I have a few 3rd Gen autos - couple of 6906's, a 4506 and the 3913 shown below. I admit, up front, that I'm no TTSH when it comes to knowledge about them. I have been saving my money for a while and have wanted a 3953 for some time. The idea came from an article circulating earlier this year - or maybe last year - about an Alaskan guide using his 3953 to stop a grizzly. No grizzlies around here and I don't have the bucks for a trip to Alaska - but a 3953TSW has been on the For Sale board in my area for months. Started at $650, then 630, then 600 and now $550. So, I'm going to check it out tomorrow with cash in hand. OK - to the point - I'm not worried about the steel parts - but I thought I saw here, a couple of times, about the potential for frame cracks on 3900-series pistols? I hope I'm wrong - but I thought I would post here and ask about any potential problems. I know that the recoil spring seat is (I think) a weak area - but are there any other less-obvious potential problems to be aware of? I bought the 3913LS new many years ago and it has spent 99% of it's life in storage - I don't think I even have 50 rounds thru it. That said, the frame rails and upper mag well sure look scruffy given how little it has been fired ... . Feel free to hurt my feelings if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here - I won't have $550 again until after tax time and I'd like to not take a hit on this buy...

You should put lubricant on the frame rails on Aluminum frame 3rd gen guns.

I started a thread about this on other forums, as I recently got a 3913LS myself.

People that posted replies used a wide range of lubricants from various types of gun grease, to light oils like Remoil.

Not sure it matters that much what you use as long as you use something, clean the lubricant oil off, and put new on occasionally.

To my untrained eye, your rails look OK to me. There is some kind of black stuff on them (like burnt powder??), but it would likely clean off easily.

I have the black brother of your gun (908) when I bought it the frame rails looked worse than yours.

I lube it up and shoot without concern. It will go thousands more before the frame wears out and the slide will no longer stay on the frame.

My 3913 (and indeed my 915) have uneven marks on their rails where the slides rub the frames. In the case of these aluminum-framed guns, the "finish" (which I believe is a thin layer of anodizing) has been worked smooth where the steel of the frame impinges on the aluminum. I don't think this is a problem; the appropriate response is to lube the frame rails. The pistol in the picture does not appear to have much of this wear. The rate of wear should slow down a lot, as the gun breaks in fully and the two parts of the pistol that move against each other learn to fit together - the aluminum shows wear a lot more than the steel. This wear would not worry me unless the edges of the rails were starting to noticeably wear down; a few shiny spots are probably normal.

3953 frame cracks? I had a somewhat heavily used NPD 3953 for a while, and it was just fine. I've read a lot of posts about 3953's, and 3913/14's, which are pretty similar in function in terms of the slide/frame geometry, and don't recall reading about cracked frames. A preventative to frame cracking would be 1) install a new recoil spring, particularly when you buy a used pistol with unknown numbers of rounds through it; and 2) avoid +P or +P+ (or "NATO") ammo.

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S&W Rover

I certainly appreciate the compliment... ... but let's be honest here: I am a rank amateur compared to the real 3rd Gen Gurus here on Team 3rd Gen. I shouldn't even be allowed to shine their shoes as I might screw it up!

I don't worry about bears (well, not yet anyway) and I also don't worry about cracked aluminum frames... but I don't shoot my 3rd Gens a whole lot and the 3rd Gens I've bought are almost all miles from the "used & abused" realm, especially my aluminum-framed 3rd Gens.

So I'll let others advise, but unless you are buying one that is already in obvious tough condition, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Just thought I'd post a photo - I picked it up this morning. I asked to pull the slide before buying it and it wasn't a problem. The frame rails/etc are in better shape than my 3913. Not a single mark or scratch on the aluminum which is great. The top and rounded parts of the slide have some noticeable scratches - probably from having the mags loose in the box. The scratches wouldn't bother normal people but I'm pretty anal about them. I think CCR, down in Florida, might be willing to re-blast the top and rounds on the slide - I'll contact them and find out. I really like the trigger action - but I was surprised that it doesn't have double-strike. That's almost a moot point - I can't think of when I've had a failure-to-fire in a CF handgun. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it and finally have a pistol for my future grizzly encounters ...



Edited to add: I'm also happy that the rail doesn't have any marks on it. I know, I know - that's being pretty anal - but the small/cheapy Crimson Trace lasers don't leave any marks on Glock rails when they're removed. That said, I think this rail might also be polymer - does anyone know?

Rails on TSW guns are metal. Keep it clean, lubed, and replace the recoil spring and you won't have to worry about frame cracks. I lube the rails and barrel lugs with Lubriplate 105, but any quality grease should be fine.

As I recall, the area that cracks in the rare instances when it's an issue, is at the hole for the slide stop. Replacing the recoil spring is the key means of prevention.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

The only frame crack I've seen in any of the 3rd generation guns was on a 5906 carried by one of our full time officers who was also on the SWAT team. The gun had seen many rounds, probably over 30K. The crack was on the right side of the frame below the tail of the disconnector, and ran across the very thin milled out area that is cut to accomodate the insertion of the drawbar. The gun had not been dropped as far as I know.

S&W replaced the cracked frame at no charge.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Only third gen cracked frame I ever saw was on a 4043. Several issue guns on our department were returned to Smith and they replaced them with 4046TSW. The guns were just just shy of 10years old. Ask me why I didn't purchase my 4043 when offered.

Congrats on the 3913TSW!! She looks NIB.

Keep those rails greased with synthetic grease (oil does not adhere to aluminum frames well). Change the recoil spring every 3000 rounds and your grandkids will be enjoying that fine 9. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Well, it looks damn nice to me. I guess the slide scratches are awfully minor or just not showing in the side view. Sounds like you are even more anal about cosmetic condition than moi! Gee, I didn't think that was possible!

The scratches aren't deep at all - but noticeable in the right light. I'm retired, so the right light is easy to find! I have PM'd a well-known poster here and asked if he would re-blast the slide. I haven't heard back from him so I'm thinking he doesn't have time. It's not that I'm too cheap to buy the blasting stuff - we live in an old-folks development with an association. I don't think they will see any humor in me standing outside, in full protective gear, blasting some unknown substance into their environment. I have tried, in vain, before to find someone willing to blast just a slide (my 4013TSW) but no one is interested. Anyone else out there in SWF-Land who's willing to help me out?

Edited to add: Took it apart again this morning and re-lubed it with Tetra-gun grease. All of these years owning S&W's and I didn't know about oil vs grease on alu frames. Thanks 18DAI! I think I mentioned it was bone dry when I broke it down yesterday. Oh, one more small anality - I have cleaned the mag well and put the required one-inch strip of scotch tape on the back interior to prevent mag scratches there ...