4586 with no mag disconnection from factory

[Outrider]

Folks, I have a 4586 without a mag disconnect from the factory.

It's only been shot 250 times -- and is in excellent condition.

I'm not looking to sell, but I am curious to get a range on what the market might bear above a regular 4586.

I can't find out how many were made this way, but I'm almost certain it is an LEA special order production over-run.

I've ALWAYS hated the mag disconnect on 3rd Gens.

If I buy any more 3rd Gens in the future, I'll have the mag disconnect removed.

So, this 4586 might be more valuable to me than others who can tolerate the disconnect better than I can.

BTW, who could you recommend to ATTRACTIVELY either engrave or etch the "Caution: Capable of firing with magazine removed" if I have the disconnect removed on future acquisitions?

[Aegis]

I have a 4586 I am not aware of any without the disconnect. If done at the factory it would most likely be marked as such.. There are exceptions though, my FBI 1076 does not have the warning on the slide.Third gens are relatively easy to convert, removal of the rear sight is required.BMCM on this forum is the master gunsmith and most qualified to work on a third gen..
I also have a 4556 DAO and will have a 4546 shortly. A call to S&W may reveal who the gun was delivered to or a Jinks letter.

[robertrwalsh]

Law enforcement could order the guns from the factory without the magazine disconnect. It seems very likely that was the origin of this weapon. No idea who could help you with the engraving.

[kbm6893]

My NYPD 5946 has the engraving “capable of Firing with Magazine Removed” I can’t imagine why the factory wouldn’t have done the same for your gun but anything is possible.

By the way, I love the mag disconnect. Don’t see a downside to it, especially now that my 3rd gen guns are range toys and home defense.

[flagman1776]

The magazine disconnect doesn't affect trigger pull as it does on other, non-Smith makes. I had removed mine on my 39-2 but restored it after reading about a LEO saved by the feature.

[Outrider]

My 4586 has "Caution - Capable of firing with magazine removed" etched in gold on the right hand side of the slide.

I checked with S&W maybe 3 years ago, and Smith told me it was produced in 1995. But they couldn't tell me where it went originally. It was purchased through GunBroker from a LGS in southwestern Georgia, if memory serves.

It was unfired as best I could tell when I got it somewhere around 2012-13.

It has Novak fixed, forward, night sights unlike other Novaks I've seen. They're still dimly visible in REALLY deep darkness.

It has a curved Delrin backstrap grip -- which will soon be changed to Hogues -- although the much thinner-walled original grips have certain charms and advantages for concealability.

Hogues offer much more protection to the main spring housing if dropped on the butt in frigid conditions than even the up-dated Delrin grips that replaced the original recalled ones. Plus, Hogues are also better grippers in wet conditions.

Oddly, the S&W rep who had been so generous in loaning out his pistol stock samples to me almost seemed to suggest that Hogues should have come standard on 3rd Gens. I strongly agree!

Photos will be forthcoming.

Thanks for your interest. It's GREAT to be back on this site again! I missed you folks!

[Outrider]

Originally Posted by flagman1776

The magazine disconnect doesn't affect trigger pull as it does on other, non-Smith makes. I had removed mine on my 39-2 but restored it after reading about a LEO saved by the feature.

Flagman,

I'm not an LEO and don't have children around my house, so the disconnect is a HUGE turnoff for me -- and always has been.

To be clear, this 4586 has no disconnect -- as a "from-the-factory" feature.

Thus, since this one has no mag disconnect from the factory, my 4586 REALLY appeals to me. If I buy other 3rd Gens, I will remove the disconnect -- PROVIDED I can indicate on the pistol it doesn't have that feature.

The last time I checked, Smith wasn't honoring their "Lifetime Warranty" on anyone's 3rd Gen -- and certainly not for anyone other than the original owner. Thus removing the mag safety wouldn't void the warranty -- so that isn't an issue now.

The only potential problem from my perspective would be legal liability if someone picked it up and thought -- foolishly -- it had the disconnect.

Or the modified gun might be the target of an over-zealous prosecutor if the gun were involved in a self-defense shooting -- and the owner were accused of over-riding safe-handling measures -- and was therefore "an evil gun-owner".

Not many people at S&W now know much about 3rd Gens -- and I was told flatly that I appeared to know more about them than anyone they currently had on staff -- which is TRULY scary.

The mag disconnect was a feature that catered to LEOs going into domestic violence situations where dropping the mag could prevent a perp from gaining control of their sidearm and shooting officers with their own guns.

In my view, I'd rather have a single shot pistol -- than a disabled pistol -- in most of my likely life circumstances -- such as hiking, hunting or camping where there's the improbable, but still possible situation where a magazine might be either damaged or ejected -- and the pistol wouldn't fire at all.

Plus, during the brief time you're changing magazines, guns with the disconnect are out of commission. That's always bothered me.

I train myself not to shoot a pistol empty "to slide lock", and I don't ever want to be vulnerable for the time the pistol would have the mag removed during mag changes.

[kbm6893]

Enjoy the gun. Don’t really see the aversion to the disconnect. Many documented saves from using the mag disconnect. None I have ever heard of it being a liability. As for loading in the middle of a gunfight, one that in all likelihood won’t even happen anyway, I’d say unless you are a supremely trained person with real experience in getting shot at, you’re not gonna think of reloading if you’re not empty, and even if you did, the odds you would need that one round in the few seconds you are reloading are even more remote.

[DMcBB]

Originally Posted by Outrider

The only potential problem from my perspective would be legal liability if someone picked it up and thought -- foolishly -- it had the disconnect.

Or the modified gun might be the target of an over-zealous prosecutor if the gun were involved in a self-defense shooting -- and the owner were accused of over-riding safe-handling measures -- and was therefore "an evil gun-owner".

The odds of either of these things are so low that I would ignore them as downsides. Has anyone seen a documented case of either situation that ultimately went against a gun owner?