Hey guys. I'm kind of a lurker around here and don't really post much, but this thread has so much great info, I thought I'd say thanks to everyone who's posted.

I also purchased a Model 39 from AIM. I'm pretty sure mine was the last one to leave their warehouse. They told me I "almost lost it" because of some confusion with my FFL. But that all got sorted out and I was able to get my pistol and take it to the range this weekend.

Unlike W.E.G., my pistol came with the wood grips, which I was glad for. They are well worn, but still have several years of life left in them. Whoever carried it was a righty like me because the texture on the wood is almost completely smoothed down on the right grip panel.

My lanyard loop is also smashed down. My theory is that the Euro police force these came from were trained to use the butt of their guns to crack open walnuts. I'm still developing this theory...

I've owned a couple of dozen pistols over the past few years, but this is my first S&W pre-M&P auto. For some reason, this 39 is close to the top of the list of "fun to shoot" guns I've ever owned. I have no idea why, but I got a big grin every time I finished off a mag. The recoil seems very soft, and I think it will make a great training pistol for my intro to handgun classes.

I did have a few failures to extract, but that could have been because of the cheap Russian ammo I was using, or perhaps due to the fact that it hadn't been cleaned since it left Europe (don't judge me! I had a chance to go to the range so I jumped on it. You'd have done the same!) Anyway, it's been field stripped and scrubbed of all it's nasty Euro-grime now, so we'll see how it does next time at the range. Maybe I'll come back here and give a report.

Okay, that's all I got
Chris

PS: For your viewing pleasure: