Wow can not believe how old this thread is and I've never noticed it before.

Away here it goes.

4506. Purchased new shortly after the North Hollywood shootout. An early round trigger guard model.
Totally 100% reliable. I tried the Hogue rubber grips for some time but eventually went to grip tape. To me the stock grip is too narrow but the Hogues, the only authorized nonfactory grip, is way too fat. To the people with machining issues, We had a batch of 4506s come into our Department store, shortly after I got mine and probably a special bulk order, that obviously had been made on overtime on a Saturday. You could easily see waviness in the slides. To Smith's credit they did everything to make those guns run right.

5904. A very early square trigger guard model. This gun never was 100% I bought it shortly after I turned 21 and was processing with the Orange County, CA, Sheriff's Department. They issued revolvers but let guys buy their own auto, Smith, Sig, or Beretta. Right off the bat I had to send it back because the rear sight, the bulky winged adjustable one, was not centered on the slide. Next the mag catch broke and finally I've had to have the extractor replaced 3 times in 9-10K rounds.

3913. Great and easy to carry. I've seen guys shot lights out with them but nine never grouped well. It's a 3 inch at 15 yard gun at best in my hands and I'm a DX. On the plus its always been 100% reliable.

As for the LAPD allowing guys who are issued Glocks to go to a 3rd Gen gun. Yes we do but the guns, especially 4506s, are had to find and expensive when you can find them. Mags are really expensive and holsters are few and far between. While I don't carry mine any more I'll never part with it. I carried it for years when I walked footbeat patrol in Watts and it's got a few stories to tell.

Are there any reccomended 3rd gen gunsmiths out there???

Yep! The best of the best!

BMCM now open for business

In the late 1980's I became a member of the U.S. Customs Special Response Team in Los Angeles. At the time the U.S. Customs Service allowed for an agent to carry many different personally owned weapons. Since I had been in the Military Police, I was very comfortable with a 1911 pistol. I carried one for about six years before transferring to the Los Angeles area. After my second year on the team, the policy was changed, and we could no longer carry single action autos.

I went to a 645 almost immediately, and it was a great pistol, especially in a tactical role. I carried in a thigh rig, so concealing it was never an issue. I also purchased a 4516-1 as a concealment gun, and it worked just as well as it's larger counterpart. I carried the 645 and 4516-1 until Glock came out with the Glock 21. With it's high capacity, I soon retired the S&W's.

Tim Thurner (TT Gunleather); makes awesome leather holsters for 3rd Gens. His are as good as they come, and at half the price (and a fourth the wait time) as the other “premier” holster makers.

Many moons ago I had a brand-new 645. It's the pistol that started my love of S&W semi-autos and of .45s.

HOWEVER...

The external machining on that pistol was horrible. When looking straight down the slide you could see that the shoulder cuts that ran the length of the slide were uneven between the left and right sides and not a constant depth, almost as if the work piece was placed slightly to the left of center and slightly crooked on the milling machine. It shot wonderfully but was "uncomfortable" to look at for a kid who spent some time recently in a machine shop while in school.

I contact S&W and they promised to make things right, but I ended up trading it in on a brand-new 4506 that I still have today. And the machining on that pistol is perfect!

That first link takes you to Master's Holsters Horizontal Shoulder Holster | Up to 24% Off w/ Free S&H I didn't see any holsters for 3rd Gen S&W pistols.

I normally don’t resurrect dormant threads, but this one is a doozy. I can’t believe I missed it originally and during its previous resurrections. I only found it today by doing a tag search.

It is mentioned almost in passing that 645s and 4506s will fit in holsters meant for the Sig P220. Say what? I carried my trusty 220 in a Galco shoulder holster for years. I gave the 220 to my son when I retired but he’s a lefty so he had no use for the leather.

I rooted around and found it somehow. And, yep, the 645 I got a couple weeks ago fits great, though the business end sticks out a little farther than the Sig did. The mags fit the pouches, too.

I should probably pop for a new harness, since the four points of it are attached to the holster and mag pouch with: 1- Superglue, 2 - a piece of leather shoelace, 3 - a plastic flex cuff, cut short, and 4 - nothing but optimism.

Seems like a good cold-weather felon repellant set up to me.

Goes to show there can be gold in these old threads.

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It’s Fudd-Daddy to you.

Very nice rig! If you have access to an old school shoe cobbler, those guys can make repairs to gun leather too.

I am fortunate to have had one locally while I was still on the job. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Revival of a good old thread - and I must've missed it before.
My department's first auto (~1989-90) was the S&W M1076. We had good service from it - it was adopted before the .40 ever came out.
Ammo was the basic, usually Federal 10mm 180 gr JHP LITE.
Results of OIS was generally quite good.

