Accuracy of the S&W 910 vs the 5900 or 915?

I picked up a clean 910 last week for $300 OTD and had it on the range yesterday. I also had my 4043 DAO and found the 4043 to group better. I have to wonder if the lack of the locking lug just past the barrel hood may be a factor here as maybe the plastic guide rod.
Other then several FTE I had with only one type ammo( Winchester white box 115 grain value pac) the 910 ran flawlessly and feels really good.
I am looking at springing for a set of Tru Glo night sights and a metal guide rod to upgrade the 910 ( see my other thread as I have a bad plastic rod now) but need to know what I am looking at in accuracy before I spend the $$.
The 4043, my Browning High Power and my sons FEG High Power all seemed to out group the 910 is why I am asking.

Without even knowing you It will out shoot you as long as the barrel to bushing lock up is tight.

Congrats on your 910!

Owning examples of all three models you mentioned, I find the 915 to be the most accurate, in my hands.

The 910 is no slouch in the accuracy department but lacking the locking lug on the barrel and locking on the barrel hood instead, won't be as inherently accurate as the 915 and 5906. In my experience anyway.

But having used the 910 to teach hundreds of new shooters how to shoot semi auto pistols, I have always found the 910 to be accurate enough to build confidence in a new shooter. And accurate enough for most purposes one would want to use a high cap 9mm for.

My child used my 910 to shoot their first IDPA match and did quite well with it.

As to changing out the Guide rod, I'd advise against it based on my experience installing a 5906 guide rod in my 910. At the time mine had over 11,000 rounds on the plastic guide rod with no problems. A few thousand rounds later - after installing the steel guide rod - the 910's frame cracked. Was it due to all the rounds through it or the steel guide rod? Dunno. But if I had it to do over I would not.

Enjoy your 910! Regards 18DAI.

*BTW my 910 was always most accurate and grouped tighter using 147 grain rounds. Hope this helps!*

18DAI said:

Congrats on your 910!

Owning examples of all three models you mentioned, I find the 915 to be the most accurate, in my hands.

The 910 is no slouch in the accuracy department but lacking the locking lug on the barrel and locking on the barrel hood instead, won't be as inherently accurate as the 915 and 5906. In my experience anyway.

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I agree with you as far as the barrel lock up and accuracy goes.

But, I do remember that Sweeney in his "The Gun Digest Book of Smith & Wesson" saying that the 910 was the most accurate auto that they shot for the book.
The Gun Digest Book of Smith & Wesson: Patrick Sweeney: 9780873497923: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514sMwX5X8L.@@AMEPARAM@@514sMwX5X8L

Congrats on the 910, great pistol and a great price.

Dave

It wasn't bad just not as good in grouping as the Browning or the 4043. May have just been me getting the feel for the trigger though.
On the guide rod I have to replace it as the plastic rod has a small nick on the very edge where it connects the barrel. I found it first time I shot it at the range when I tried to pull the slide off after a couple FTE with a particular ammo and it wouldn't come off because the rod had disconnected from the barrel. I indexed it away from that spot and since it has been performing flawlessly except with that particular ammo. Thought is if I have to replace a rod might was well go with the metal for long term reliability. The rod out of my aluminum frame 4043 drops right in and is the same length and diameter + the book shows that rod being used in the 9mm 5900's also.
Problem is I can't seem to find a rod in stock anywhere in both the plastic or the metal right now. Midway, Brownell and the like all show out of stock and no backorder. Got an email into S&W CS on a rod now.

Ascension said:

I picked up a clean 910 last week...

...several FTE I had with only one type ammo( Winchester white box 115 grain value pac)

...I am looking at springing for a set of Tru Glo night sights

...The 4043, my Browning High Power and my sons FEG High Power all seemed to out group the 910 is why I am asking.

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• Congrats on your new "economy" pistol.
• Shoot "real" ammo in the gun - defensive-quality 124's or 147's and report on reliability. I really don't know why anybody bothers to report "reliability" when the ammo used for the test is the cheapest plinking ammo they sell at Walmart.
• If you are into spending "upgrade" money on obsolete "economy" pistols, that's your call. I would not do anthing to that gun other than repair broken parts as needed.
• With the accuracy, again as with the reliability, if you are shooting plinking ammo, I really don't see the point in discussing accuracy unless you are getting close-range groups the size of a barn door. Repeat the test with quality ammo, and let us know whether the differences are enough to care about.
• Remember, this is is an economy pistol. You will appreciate it most if you don't try to make it something more than what it was intended. The more you "upgrade" it, the less collectors will be interested in it, and the harder it will be to get your money from those "upgrades" back out of it. I have some 915's which serve utility duty quite admirably in their original form.

Had a 910 a few years ago, always seemed to shoot pretty accurate, as accurate as my 5903 which isnt bad either. I shot a few thousand rounds with a plastic rod, no problems. You did good.

W.E.G. said:

• Congrats on your new "economy" pistol.
• Shoot "real" ammo in the gun - defensive-quality 124's or 147's and report on reliability. I really don't know why anybody bothers to report "reliability" when the ammo used for the test is the cheapest plinking ammo they sell at Walmart.
• If you are into spending "upgrade" money on obsolete "economy" pistols, that's your call. I would not do anthing to that gun other than repair broken parts as needed.
• With the accuracy, again as with the reliability, if you are shooting plinking ammo, I really don't see the point in discussing accuracy unless you are getting close-range groups the size of a barn door. Repeat the test with quality ammo, and let us know whether the differences are enough to care about.
• Remember, this is is an economy pistol. You will appreciate it most if you don't try to make it something more than what it was intended. The more you "upgrade" it, the less collectors will be interested in it, and the harder it will be to get your money from those "upgrades" back out of it. I have some 915's which serve utility duty quite admirably in their original form.

