Hey all

Recently joined so I could ask a question or two about my gun.
Last year in June I came across a used 5904 for sale at a local cabelas, I wasn't too familiar with S&W but when I saw it I basically said "that's the one". Got it for less than 400 and it's really good condition and fires/reloads/ejects like a dream.
That being said one thing I noticed about it when I went to buy it was on the mag it's engraved "Restricted: Export, Law Enforcement, and Government use only" and was curious if that basically means when the gun was manufactured it was ordered for law enforcement of some type? That made me want it even more since it could have had an easy past life.
Was also curious if anyone else has one like that or a 5904 in general. I think it's a great gun.
If that does mean it was likely made for law enforcement is there any way to see the history of the gun?

Also wanted to include a picture to show it because why not right?

Thank you for reading, hope you have a good day

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Congratulations on 5904 can't tell you about guns history . The magazine maybe from President Clintions high capacity magazine ban.

Welcome to the Forum,
Nice pistol, congratulations.
Your magazine is from the post ban era when S&W marked the magazines with the script "Restricted, Export, Law Enforcement. Your's will hold more rounds when the post ban civilian magazine holds 10. You can obtain a historical letter from S&W that will detail to who, to where, and when your pistol shipped from the factory. It may have gone to a Police Dept, but since magazines are consumable, they are easily swapped, broken, misplaced, so there's no telling if the magazine is original to the pistol.

Your pistol appears to have a pre-recall grip that seems to be cracking around the grip pin. S&W will replace the grip for free if they have them in stock.

Recall info - http://smith-wessonforum.com/140654762-post10.html

The pistol is early and was made before the Clinton ban.

My first handgun purchase was a 5904 and was used but looked as new. After immediately tearing up the web between my thumb and finger with the slide - little blood never hurt anything - the gun felt good and fun to shoot. However shortly thereafter, the thing would often shoot 2 rounds with one trigger pull and a time or two, shot three rounds. A call to Smith and the lady was very clear "do not shoot that gun" and sent me a box to return to Smith. It appears they replaced the top half - slight color change - but by that time I was afraid of it and sold it to a policeman. Of course, it was not too awfully long before I kicked self.

When the Crime Bill/AWB went in to effect in the spring of 1994, anyone who had a hi-cap magazine was still legal to own them (Federally... state laws vary of course) so all the original magazines were good to be owned and used.

Going forward, the manufacturers were only allowed to make 10-round limited magazines to be sold commercially, but they were still able to make full capacity hi-cap magazines to be sold to any organization with LE credentials.

So for 10 years until 2004, S&W marked all the hi-cap magazines they produced with exactly those marks. During those 10 years, ONLY LE credentialed folks could legally have possession of them.

By the sunset of the AWB in 2004, the markings on those magazines became a moot point -- again, speaking Federally. And there are a lot of them out there in circulation and we see more and more of them as certain organizations sell off their old contract pistols. I have a handful myself now, but I certainly had none of them before 2004.

For restrictive states, those markings make it easy to distinguish a post-ban hi-cap from a pre-ban hi-cap magazine.

It was only the double stack 9mm (15rds) and double stack .40cal (11rds) magazines that got so marked, at least as far as I have seen. It would seem possible that 12-round 6906/6904 magazines would have been subject to the markings, but I have never seen one.

They did have the inscription.

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There ya go!

I was at a gun show in MA several years back and an out of state dealer had a box of 69xx magazines. Most of them were pre ban, which is what I needed, but there was on marked as the one in your picture.

I picked it and handed it to the dealer with the comment that he might NOT want to be seen with that magazine in MA as mere possession was a felony.

He turned white, took it from me, and thanked me.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Looks like you got a really nice one with not too much wear. And from Cabelas, too! Congratulations!
Looks like you got plenty of info on the inscription.
Welcome to the Forum. If you choose to stay and read a few past threads, you might find out a lot more about your new gun. And this is the best place to get info on S&Ws, too.

What a frighteningly horrible place to live!

John

You don't know the half of it!

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Can open, worms everywhere.

And every evening I pray to God that I never find out!

John

This is the famous Lucky Gunner S&W 3rd Gen Chart. 59 - 9mm Double Stack . 0 - standard size frame DA/SA . 4 - Alloy frame

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I have 2 of them , one is NIB . Both of mine have the rear adjustable , which I happen to like . My shooter is not my most accurate , but still is good enough for government work . Glad to see you here and enjoy your 5904 . The big problem is , one is never enough .

The 5904 was my dept's issued pistol until we went to Glock in 1999. When we got our Glocks we were allowed to purchase our 5904. I had been issued the 5904 and a 6904 and mostly carried the 6904. My 5904 had almost no wear. I bought it and later was also able to buy the 6904.
I don't carry it much but still shoot it a few times a year.

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183rd FBINA

How much did you pay for it? I paid $200 for my issued Glock 19 when it was replaced by the Glock 45 (9mm).

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I type. Therefore I am.

Welcome to the S&W Forums! For $400, especially these days, I think you did well. The Model 5904 is part of S&W's third generation metal receiver semi-auto pistols. These are the best of the breed. First thing you want to do is field strip it and give it a good cleaning and proper lubrication. Also, replace the recoil spring, you have no way of knowing how many rounds have been through that pistol since the current spring was placed in it. Stick with the factory rated spring, which is 14 pounds. I'd recommend using either genuine S&W springs or those from Wolff. Make sure you clean any accumulated gunk from the extractor and the extractor cut in the slide, inspect the extractor hook for damage.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I don't recall now. That was 22 years ago.
When we transitioned to a new gun I bought all my old issued ones except for the 439 which I very rarely carried. Those of us on SWAT could carry a 459 but we had to buy our own. I bought a 459, had our range guys doing a nice tune up, and the 439 stayed in the box.

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183rd FBINA

A LGS has one listed for $599.99 with two "pre ban" magazines. They also have a 5943TSW listed for $999.99.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Thanks for the reply, sorry for getting back so much later. How do I go about obtaining the historical letter? I think that's exactly what I'd be looking for.

That's actually one of the first things I did when I brought it home was field stripped it and cleaned every part and oiled it good. I haven't replaced the spring yet, but you make a good point so I will plan to do that soon. Thanks for the tip!