 4566s were LE sales samples and only a handful were made. Between 20 and 30 being the number repeated to me.

The other theory comes from a S&W collector. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, S&W made small runs of "special" guns. These were variations of standard production guns that were aimed at large distributors to boost interest and sales. Like the half lug titanium cylinder 586. It is said the KJF gun may be one of these. Dunno.

Alls I do know is that after waiting nd searching for one for 18 years I am very glad to have it and it is everything Id hoped it would be. Thank you again paddlingman!! Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I'm glad that gun went to someone who can truly appreciate it.

Good thing I didn't see it first!

Very happy to see you get it! I was reading one of your iconic 4506-1 posts when I did my typical 3rd gen filter search on Armslist for my State. I remembered you talking about the 4566 Melonite before, so when this came up, I pm'ed 18DAI within an hour of the posting! It's been fun to watch your excitement throughout the process.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing about this one. And probably drooling. Congrats. Sounds like it's an awesome piece.

As promised here are a few pics. The pic of the magazine shows the CS45 like indentations at the top. Range report to follow. Regards 18DAI

Attached Images

	4566m2.jpg (78.6 KB, 184 views)
	4566m1.jpg (85.6 KB, 162 views)
	Melonite gun mag.jpg (58.6 KB, 141 views)

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I had very little time to run by the range and test the Melonite 4566 for function. I managed to run 110 rounds through it in about 20 minutes. That included fighting with the 3 mags which came with it.

In 27 years of shooting 3rd gen 45s I have never had any magazine problems. Never. In thousands of rounds. In fact, 3rd gen 45 mags are one of the primary factors in the sterling reliability of these pistols. But this year, I have had problems with NIB CS45 mags and these three 8-round mags.

To start with none of the three supplied mags would load easily. VERY problematic trying to get rounds into them. I had Federal 230 ball, Speer Gold Dot 230 JHP, Winchester Ranger 230 JHP and Blazer Brass 230 ball.

NONE of the mags would load with the Speer Gold Dot. Get one round in and no more. Mag was frozen up. Winchester Ranger and Federal 230 ball would load into the mags, but then they would only feed the top two rounds, the slide closing on an empty chamber. Blazer would load but only feed the top round. Vexing!

Luckily I had two 8-round S&W 3rd gen 45 mags in my range bag. I loaded those up and my 4566M ate everything and functioned perfectly. Nice trigger and VERY accurate! Like all my other 3rd gen 45s this one liked the Winchester Ranger T 230 JHP best. It put them into sub 2 inch groups at 10 yards. (Lane pulley was screwed up and only went out to 10 yards.)

I love this pistol! Well worth the wait to get it.

The three mags that camewith it will be tried againwith my CS45. Since they are the only 8-round mags I have ever come across with the CS45 like indentions at the top, perhaps they will work in the CS45 and be used as reload or range mags. If not, I will strip them for parts as the springs and followers were in excellent condition. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I'd call S&W CS and demand replacement magazines under warranty!

Seriously though, it's odd that the gun came with three magazines built differently than any others you've seen and those same magazines don't work well (or at all) in the gun with which they came.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Yeah I thought that was strange too GaryS. A "one off" pistol with magazines unlike its siblings.

Ive not yet called customer service to find out a birthdate, but would not be surprised to find it falls within the introduction of the CS45 guns. Perhaps S&W decided to try the indentions on the full size mags..........although I dont know why they would bother as the 8-round mags with the black followers were reliable.

I just checked these against two of my CS45 mags and the indentations on both sides of the 8-round mags are identical to and in the exact same location as those on the two CS45 mags.

I only checked them against two of the CS45 mags as those two are the only good CS45 mags I have at this time. The other mag problem I mentioned above involving two NIB CS45 mags I got from Midway earlier this year. I purchased them in January. In late April or May A friend Emailed me to take them out of the package and check them as his had indentions that were misaligned on the one side. Sure enough, mine were too. But the return time had already passed. So I stripped them for parts.

Anyways, I have dozens of 8-round mags in the parts bins, so I am not worried about it. The gun is perfect and functions fine. It will see regular holster time with me working at the local high end gunshop and instructing at the range.

But my 4513TSW will still spend the majority of time with me at the Magistrates office and on my own time! That gun is still my favorite 45 and favorite S&W! Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

That is one heck of a cool 4566, congrats on finally getting one 18DAI! Man I love those forward serrations....

Too bad about the unique mags not working though, in theory they sound like the perfect backup mags for a CS45.

18 is posting pictures. Oh golly, what is this forum coming to?

Beautiful find and glad it found its way to you. Someone who will appreciate it.

Toss them mags back in the case. The history would be interesting to know but I'm not sure we will ever know. And let's be sensitive to the mag topic, and not get TTSH started on the mags and there elusive pre ban history, prototype, high cap, low cap, with hidden chambers to hold extra rounds unbeknownst to the law or legal punishment (or his finances for that matter ).

