Trying to hot rod a 6906 have questions.

[ispcapt]

No one is against 'hot rodding' any gun, be it 1911 or 3rd gen S&Ws. Just don't expect add on toys to fix grouping problems. Your initial post complained about you couldn't shoot the gun as accurately as you thought you should. Then you go into a list of mods, in your words "to make it better". Add on toys won't improve groups better than practice.
Too many people think because their gun doesn't group the way they think then it has to be the gun. It could never be they just need more practice. Afterall, they've spent 3 or 4 range sessions with the gun therefore it has to be the gun's fault. Very rarely it's the gun. They just don't want to admit they need more practice. Your groups show stringing. That's sight and trigger control issues, not a 6906 problem.

 

[85V65Sabre]

It's there for people who don't bother to check if there is a round in a chamber. I always check and in the rare event I have to defend myself with it it's more likely I'll accidentally drop the mag and need to fire the round in the chamber than drop the mag and pray the gun doesn't fire that round in my opinion.

[emoji780][emoji780][emoji780]

 

[Mike in Reedley]

One other point you might consider is the post shooting legal battle and explaining why you circumvented a safety mechanism that has no actual benefit in improving accuracy or reliability. Be ready to explain why someone with no formal gun smithing training knows better than the original manufacturer or numerous Federal, State and local law enforcement armorers that would not allow a similarly modified firearms to be carried by members of their agency.

I don't think anyone is picking at you, I think they're trying to prevent you from making a potentially horrific mistake that has no real world advantage. Three trips to the range for informal shooting doesn't necessarily improve your shooting skills to their greatest potential. If you have money to spend, take some lessons from a reputable instructor to improve your accuracy and to improve your standing in the post shooting nightmare.

Welcome to the Forum, you were smart enough to seek advice. Be smart enough to value that advice.

 

[flagman1776]

I have no problem with trying to improve firearms. I have learned over the years, to meaure twice (think twice), cut once.
If you want to improve your groups, I'd suggest you bench rest your pistol with a variety of ammo to see which one your gun likes. If you reload, you have even more variables.

 

[StevenJ61]

No I understand and I've read all the debates about removing mag disconnects from other websites like The High Road. Unless we are talking about a situation where someone tried to point the gun with a round in the chamber and fire it without the mag and say "look it has a mag safety" and it goes bang it shouldn't matter. 90% or better of the semi auto pistols don't have them and if a lawyer really wants to make that argument which is irrelevant in the case of straight on self defense more power to them.

I still stand behind what I wrote. I think it's more likely that you'll improperly insert the mag, chamber a round, and need to fire that round in the chamber than to drop the mag and disable the gun making it impossible for you to shoot the bad guy. That's all I was trying to say in my last post. That's the argument I'll use in court. It's not a safety device, the name is really a misnomer. As with any semi auto pistol you should always drop the mag, rack the chamber, visually inspect it multiple times if necessary and not rely on a magazine disconnect. I do agree I need to shoot it more. It is my fault I know but from personal experience, I found lighter trigger pull does make a semi auto pistol easier to shoot. I dropped from a 17 pound factory hammer spring to 15 in my CZ75 and the gun has a super light trigger now.

 

[StevenJ61]

So I got it back together for now without the mag disconnect, replacement rear sight is in and aligned, gun is functioning. I will say the trigger actually is much smoother and a bit lighter after removing the disconnect which I didn't think would be the case. I don't know why but I swear it's much more crisp and smooth now than with the mag disconnect. Another thing I noticed is during dry firing when I had the disconnect in I heard a 'twang' noise each time I dry fired it. I don't hear that 'twang' noise any more since removing the mag disconnect. I think the mag disconnect was ringing like a bell each time it was fired. Weird but either way the trigger is much better now in my opinion than before. So here is the gun with Hogue wood grips on on it.

I did end up wining the 3rd gen spurred hammer off gun broker so I'm looking forward to cleaning it up, possibly doing touch up bluing on the hammer, and getting it installed. I'm really like it so far. Oh I forgot to mention for people looking for magazines for your 3rd gen Smith, I bought the extra mags from a company called Keep Shooting.

Smith & Wesson 69 Series Magazine - Brand New, 12-Round 69 Series Magazines - Keepshooting®

These are the ones I got for my gun and they really work great and are a bit cheaper than factory Smith mags.

 

[armorer951]

The magazine disconnect has no impact on the trigger pull or "feel".....and the noise you were hearing is the harmonic from the mainspring. You're no longer hearing the harmonic because you changed the grips.

 

[StevenJ61]

It could be but just going from my own observations again.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Will the 5906 hammer work okay on the 6906 so I can get a hammer that I can thumb to single action if I wished to?

You can cock a bobbed hammer, to single action, if you want to.

.

 

[tr6r69]

My first S&W 3rd Gen was a 6904, the blued version of the 6906. I originally had some issues with the DA pull as well, and solved that by using modified factory Delrin grips (w/ curve filed off flat + grip tape) that seemed to give me a better grip on the gun, then lots and lots of dry firing. I also took it down to the bare frame and cleaned out the internals, especially the drawbar channel. This eliminated a lot of the grittiness that mine had.

