HarrishMasher
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I had posted here a couple of weeks ago that I found a nice 3914 lady Smith on Gunbroker and purchased it. I finally got to pick it up yesterday! The gun is absolutely in mint condition. It had not been shot that much and it certainly wasn't carried. Anything you see that looks like wear in the pictures below is just the lighting or oil/lube. While S&W made a pretty good number of the 3913 Lady Smith's which were the Stainless ones, they made VERY few of the 3914 Lady Smith's. I managed to score it on Gunbroker for $426.06. So I think I got an amazing deal. It even came with the Lady Smith Purse, cleaning kit, and all the paperwork. All of which is also in excellent condition.
I have generally always had at least one S&W Gen 3 single stack 39xx in my collection, but for some reason I have always wound up selling them. At different times over the past 15 years I have had two 3913 Lady Smiths (one was an 3913NL), two regular 3913 pistols, and one 3953 (DAO variant of the 3913). So who did I get rid of them? And why did I buy another???
Aside from the fact that I generally avoid guns that have slide-mounted safeties/decockers, the vast majority of the compact single stack Gen 3 Smiths are stainless steel. I just don't love the look of pistols that are ALL stainless. A two-tone I can live with, but I never seem to hold on to stainless semi-autos very long. However, note that the 3914 is BLUED, and I have NEVER had a blued single stack S&W Gen 3 before. It also only has the safety/decocker on one side of the slide; which I can live with. I can't, however, live with safety/decocker on both sides of the slide; it is just awkward in too many ways. I don't see myself ever selling this Blued 3914 with the single decocker/safety.
I would have bought one of the Double Action Only compact Gen 3 pistols, but I briefly owned the 3953 and I really disliked the trigger system. It was like a revolver trigger. Which is great for a revolver, but a very long trigger reset on a semi-auto pistol is just not at all for me. I look for a very short reset on the semi-auto pistols I buy and carry. That's what I like about trigger on the DA/SA Gen 3 Smiths, they have a super short reset!
In my opinion, the S&W Gen 3's are some of the best single stack DA/SA 9mm pistols ever made. While I am not generally a fan of DA/SA triggers, I personally think a DA/SA trigger is not such a bad thing on a smaller compact carry gun. Ever since I had my daughter 3 years ago, my striker-fired guns with no safeties have given me a bit of pause. I find myself carrying guns with safeties since she was born. I'm not saying everyone should do this or there is something inherently unsafe about a striker-fired trigger with no safety; it's just my personal preference at the moment.
Turning to the 3914 I actually purchased, after doing the transfer paperwork I headed to the range at the back of the shop that did the transfer for me. I broke the gun down and applied some much needed lube. Why is it that ever single gun I buy on Gunbroker, which is an average of 2 a month lately, come absolutely bone dry? It was clear the gun had been cleaned, nothing was dirty inside, but there was not a drop a lube anywhere. Not only do I lube my guns regularly, I run them pretty wet. Machines need lubrication to run properly, so lube them up fellas!
After lubricating the Lady Smith I proceeded to run a 150 rounds through it. I will show you my results, they give some initial impressions of the 3914 LS.
Here is the first two groups I shot today right after I picked up the 3914 LS and lubed it. They are 8-round groups I shot at about 8-9 yards offhand. The mags hold 8 rounds, so 8 round groups are what you get.[/size=4]
How is this for a strange looking group??? 124gr Federal HST 8 rounds at 8-9 yards offhand[/size=4].
Judging by my results one might think the gun is shooting below the point of aim. The gun DOES NOT shoot low, I just always struggle with the factory S&W sights that are on the Gen 3 compact pistols. You can see my first shot hit low and I literally worked my way up to the bullseye one shot at a time! If I can't find a set of Straight 8 Night Sights for it (my favorite sights), I might have to do a black rear and front night sight. We will see what I can find.
I am going to need to spend more time with my 3914LS until I can finalize my thoughts about it. But I wanted to mention a couple of things about my shooting experience today with the 3914. The gun was completely reliable in the 150 rounds of mixed 9mm ammo I put through it today. I ran 115gr, 124gr and 147gr factory FMJs. I also ran Federal HST ammo in the 124gr and 147gr standard pressure varieties. Every round fired and ejected flawlessly. Which is exactly what I have come to expect from Gen 3 Smith & Wesson pistols.
The other observation I want to share...I was very surprised how nicely this compact single stack handles recoil; it is surprisingly mild and very controllable. One of the reasons it surprises me, the axis of the bore is noticeably higher above my hand than with the Gen 3 Smiths when compared to most modern polymer guns. That's why I was surprised it felt like this gun has less recoil than my Glock 19. I will have to shoot them side by side to confirm that though!