Fast forward about 9-10 years and the 1076 was no longer being made. S&W would make up 'batches' of them up for incoming academies, usually 25-40 at a time, but a premium was being charged. Plus, 10mm ammo was getting much more expensive.

That lead to the next S&W auto - the CS45 for plainclothes/Detectives and the M4566 for uniform.
Over time, I had both.
I started with the CS45 and shot it well, even though it was not really all that comfortable and was sure ugly.

Near the end of my career I returned to uniform and the CS45 looked goofy in uniform gear. Knowing I'd be given my duty weapon at upcoming retirement, I switched to the 4566. These guns ran 100%, and would even feed empty/fired cases.
Duty load for all has been the Speer 230 gr GDHP. It has done very well.

With the ever-increasing load on officer's duty belts, Tasers, OC, etc, the 4566 became labeled 'the boat anchor' by young guys pining for a Glock.

The last few months before I retired, I helped assist in T&E of proposed new duty pistols and after I left, the S&W M&P .45 FS won out.

I was given my 4566, but it mostly lives in the safe, along with the 1076.
I just always find something else to shoot it seems.

Our 4566 had the slide-mounted decocking lever, but it was ONLY that - a decocker. It did not function as a safety, as the previous 1076 only had decockers (frame mounted) - and they didn't wanna confuse anyone.
Thought that was a good move.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Wow old thread...... my last input was 2016

I've got an old Galco "Miami Vice" set up for single stack..... winter walks it works well with my Sig 245 or 220 and my Smith 4566..... all with 2 extra mags..... for the 245 spare mags are 8rd with Xgrips adaptors. Must admit that I tend to favor the alloy frame Sigs to the all Steel 4566 for a walk in the park!

It also works well with my Beretta 92 Compact Type-M single stack.


As they all have exposed hammers they are nice and secure with the thumb-break.

I've got a second one set up for double stack mags..... generally for my Beretta 92s either of the short (4.2")slide Compact or Centurion. IIRC it's a bit loose with a 3rd gen gun like the 5906 or 915.
Both were picked up "un- used" in the 90s at about $.25 on the dollar for a new one at the time.

It was my go to gun for many years. It still rides in the truck with me. Since then I have picked up another one as a spare plus a 645 and a 4506. I like them almost as much as my two 1006s.

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I still have the 4506 I bought back in 1990. Never trade/sell that wonderful pistol. Never has it ever failed in any way. It resides under my pillow as it has for years.

The 4516-1 sits with me in the computer room. Once BMCM set me straight on the recoil spring I had installed backwards no further problem with it either.

I might be a fan of the steel .45 automatics.



Model 645



Model 745



Model 4506-1



Model 4566



Model 4566TSW



Model 4566TSW

Well all I can say is wow. That was a great read covering almost ten years. A lot of great information and I must say thanks to all that contributed to it. Now I have to go out and find myself a .45 third gen.

My 45's are my favorites . 645, 745 , 845 and 945's I like them all . I have to include my Recon45 also . Among others i have 457's , CS45 , 4586 , 4536 , 4566TSW and some others . One can't have too many 45's . Here's a couple of them .

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Just re-reading this thread. I dearly miss Leiden and 18DAI talking about their lives of service. Leiden got my sold on a 4516 many years ago (still have it) and 18DAI was one of the folks who helped me out with my Recon 45. If you want to read some good stuff, and love S&W .45 pistols, go back and read these guys’ posts over the years. Hard to beat

I too have enjoyed reading through this again as I’m a big fan of the large frame steel S&W 45’s. Bought a 645 when first available, even before Sonny Crockett . Regrettably let that one go, but replaced it a few years ago. Still waiting for my first malfunction with a 645…hasn’t happened yet.

With all the great info in this thread I was surprised at no mention of the 4546. I know they’re a bit of a rare bird and what little I know about them I learned on this forum. In my LGS in among the black plastic I saw the first 4546 I’d ever laid eyes on in the case. I wasn’t that interested, but after reading a bit about them, and seeing it sitting there for a few months, I made an offer and it was accepted. I really didn’t expect to keep it but thought it might make good trade material. No box, but was in great condition. Took it straight to the ranch to see how it worked. Only problem was I only brought one box of ammo. It was a lot of fun and amazingly, to me anyway, extremely easy to hit with. I was able to “ding steel” consistently at targets as far as 75 yards out. Later took it to my buddy’s house to show it off. At his home range we were able to ring targets out to 100 yards. He was so impressed he told me I’d be crazy to get rid of it. So far it’s still mine.

Again thanks for all the info here. I too like the real world stories. Some have commented on wanting these big autos back in production but I doubt we’ll see it. Plastic is way cheaper and unfortunately more popular I’m afraid.

Dan

Any one use a 4513TSW?

4513TSW are Aluminum Frames