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USS ZELLARS
DD-777

That's what I was thinking too. The first ones I recall?

Keep them coming 18DAI (& Mrs. 2.0).

Nice pistol !!

.

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Waiting for the break of day

That pistol is absolutely breath taking.

It is a sad commentary on what could have been at S & W. When they really want to make an absolutely stunning piece, they can do it. Problem is getting them to want to do it.

Had they wanted to, they could have competed and done quite well in the upper tier of handgun production.

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

Thanks all!

Thanks 4506617! This gun is what I always pictured a S&W 45 should look like. Ever since I first saw it on a flyer at my local S&W dealer/cop shop in Greensboro back in the early 90s. He tried to get me one then. To no avail.

I'll probably put another 100 rounds through her before I start carrying it. YES this will be carried and shot. It already has been and Im a shooter/accumulator. NOT a collector.

I read an interesting post on another board recently. The members there were addressing the late production 3rd gens with Melonite finishes and also the ones with integral rails. They speculated that these guns were really "4th gen" pistols - which should still be in production and would be competitive with other manufacturers metal framed hammer fired guns.

Personally, I would take this Melonite 4566 over ANY offering from Sig. And Id expect to pay a comparative price for it. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Fixed it for ya.

4566m1_zpswpll6pts.JPG

4566m2_zpseorjw4ey.JPG

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

18DAI, those serrations are the same as my 4516-2. I've never seen any other non performance center semis with the front slide serrations. Hmmmm

Thanks vigil617!! Very kind of you and much appreciated!!

Yes SVT28. Your 4516-2, this M4566 and one 4506-1 that appeared on this board are the only ones Ive ever come across. LE sales samples are my guess. They should have made more of them. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

In hindsight, I had a chance to buy both the 4516-2 and 4506-1 when they came up for sale. I probably should've bought both. I'd love to find a 39xx single stack variant with the same serrations. Sort of like if a Shorty 9 and a 3914 had an offspring. Or maybe if the 10xx series had a performance center variant, like the Recon 45. Maybe one day Smith and Wesson will "dust off" the old production assembly and start making quality semis again that aren't polymer.

Lol, I can't stop looking at the pictures.

Not to be funny, but it really disappoints me that S & W wasn't smart enough to develop these guns to their fullest potential.

I would say they never reached the pinnacle of what they could have been. And think about it, what other truly ALL STEEL pistols could come close? Especially in terms of options, reliability, and shootability. SIG and Beretta come close, but they are mostly alloy guns.

Shame S & W missed the boat and is now relegated to peddling sub par plastic junk to the masses. As has been well documented here, my agency suffered this fate for almost 9 years, only now ditching the M & P 45 for a Glock 17.

I have a WVSP 4566TSW. The fit and finish is absolutely amazing. One of the best I have EVER seen.

I can only guess that S & W is content to be known as a company that "used to" make fine quality guns.

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

Roger that 4506517!

I was sitting in the local book store while wife 2.0 was shopping the other day. I was perusing the gunrags and came across a photo of another interesting 4566.

This one is owned by gun scribe Leroy Thompson. He says that it was part of a small order with the Performance Center for "..extremely accurate 4566s...".

The 4566 pictured was melonite finish with forward slide serrations and a TSW rail tacked on under the dustcover. Being it is a PC gun I assume it has a Briley bushing, though I could not see the muzzle. MIM hammer and trigger and Im guessing decock only as all my "special order" 4566s are.

The serial prefix was Thompsons initials followed by some zeros and a very low number. Im guessing that this is one of the small order mentioned by SWCS members that was the subject of an article in their Journal. Would love to see a copy of that article, but those folks up on Mount Springfield dont share much info with the great unwashed. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Tacking that rail onto that special 4566 should be a hanging offense.

On the bright side, 18, you have another version of the 4566 to aspire to.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Believe it or not vigil617, that one with the cheesy luggage rack attached didnt do anything for me. My Melonite 4566 looks better, to me.

Having downsized the herd sometime back and sold off all the doubles of certain 3rd gens to folks who were looking for those models, I can only think of two or three that I would buy should they present themselves.

Two are LAPD 4566s. One is the 4566 issued by the city to S.I.S. and engraved with their logo. I dont know how many of those were done up or what became ofvthem. But I would love to aquire one.

The other LAPD 4566 Id like to find is one of the 18 4566s done up for the firearms unit. They were two-tone with Briley bushings and match grade barrels. My friend CALREB told me about them and posted some pics here of his. They were done up prior to my PC 4566 45CQB.

And the last gun I would be inclined to buy, should it cross my path, would be a 4566 gone over by Novak's. They did great work on 3rd gen guns back in the day. And despite my efforts to get them to do one more, I havent got to experience a 3rd gen Novak's Custom.........yet. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

This guy made a video of his

SMITH & WESSON 4566 45 ACP - Rare or Not? - YouTube

Also a few 4566 melonite’s On GunBroker but I’ve never seen one with fwd cocking serrations.