Once I have had a chance to replace the sights, get a bunch more rounds downrange, purchase a quality holster, and come the recoil side-by-side with a Glock 19, I will write up a more detailed report. Thanks for reading!
I have generally always had at least one S&W Gen 3 single stack 39xx in my collection, but for some reason I have always wound up selling them. At different times over the past 15 years I have had two 3913 Lady Smiths (one was an 3913NL), two regular 3913 pistols, and one 3953 (DAO variant of the 3913). So who did I get rid of them? And why did I buy another???
Aside from the fact that I generally avoid guns that have slide-mounted safeties/decockers, the vast majority of the compact single stack Gen 3 Smiths are stainless steel. I just don't love the look of pistols that are ALL stainless. A two-tone I can live with, but I never seem to hold on to stainless semi-autos very long. However, note that the 3914 is BLUED, and I have NEVER had a blued single stack S&W Gen 3 before. It also only has the safety/decocker on one side of the slide; which I can live with. I can't, however, live with safety/decocker on both sides of the slide; it is just awkward in too many ways. I don't see myself ever selling this Blued 3914 with the single decocker/safety.
I would have bought one of the Double Action Only compact Gen 3 pistols, but I briefly owned the 3953 and I really disliked the trigger system. It was like a revolver trigger. Which is great for a revolver, but a very long trigger reset on a semi-auto pistol is just not at all for me. I look for a very short reset on the semi-auto pistols I buy and carry. That's what I like about trigger on the DA/SA Gen 3 Smiths, they have a super short reset!
In my opinion, the S&W Gen 3's are some of the best single stack DA/SA 9mm pistols ever made. While I am not generally a fan of DA/SA triggers, I personally think a DA/SA trigger is not such a bad thing on a smaller compact carry gun. Ever since I had my daughter 3 years ago, my striker-fired guns with no safeties have given me a bit of pause. I find myself carrying guns with safeties since she was born. I'm not saying everyone should do this or there is something inherently unsafe about a striker-fired trigger with no safety; it's just my personal preference at the moment.
Turning to the 3914 I actually purchased, after doing the transfer paperwork I headed to the range at the back of the shop that did the transfer for me. I broke the gun down and applied some much needed lube. Why is it that ever single gun I buy on Gunbroker, which is an average of 2 a month lately, come absolutely bone dry? It was clear the gun had been cleaned, nothing was dirty inside, but there was not a drop a lube anywhere. Not only do I lube my guns regularly, I run them pretty wet. Machines need lubrication to run properly, so lube them up fellas!
After lubricating the Lady Smith I proceeded to run a 150 rounds through it. I will show you my results, they give some initial impressions of the 3914 LS.
Here is the first two groups I shot today right after I picked up the 3914 LS and lubed it. They are 8-round groups I shot at about 8-9 yards offhand. The mags hold 8 rounds, so 8 round groups are what you get.[/size=4]
How is this for a strange looking group??? 124gr Federal HST 8 rounds at 8-9 yards offhand[/size=4].
Judging by my results one might think the gun is shooting below the point of aim. The gun DOES NOT shoot low, I just always struggle with the factory S&W sights that are on the Gen 3 compact pistols. You can see my first shot hit low and I literally worked my way up to the bullseye one shot at a time! If I can't find a set of Straight 8 Night Sights for it (my favorite sights), I might have to do a black rear and front night sight. We will see what I can find.
I am going to need to spend more time with my 3914LS until I can finalize my thoughts about it. But I wanted to mention a couple of things about my shooting experience today with the 3914. The gun was completely reliable in the 150 rounds of mixed 9mm ammo I put through it today. I ran 115gr, 124gr and 147gr factory FMJs. I also ran Federal HST ammo in the 124gr and 147gr standard pressure varieties. Every round fired and ejected flawlessly. Which is exactly what I have come to expect from Gen 3 Smith & Wesson pistols.
The other observation I want to share...I was very surprised how nicely this compact single stack handles recoil; it is surprisingly mild and very controllable. One of the reasons it surprises me, the axis of the bore is noticeably higher above my hand than with the Gen 3 Smiths when compared to most modern polymer guns. That's why I was surprised it felt like this gun has less recoil than my Glock 19. I will have to shoot them side by side to confirm that though!
Once I have had a chance to replace the sights, get a bunch more rounds downrange, purchase a quality holster, and come the recoil side-by-side with a Glock 19, I will write up a more detailed report. Thanks for reading!
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