5906 5946 NOS Mystery

[ACEd]

Wondering if anyone knows the real story on the 5906 and 5946 pistols that began showing up at numerous resellers in 2019.


There were at least a few hundred similar 5906 (108176U) and 5946 (108186U) sold in the last year or so in factory cases. The pistols were sold as "Used" despite having the appearance of NOS. They had U stamps on or near trigger guard - or at least mine did as well as several pictured on various sites incl GB and as many as 10+ major retail stores. Some 5946 still showing up.

I contacted SW and got vague answer - but they seem to have mostly been built in late 1990s (1995-1998 on several 5906 pistols I checked) and stored somewhere - then shipped probably in August 2013 but came back then released - all with date codes 011119 or 011419. Box End SKU on 5906 is 0 22188 87779 3. Box End SKU on 5946 is 0 22188 11841 4.

S/N prefixes all over the place - 5906s KLF, KMF (1998), KNC (1998), VCZ (1995), VUV (1997), VZB (1996), VZE (1996) and a single TDP with no SW text or logo on slide.

Have not tracked 5946 except mine = VJP came back as May 2009 SW production - Roy says originally shipped Aug 2013 - same as my 5906 KNC which was built July 1998 per SW.

Oddly enough I have a 6946 with same VJP prefix only 16 s/n later that SW says built Jan 1998 and Roy says shipped Oct 1998.

It makes for an interesting puzzle.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Interesting. I am very sure that my 5906 was a police gun. I'll have to follow up!

 

[rincar]

I seen some S&W's Used S&W model 5903. 5904 and 5906. Along with a model 59. In the Gander Mountain Outdoors store in Marion Il. yesterday. They did not look to bad and the prices were not crazy high.

 

[quikdraw67]

I had the 5946 with the VJP prefix, bought it as NOS, traded it, still have the 5906, see attached pic.

Both had the "U" stamp, but looked brand new to me.

Addendum - both cases had been relabeled. I'd love to know what the original labels said.

Addendum #2 - both came with 1 - 10rd mag.

 

[max]

Police departments often buy more guns than needed at the time. Also S&W takes guns back when new ones are ordered. There are several reasons to answer your question.

 

[GaryS]

Plus Smith made more guns than were ordered to keep as spares for warranty replacements.

I wonder if marking them as USED means they don't have a warranty?

Police departments often buy more guns than needed at the time. Also S&W takes guns back when new ones are ordered. There are several reasons to answer your question.

 

[ACEd]

I understand there are several potential reasons - as offered several by SW - incl cancelled contract, overrun, returned from gunshow, loaned to shooters and refurbished, demo units, returned dealer stock, etc.
I also understand that NYPD bought a quantity of 5946 and 3914DAO as well as other brands on an Approved List which they kept for resale to officers who were required to purchase their own weapons. And when these weapons were taken off the list, they would have probably fallen into such a category.

But my question is what was history of this large quantity spanning several production years (1995-98 as a minimum plus my oddball 5946 at 2009). The 5906 were not on NYPD list and the 5946 were of a different configuration (std Magazine safety vs No Mag Safety for the NYPD guns).

There were probably at least a dozen sellers that I found as late as middle of 2020 and each had multiples of guns. One dealer kept a running list of about 10 S/N to choose from at time of purchase. And it kept updating for over a month as guns were sold. So I am inferring that there were several hundred units which would negate most of the potential sources, except maybe cancelled contracts or overruns using parts inventory at end of production. But production for these covers 3 or more years when they were still listed in catalogs thru 1999 or later.

Assuming they were assembled from 1995-98 and sat around in a warehouse somewhere, and then were shipped somewhere in August 2013, then returned and sold as used in 2019 in large quantities, what is their story? If only they could talk.

 

[jbtrucker]

My 5906 is KMF and was LNIB with U stamp bought eight years ago , Cabelas had new 5946's $700 few years ago

 

[mscampbell2734]

More then likely Smith was cleaning out a warehouse and decided they should go. They considered how many departments still used them and what the likelihood of a request for a replacement would be and decided the probability was so low they could get rid of them.

 

[GaryS]

A couple of years ago there were a bunch of 3953TSWs floating around at FFLs. They were listed as NIB and going for $699.00 and disappeared pretty quickly.

I wish I knew then that I could buy one and import it.