There were only 15 to 25 made of the black 4566s with forward cocking serrations. They were salesmans samples for LE Reps to show to agencies hoping to get them to place an order.

I have only ever seen 3 of them. The 3rd was the one I purchased after searching for one for almost 20 years (Thank you again Paddlingman!! ) All had the KJF serial prefix. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I have one but it’s an RJF prefix. I don’t have it available but it must be the “ newer version" ? Does anyone know how many of these were made? It’s possible I have the S//N prefix wrong too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

mbliss57 they are two different models of Melonite 4566. The RJF guns have no forward slide serrations - 200 to 300 of those made.

The KJF guns have the forward serrations. 15 to 25 of those salesmen sample guns.

But the total numbers on both Melonite 4566 models are unconfirmed, to date. Estimates are based on known serial numbers and the recollection of former employees who were involved with the pistols during their development, or sale. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I have been shooting and spending some quality time with my KJF prefix Melonite 4566 lately. So I thought I would add to this thread rather than start a new one.

I have been rehired at the local indoor public range as an instructor. So I have been shooting A LOT more. We are experiencing problems in getting ammo, like everyone else. But I bought quite a bit of ammo when I wasted a few years selling guns at the local high end gunshop. Ammo was cheap and plentiful so I put back a bunch. Just in case. Now I can burn up some. And I also shoot the range ammo and customers ammo during instruction. Yeah, I can't believe they pay to do it either.

I picked up a 4563TSW recently to use there. But shooting it and some of my other aluminum framed 45 guns, frequently, has started aggravating my shooting hand. Ome of my customers who is a Doctor examined my hand and opined that I may be developing arthritis in my strong hand. He suggested more 9mm shooting and less 45s to lessen the effects.

I found that if I shoot my all steel 45s, I have less problems. Nothing an Advil can't cure anyway. So I broke out my old duty gun, LE Special order 4566 with spurless hammer, PC 4566 45CQB and the Melonite KJF Prefix 4566. Spectacularly accurate pistols that are fun to shoot. With the standard bet your life reliability I have enjoyed from my 3rd gen guns for decades now.

And I have really been enjoying the KJF 4566 in particular. It is particularly accurate and easy to shoot well. With all the practice I have been getting, it will shoot sub 3 inch groups out to 25 yards. Even smaller groups in close. Even with the garbage range ammo.

The fellows I work with are all younger and all former/Current MIL/LE. Their experience is vast and so are their skill sets. But prior to my coming back there, none of them had any exposure to TDA metal framed 3rd gen guns. They have it now. And they like them too. Enough that we recently bought and put into the rental case a CHP 4006TSW. And the guys are shooting that one regularly. In fact, one purchased a 5906 and another is wanting his own 4006TSW.

They have all shot my 45s listed above too. And are frustrated that those models are out of print and the particular variants I own were made in such small numbers. The PC 4566 45CQB is one they all wanted to find and purchase - till they found out there were only 91 produced.

The KJF Melonite 4566 ws another big hit with them. Particularly with a couple of the former military guys who had used 45s while assigned to special units. One had shot HK45s and liked the added weight of the 4566. He shot the KJF 4566 like a laser.

Anyways, I am still very grateful to my friend paddlingman for putting me together with this fine 45! I am still thrilled with it and have started carrying it again. One of the nicest 45s they made. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I believe it brought me nearly as much joy connecting you with this example as it did for you in acquiring it! You’ve always been such a patient and thorough 3rd gen historian that it surely belongs in your hands. I am happy to hear that it is a favorite of yours. Happy holidays, old friend.

I still hope to someday return the favor paddlingman!

Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year my friend! Best regards, 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

"There were only 15 to 25 made of the black 4566s with forward cocking serrations."


That said, the rest of us have to get very lucky or find an alternative. Here is my KSP 4566TSW all stainless. With its Decocker Only, Night Sights and no rail configuration, I will just have to live without front cocking serrations and Melonite finish.

Attached Images

S&W 4566TSW KSP 50th Cup 3.jpg (116.8 KB, 24 views)

Beautiful KSP 4566TSW RedCardinal!

I am always looking out for one of those. That is my favorite configuration for the 4566 - spurless hammer, decock only, rail free (I don't hang things on my handguns).

My old 4566 duty gun is configured similarly. With Novak night sights. It was part of a large order by the State to equip a couple of University Police agencies. My agency piggy backed on the order. It was given to me when I retired. Great 45! Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

18DAI it is good to hear that LE and military veterans, that use firearms daily, but are younger than us older folk, find these 3td Gen guns to be excellent firearms. When talking to most guys at the range I get a "deer in the head lights" look when I mention any 3rd gen gun. So much so that I start to wonder if I am just stuck back in time. This is helpful to validate my perception and the reality that S&W 3rd gen pistols are some of the best out there. (I do like the older Sigs Sauers too)

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor