The Smith semi is the best looking of the bunch. That matters quite a bit in my book. Form + function = happiness.

[QUOTE=Fastbolt;140732266]I certainly don't/can't pretend to know how long any aluminum pistol frame might last. That said
I bought my 4013TSW in mid-2000.

After I'd been doing some occasional shooting with it for a couple of years (approx 2500+ rounds), I asked one of the S&W armorer instructors teaching a class at our range for his thoughts and experiences regarding service life for my aluminum-framed 4013TSW. I field stripped it and showed him the wear on mine.

He examined it and told me that he was presently using a pair of 4003TSW's as his competition guns, and that the amount of wear on each of his 4003TSW's appeared similar to the wear on my 4013TSW ... except that he'd fired more than 25,000 rounds


Hey Gang,

One of the pistiols in my collection is a 4013 TSW that was an original CA Highway Patrol test gun. They use three pistols of the same model and require those guns to shoot a total of 40k rounds without a major component failure. When they tested the 4006 against other manufacturer's pistols, it was the only one to finish the test. The .40 S&W cartridge is hard on guns due to slide speed. It beats up guns. There were other major makers involved in the testing including Sig and Glock. None of them made it to the end. The CHP wanted a smaller alloy frame gun for investigators and plain cloths use so they tested the 4013 the same way. That had us a bit concerned, but it passed without issue. The 4013TSW I have is not marked as a TSW gun because it was a very early test gun. The little gun still shoots great and shows no excessive wear or issues.

I prefer the 3953 myself. Had both the 3913 and the 3953; shot the DAO 53 better. Eventually sold the 3913. But I'm a revolver guy at heart and that DAO trigger on the 3953 is smooth as butter and you don't have to worry about taking off the safety and it's a tad flatter because of that as well.