Came across a very nice high polished 5906, tag read police trade with one mag. Frame and slide very nice with original 5906 grips. Serial number dates to 1993. My 3rd edition says some were made in 1993 for a stocking customer. Saw no municipal Id markings, leaves me wondering. Has no longer useful night sights and round trigger guard. $399. Any insights on a factory 5906 with this finish?

There was a 5906 special edition from that time period with a polished finish and faux wood Delrin grips.

Attached Images

woodgrip5906.jpg (40.8 KB, 399 views)

Probably a cop with time on his hands and some Mother’s Mag Polish.

__________________
Rule of law, not a man.

That’s the one I saw in my book, however this one does have the stock 5906 grips. The finish doesn’t look like someone’s project if so they are very talented

I saw one of those new, in a S&W store years ago. Had more of a brushed finish on the flats. It wasn't highly polished. I suspect sigp220.45 is correct if it actually has a highly polished finish.....

__________________
NRA Life, COTEP 640

Not all agencies stamp unique inventory numbers, initials or agency crests on their issue firearms. If not some special issue might have been a high polish job to tickle the fancy of the the agency head and make them feel special.

Another possibility is that someone did the polish job to remove the various wear marks and dings that can accompany long service.

I usually assume these shinny guns are garage jobs someone did to there gun show specials that had lots of wear. Stainless steel polishing kits are pretty common and easy to use. Can be done well but they usually are over done to get closer to that reflective chrome look and take out things like the red safety dots in the frame.

$100 less and I might be interested no matter what the story, or if I didn’t already have a 5906. Thanks for the comments, second opinions are what I wanted.

Hi from Michigan;
Some years ago I was looking for a 5906 online. I forget which site. There was a polished one that looked neat. The seller looked it up, and said there had been a stocking dealer special factory polished. His words were it was too nice to be a home polish job. I agree. SN range fits.
Later, courtesy of this site, I learned about the brown grips they seem to have come with, and aftermarket hydro print process to make them brown. The vendor recommended is seemingly to busy at work to answer email, so I never got them done.
Recently I ran across a like new set of factory brown grips.
Guess who is happy now?
Too heavy for me to carry, but great in drawer and at range.

__________________
It's what I do, not what I am.

I kind of like those grips.

I also have one of these. Mine came from Bud's as a formerly issued LE gun that saw significant duty use. It had no police markings of any manner. It did not have those horrendous and oddball original brown grips, it case with a dry-rotted and crusty Hogue that definitely had doughnut glaze on it.

It's an odd run, but given the use that mine has, it's just a shooter grade 5906. Solid as a rock and other than what it was originally offered as... it's nothing special. Or at the risk of offending... it's no more special than any 5906 is, a helluva flagship 3rd Gen duty gun.

Methinks one should add the S&W 5906 during its time was also the duty pistol of nearly every policeman in the U.S., largely but not completely displaced - oh so slowly, at that - by Glock, primarily but not solely.

Nevertheless, PDs still are trading 'em for newer sidearms some 20 years following the 5906's end run.

However, especially when examined is the totality of the 59xx series (5903, 5903-SSV, 5903TSW, 5904, 5905, 5906, 5906 NS, 5906 Super 9, 5906-M, 5906TSW, 5924, 5926, 5943, 5943-SSV, 5944, 5946, 5946, 5946TSW, 5967 as well as short-run special models, e.g., Lew Horton and Tim Horton ((well, 'police,' 'short run' and 'doughnut glaze' all kinda go together, right?)) as well as the series' run time (11 seasons for the 5906), the 5906, alone, was among the most-produced firearms found anywhere and of which nine examples grace my vaults.

Truth be known, as a shooter the '06 isn't one of my favorites. As a collector, though, I'd be grossly remiss in failing to take note of its considerable contribution in cementing the 9mm parabellum as a central part of shooting habits in the United States.

Later.

Hmm, already have a 5903, but after reading this post, I am feeling the urge to add a '06 to my collection. Dang you DCW.

Rosewood

The 5906 is one of my favorite shooters. At $399, I would not really care about whether it is a police trade in if it is in good mechanical shape. .

Attached Images

9MM Model 5906b.jpg (19.0 KB, 30 views)