I've been keeping an eye on GunBroker and elsewhere for quite awhile for any listings of the Shortys, just because I especially like them.
It's readily apparent the Shorty 40 is the least difficult to find, since there were many more of them made than the others. Heck, there were more made in the first three production runs of 500 each (unmarked on the slides) than all of the 9s and 45s, not to mention the later Mark III and Y2000 models, both slide-marked.
(There also is a little-known Mark II Shorty 40, unmarked on the slide, that has a black trigger, longer beavertail, checkered front strap, and a prefix of SPC instead of PCS, the way the Mark I run of the Shorty 40 was marked. There are probably only a couple of hundred of the Mark II models.
Shorty45MkII's post above is spot on about the production numbers on the original Shorty 45 and its Mark II version.
The following
with later edits marked in red is the Shorty 9 production information I have been able to accumulate.
Before now, I had never seen production numbers on the Shorty 9s.
Now we have numbers on the Performance Center 5906 PC-9 model courtesy of jfd's letter from Roy Jinks, in the later post. We also have confirmed numbers from Lew Horton on the Shorty 9 Mark III -- see separate post) http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...16-shorty-9-production-numbers-confirmed.html
The Shorty 9s do come up from time to time on GB and in other places, as do the Shorty 45s. And like many pistols, these tend to run in spurts, with none to only a very few for sale, and then a few showing up (probably when owners see the prices being paid for them.)
My impression has been that the Shorty 45 and Shorty 9 pistols are about equally difficult to obtain, with the Shorty 9 models to include the following
two models:
*The "Performance Center 5906 PC-9" per SCSW p. 370 [slide unmarked, for Lew Horton]. Product code 170030 and alpha prefix PCV.
*The Performance Center "Shorty 9 Mk III" as per SCSW p. 368 but with product code 170067 and alpha prefix VCP. [some slides marked "Shorty9mm"]
These are all Performance Center 9mm compacts with 3 1/2" barrels, two-tones (black slides and silver frames), and not otherwise marked as (for instance) Recon 9 models.
Based on the documentation now available, the total production of the pistols referred to collectively as the "Shorty 9" is 956. That's
611 (per Jinks letter referred to by jfd in the post below) of the 5906 PC-9, and
345 of the Shorty 9 Mk III
(per Lew Horton; see separate thread). Lew Horton didn't order great numbers of their special order models unless sales were strong, and the .40 S&W round was very popular back during that the 90s decade, as evidenced by the numerous runs of those.
Don't leave out the fourth Shorty: the 3566 Compact, of which only
a few hundred were made. Interestingly enough, these do show up for sale at about the same rate as the Shorty 45 and Shorty 9 models, with the most recent used model sold on GB for about $1,500.
Regards 18DAI