Click to expand...

First I was not just shooting White box out of it. Second my sons cheap Hungarian FEG High power clone + my Browning and also a Taurus Baretta look alike were all eating the White box stuff without a hitch. It was only the 910 that would not run more than a couple mags with out a FTE with the ammo. This is the 1st S&W 3rd gen variant I have ever owned that would not shoot anything you threw in it. As far as being obsolete that's your definition of the design. I can't stand the new S&W's autos myself outside of the 1911 and have sold off all my Glocks over the last few months. I just do not care for the look and feel of any of the tactical tupperware that is now all the rage.
All of the other 9's were out grouping the 910 and my 4043 was out grouping them all. The 910 was grouping about on par with my sons subcompact Glock 27 which is nothing to write home about.
On the guide rod this one slipped out of the barrel notch first time out and I had to work to dissemble the pistol because of it. On close inspection it has a slight ding in the rim where in engages that must be indexed away from the barrel and this demands it be replaced. On the sights the plastic rear was noticeably pushed right in the slot when I got it. I have it re-centered now but found it moves a little to easy for me to trust it for daily carry.
I was looking for a stealthy all black inexpensive ( not cheap just one I would not cry over if I ever had to use it in a defensive situation and got confiscated) daily carry pistol not a match gun when I bought this one. A $70 set of Tru Glow night sights a metal guide rod and new set of springs from Wolffe is about all I'm thinking here unless I do a satin Black cleracoat down the road just to keep it purty.

I have a 915 currently and my old eyes can't adjust to the black notch rear sight. Going to sell it and try a 910 if I can find one. Will do better with the three dot sight pattern.

ruhip, don't know if you want to try different sights, but here's a link to some Trijicons for the 915.
Trijicon Night Sight Set for Smith&Wesson (Non-Novak LoMount) - SA04 FREE S&H SA04, SA04Y, SA04F, SA04R, SA04R-O. Trijicon Tritium & Fiber Optic Night Sights.

Dave

I have a 910 and my wife always takes that worn out old thing over all my semi auto's except a CZ75. The 5906 and 910 in my hands group almost identically. But the wife can put one on top of the other with the 910. Maybe because it's the lighter alloy frame. This is a stock 910 I bought from a pawn shop for $200. It's not my favorite pistil but for the
$ it's probably the best value with very good accuracy. We have never had a FTF.

My 915 is ultra accurate.......and anyone that owns a 915 is insane to sell it. Its an awesome gun and utterly reliable.

While it's not a S&W 952, the 910 should shoot to point of aim with a tight enough group for any reasonable defensive shooting distance. I'd bet money that it's inherently more accurate than the M&P 9 is...


The other guns were probably grouping better because you were shooting all different guns that day, and that certainly is a factor when you pick up the next gun.

As others have said, try again with better ammo (I don't think you need to use defensive ammo to test accuracy unless you are making sure your defensive round functions reliably), shoot only the smith that day, and also dry fire before and between each group and watch were your sights go when the hammer falls.

9/10 times, it's the Indian, not the arrow. It also helps to understand what "grouping" is in this context. Some of the best groups I've seen look like a blast of buckshot to others if they don't know the context of the grouping (I.e. Distance, supported/unsupported, one/two hand, slow fire, rapid fire, spect, etc)


IMO, if an adult hand can cover a 10 shot group save a flyer or two at 10 yards, you'll be fine to carry the gun as long as it's relaible with your defensive load. If you want to make cloverleafs in targets, get a target gun.

DanP7 hit the nail on the head. The 910 is more than adequately accurate and will easily shoot a fist sized group at 10 yards, in even the most inexperienced hands.

My 910 is far more accurate than all the m&p 9mm's I've shot. Better looking with a better trigger too.

Sweeney's experience with the 910 is something I've wondered about since first reading it and seeing the photo of the groups he shot, framed inside the 910's trigger guard. I've never gotten that nice a group out of my 910. In fact, I have some Performance Center pistols that I would be hard pressed to match the accuracy of Sweeney's 910 with.

I do agree with Sweeney that S&W should have used the M&P title on the 910, 908, 410 and 457.

Hmmm.... Now I'm thinking I might NEED a SS 910. Regards 18DAI

I have two 910S and one 915. My son has a 915 that I bought for him.

They have the best looking frames of any of the 59 series pistols.

robin990 said:

My 915 is ultra accurate.......and anyone that owns a 915 is insane to sell it. Its an awesome gun and utterly reliable.

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I did just that around 18 yrs ago. The insanity was tempered by the fact that I traded it and $200 for a LNIB Browning Hi-Power Practical. It was my present to myself for the birth of my first son.

I've tried to rectify that mistake by the purchase of a (well-used) 5906, which I have no complaints about, but I think I would trade it straight-up for a 915. The 5906 is probably built a little better than I need it to be, and while nice, the adjustable sights aren't really a plus at the ranges I shoot it.

Plus, the black finish makes everyone at the range think it's tupperware, which makes me hip!