I don't mean to derail the thread.
TercGen Im thinking of doing a similar modification to my 6906. How much of the curve were you able to remove?

 

[TercGen]

I don't mean to derail the thread.
TercGen Im thinking of doing a similar modification to my 6906. How much of the curve were you able to remove?

I wound up removing just about all of it, so that the backstrap goes in a straight line until about 1/2" from the bottom, where there is still a hint of a curve (1mm deflection). The hump is all solid Delrin material, so don't worry too much as you can feel the thickness as you go. I tried to contour the backstrap in a wide, shallow arc from side-to-side, modeled after a straight-backed 59xx grip. I used a smooth-cut hand file and sandpaper, wound up being a sub-hour little project.

 

[SuperMan]

"It's there for people who don't bother to check if there is a round in a chamber. I always check and in the rare event I have to defend myself with it it's more likely I'll accidentally drop the mag and need to fire the round in the chamber than drop the mag and pray the gun doesn't fire that round in my opinion."

Many of you guys may think he is crazy...but he is not...this exact same thing happened to be back in Dallas in 1984. Pulled a 1911 Commander on a guy, mag button hit the edge of the holster while drawing and the mag hit the ground... Fortunately he didn't see it happen and gave up without me having to fire the "one" shot I had. I have also shot combat competition since 1974 and put on classes since 1992...can't tell you how many mags I have seen it the floor but its a lot.

I carried a 6906 for the last ten years I was in LE and then 5 more years as a PI. It is now one of the two guns I qualify with every year for my retired LEO carry license. 7K+ rounds and only one failure to cycle on an underpowered 147 subsonic during a qualification...

OP...nice looking gun you have there...if the gun is being used for CC I would not put on the spur hammer as has been said it is easy enough to cock it without but that is your call...just would not want such a slick gun to have one catch point which is exactly what the spur is...

Bob

 

[Mark IV]

.....As the title indicates I have a 3rd gen 6906. I bought it used from a local gun shop about two months ago for $400 with one factory mag, no box....

I know it's a long-shot, but this wouldn't have been at Barrow's in Georgia, would it? About 2 months ago, I recall talking breifly with a guy that was buying a used 6906, with no box, that I believe was also around $400, same as the one I had in my pocket at the time. I had to ask .

 

[TercGen]

"It's there for people who don't bother to check if there is a round in a chamber. I always check and in the rare event I have to defend myself with it it's more likely I'll accidentally drop the mag and need to fire the round in the chamber than drop the mag and pray the gun doesn't fire that round in my opinion."

Many of you guys may think he is crazy...but he is not...this exact same thing happened to be back in Dallas in 1984. Pulled a 1911 Commander on a guy, mag button hit the edge of the holster while drawing and the mag hit the ground... Fortunately he didn't see it happen and gave up without me having to fire the "one" shot I had. I have also shot combat competition since 1974 and put on classes since 1992...can't tell you how many mags I have seen it the floor but its a lot.
...
OP...nice looking gun you have there...if the gun is being used for CC I would not put on the spur hammer as has been said it is easy enough to cock it without but that is your call...just would not want such a slick gun to have one catch point which is exactly what the spur is...

Bob

I wouldn't disagree with you or the OP about the possibility of the mag safety working against you in a situation like that, Bob. I do strongly disagree that the mag safety is there for people who don't bother to check the chamber - that was never it's purpose, and would only be abused in that way by someone who is bypassing the basic safety rules of handling any firearm. The mag safety is there so that the operator can attempt to disable the firearm in the event that his/her weapon is being taken away from them in a struggle.

But I do think that your story highlights another good point - that stressful scenarios can interfere with mechanical dexterity; and in that sense, I would not plan on trying to cock a bobbed hammer for a theoretically better shot. Practicing the double action pull with lots of dry-firing would be a better solution, IMO.

 

[tr6r69]

I wound up removing just about all of it, so that the backstrap goes in a straight line until about 1/2" from the bottom, where there is still a hint of a curve (1mm deflection). The hump is all solid Delrin material, so don't worry too much as you can feel the thickness as you go. I tried to contour the backstrap in a wide, shallow arc from side-to-side, modeled after a straight-backed 59xx grip. I used a smooth-cut hand file and sandpaper, wound up being a sub-hour little project.

Thanks ! Would you be willing to post or PM some more photos ? That looks like fix the bulky feeling this gun has in my hand.

 

[TercGen]

Thanks ! Would you be willing to post or PM some more photos ? That looks like fix the bulky feeling this gun has in my hand.

Here's another pic of the bottom of the grip to show the 'arc' of the back. I basically tried to make the back parallel to the front of the grip frame, and it wound up feeling great for my tastes.

 

[tr6r69]

Here's another pic of the bottom of the grip to show the 'arc' of the back. I basically tried to make the back parallel to the front of the grip frame, and it wound up feeling great for my tastes.

Thanks!!! I think that will be perfect for my taste also.