I've Got Both ... or Does That Make Three?
One fine day - well, it was about a day and plus seven, but who's counting - I bought a couple of S&W 5906's that weren't exactly your Mama's 5906.
But, me being a collector and all, I bought both at an LGS with whom I already had been doing business for years and, for what it's worth, still doing business with 'em. When one finds a good place, it's downright difficult to make like a tree ...
To learn what and why, next stop: Here - This incredibly rich source of knowledge of S&W firearms called the SmithWessonForum.com
From one unimpeachable source I learned they both evidently had been destined to be "Target Champions" across the Big Pond in Germany's functional equivalent of the U.S.'s WalMart; WISCHco.
Yet, they had no import or export markings.
Long story whittled drastically: They were overruns, originally sold at S&W's bargain outlet in Massachusetts and other than a Performance Center serial number and the usual S&W stuff, they had no other markings on either although, I was told, they would've gotten "Target Champion" burned onto each by laser when they arrived in Germany and before they were placed on the "For Sale" shelf.
Looking at what I've written, above, one realizes that all of the information took far longer to assemble, including some information from noted S&W Historian, Dr. Roy Jinks.
Because S/N PCZ0116 looked as if it had been taken to the range, or maybe a backyard and discharged, I took it to a local enclosed range and did some discharging of my own.
Oh my goodness, was that sucker smooth. Sweeter than any of the many (and they are, indeed, "many" around my place) I have on hand.
Methinks a sizeable contributor to the gun's ease of shooting (beyond a smooth trigger with a short, hardly noticeable take-up) is its heft.
Even though S&W firearms are my collection's mainstay, I've got a couple of CZ Oranges and a few other factory tweaked pistols against which I could compare the "5906-03."
Muzzle rise (flip) was more distinct on nearly every other except the aforementioned CZ Oranges (a 9mm and .40 S&W cal.). To me, the stainless steel through-and-through was the difference. Other pistols - many being of the poly persuasion - seem to focus on locked-down shots. I didn't lock my 5906-03's down.
Now, I have to say: My tests wouldn't have rated with Consumer Reports. In the first place, the last I checked (many moons ago) Consumer Reports ain't exactly the equal of American Rifleman. In the second place: Short of locking down a camera and placing some sort of also locked-down chart visually placed to the opposite side (from the camera) of the firearm being tested . . . well, I'm just too lazy for all that stuff.
After shooting ~50 rounds and moving on to shooting my "regular" carries, I cleaned her up and she's been in the safe, since. With respect to SN PCZ0117, I've yet to shoot it and she sits next to her sister in my vault.
Now, long story short: I hope this helps!
