Is it my imagination or has a new affliction called "Transitional Fever" taken over Team 3rd Gen and this sub-forum lately? I don't remember it ever being as popular a topic as it has been lately... but then again, trends in everything come and go. So maybe I just wasn't paying attention in the past.

I remember well how I got excited when I discovered my first transitional at a gun show. I couldn't afford it but at least I got to look at it and hold it and drool all over it. I followed it enthusiastically for a while through a couple price reductions but then I got suddenly disappointed when I attended a small gun show and found out: a) the price of the transitional wasn't going any lower... and, b) a virtually identical LNIB 3rd Gen at the next table down from the transitional was tagged at exactly half the price. It kind of shook me out of my temporary Transitional Fever.

Then another member of Team 3rd Gen came along with a thread about a somewhat "used and abused" (but certainly far from hopeless) transitional he was planning to use as his "truck gun"... ... and suddenly my interest level in these potentially collectible transitionals went from shaky to something even lower.

I've said before that I'm about at the end of my 3rd Gen collecting for the time being. I'm sort of at a logical break point, especially for a person living behind enemy lines where importing is often tough if not impossible. The ones that would be left for me to collect (10mm, PC models, etc.) are virtually all ones I likely couldn't afford anyway. I'll probably do some selling and trading now but that's about it.

The transitionals were really the last place I could have turned to in order to keep the 3rd Gen collecting party going just a little while longer... ... or so I thought. The import problem notwithstanding, it still kind of made sense to me.

But now, the forum has sort of shaken me out of it. I think I'm experiencing a case of transitional info burnt out. As B.B. King might have said, "The thrill is gone"... or at least it is fading fast. Probably a good thing that I figured it out sooner rather than later.

Anyway... on to other things. Maybe it's time to take the good wife's advice and take up bird watching or knitting at this point after all.

I dunno.... If I came actoss a 645 with Novak sights, original 645 grip frame and an undercut trigger guard, I'd be pretty excited!

I think the transitionals are interesting guns. But I am not a collector. Im a shooter.

A collector would cringe if he saw my 3914 prototype in my holster this AM on its way to teach a class. Regards 18DAI

__________________
7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Ouch!!!

I guess you are right. Not all transitionals are created equal. Some might be very interesting and others might just be S&W using up old parts as some have said.

The key is to be able to recognize the difference!

I'm with 18DAI here.......

The one thing I morn is the loss of the 1st and 2nd Gen grip frame that allows for wood or other grip panels..............

I guess they are collectibles......but I have a hard time getting past ....."They just represent S&W using up "left over" parts"...... maybe better than the Gen. before them but really not the next generation!!!!!!!

Plus never really liked the large square trigger guards on the early guns.

No, I'm not a 3rd Gen square trigger guard kind of guy either. I love the functionality and feel but I absolutely hate the look. Although, somehow it works better for me looks-wise on the black guns than on the bright guns... go figure.

Oddly enough, it was the wrap-around grips that really drew me to the 3rd Gens in the first place. I really loved the 1st Gens back in the day but not so much the 2nd Gens. But I fell in love with the 3rd Gens the first time I got to play around with one.

Incidentally, I finally went back and bought the cheaper LNIB alternative (the "consolation prize") to the far more expensive LNIB transitional that I had found. So I did score pretty good after all.

I'll just pretend it's a transitional and I'll be happy knowing that I saved over $300 on the deal plus I got my preferred Novak-style sights.

My First older pistol was a 659. It wasn't until I actually got it home that I realised that I had a interim transitional gun. It's was this strange coincidence that started me on my 2nd/3rd gen information gathering crusade. As the OP stated, there has been a lot of transitional threads lately, some were mine, and a lot of good info coming to light. I am not burnt out yet on the transitional train. Keep it coming I say!
Mike D

__________________
Know God Know Peace

I didn't know anything about transitionals till after I started researching my 645 on here. To me it really doesn't matter if it is or not. What's important is if a gun. Calls out to me or not. As soon as I saw my 645 I just had to have it. It felt great in my hands and it just had that brutish mechanical look of purpose.

I consider that particular gun a beautiful work of art regardless of what it is. I would be proud to own it too.

It's interesting that you didn't know it was a transitional until after you bought it. Apparently, the seller didn't know either or he/she might have demanded a lot more money for it.

You might think that I would be a perfect candidate for some transitionals given that I fancy myself as a sort of amateur-level S&W historian of sorts. That would be about 100 rungs down the ladder from where Roy is... well, okay, maybe 200.

But I still keep going back to what another member asked not too long ago. Paraphrasing (as I am too tired this morning to look up the exact quote): "Are these historically significant guns in the development of the 3rd Gen pistols by S&W or is this just S&W using up a bunch of leftover 2nd Gen parts they didn't want to throw away"?

And, of course, the corollary question was: "Does it really even matter given that their relatively small numbers... and, in some cases, their unique model numbers... make them more valuable anyway"?

Fortunately for me, my relatively brief "Transitional Fever" seems to have passed and left me none the worse (or poorer) for the experience. If it ever comes back, I'll have to again try to figure out the answers to those questions.

Wait, you mean this is a transitional model? All I knew was a member mentioned it was a later production because of the adjustable sights.

The previous owner put 50 rounds through it and couldn't hit the target. So I have him $500 for this worthless piece of junk and she did great. Must've been my crooked old eyes that made it work.

Opps... sorry! I misinterpreted your post. I thought there was something about it that qualified it as "transitional."

I have no idea. Maybe someone who knows can shed some light on mine. The adjustable rear sight is the only 3rd gen part I've noticed. Mine has the screw on the right side safety lever.

What's the model # on the left side?????????????

Model 645
Serial number TBW6732

The Dwayne Charron designed winged, adjustable rear sight (like yours) first made its appearance on the 2nd gen models.
It was carried over to the 3rd gen.

John

See the post above ...... and with the Model marking....IMHO... you've got a really nice 645........ I'd be looking for some wood grips for that baby..... I think Hogue might still make them????????????

I've seen some beautiful wood grips on here from Hogue and KSD on members pistols. I love looking at them but the thin factory ones are a great fit for me.

Ya..... but you only live once........ you "got's to try" for a bit of flamboyant style!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enabler lol

One tries................................

.....do I hear 300???

__________________
witty signature goes here

Okay for you wise guy!!!

Won't you all be surprised when I write my book ("The Definitive History of S&W Pistols" by TTSH, available on Amazon, etc.)... or when the mothership finally calls on me someday to become the new Roy!

Okay, maybe I am dreaming a bit. I know that there are other very worthy candidates. I know that my career (rather unfortunately) went in a vastly different direction. But you never know. I never say never!

I'll just let someone else here write the chapter on transitionals!