6944 DAO Blue Compact 9mm (1 of 512 produced)

[6946 fan]

I bought this pistol in late November from the original owner. Was in my gun safe thru the Holidays. Thought I would show it off today.

The following is the quote from the original owner. He was great to deal with and made my first online purchase a pleasure.

"I bought the gun new in 1992, I traded in my Glock 19 for it. I saw the 6944 in an article in Combat Handguns magazine, and had to have one, it was S&W's first attempt to answer the Glock craze. I liked that it was DAO with no external safety. I had to special order it as the local gun stores did not stock this gun. The gun came with stock sights, but I had ordered the Novak low Profile Bar-Dot sights for it directly from S&W, as they were an original factory option as S&W had a special working relationship with Novak and were pretty exclusive as you couldn't get Novaks on other makes than S&W at the time. Novak sights were also on the gun in the article that made me want to buy it. The sights are designed to not snag when drawing from concealment and very expensive I think over $150 at the time 1992 and I had them professionally installed shortly after I bought the gun. When I first got it and took it to the range the trigger pull was incredibly heavy, my hand would literally be shaking after shooting just one or two magazines through it. I did some hand exercises to get used to it and was able to get myself to shoot it very well but I still wasn't satisfied so I had my gunsmith do a trigger job at the same time the night sights were installed. I hope you find the trigger satisfactory and to your liking, I always did."

 

[SmithNut]

That is an exceedingly scarce variation, congrats on acquiring it.
I've been keeping my sights set on one if 1) I could find one, and 2) if it had the round trigger guard.... unfortunately I've been skunked on both counts, and I fear if one ever show'd up it would have the square guard like yours.
As to the original owners ascertion that this was an answer to Glock, I'd not necessarily agree since the "Mini Gun" concept had been around with S&W for years, the original guns were the M469/669 guns, followed by the Third Gen versions, and then during the "gun of the month" timeframe all the assorted variations surfaced.... TDA/DAO/Decocker versions. Of the DAO guns, the scarcest ones are the blue variations, the M6944 is the one I've been looking for to finish out my fledgling DAO collection, but I've focused on the later round trigger guard versions.

Oh well.....

Neat gun!

 

[j38]

Thanks for posting that gun! I've read about them but never seen even a picture of one. Beautiful condition too.

Regards,

Jerry

 

[Scotter260]

Very nice acquisition, thank you for sharing it with us.

What does the warning read? "Caution - Model numbers on parts must agree" or similar? Strange warning, seems like that should be for an assembler, not the end-user.

 

[M28]

What does the warning read? "Caution - Model numbers on parts must agree" or similar? Strange warning, seems like that should be for an assembler, not the end-user.

Also, notice that the model number is noted on the slide in additon to the frame. Interesting gun for sure. I'm a big fan of that frame size ever since the introduction of the 469, but I've never seen one of those before.

Brian~

 

[6946 fan]

When I saw the listing for this gun I knew it was rare. I was low on funds so I had to sell my 6906. Figured it was good gamble. I was able to pick up a 4576 back in August. Been very lucky lately on my gun purchases.

I am sending my paperwork in to Mr Jinks very soon. I need to know how many of these were made.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Jim PHL]

Nice score, congratulations. Too bad about having to lose the 6906 but that was probably the best move. It can be more easily replaced.

An additional congratulations on finding something Smithnut doesn't have. Not easy to do from what I've seen!

 

[ab4ka]

man, that is sweet!

 

[6946 fan]

Has anyone ever seen a 6924? I have read only 5 were ever made. That would be a major score.

 

[snw19_357]

...I had to sell my 6906.

You can find another 6906. This was a great score!

 

[6946 fan]

I appreciate the feed back. Thanks folks.

 

[6946 fan]

I received my letter from Mr Jinks today. The reply was very fast, less than a month. Thank you Mr Jinks.

The letter states the following along with a ship date of 1-25-92.

"This model was manufactured from parts that were in stock from the Model 669 and the Model 6904 as a special order for RSR Distributor Group. It was a combination to use up the parts that were in stock when the factory changed to the Third Generation auto-loading pistols. This is completely unique model. The factory produced 512 units of the 6944 between serial number TFB0047 - TFB0558."

 

[KurtC]

I'm not sure when it was shipped, but the box shows it was made in July of 1990 (which is more in time with the square trigger guard). And as for parts, about the only ones it has in common with a 669 or a 6904 are a few pins and the magazines. Your gun has a proprietary slide and frame, as do all the early DAO models with the half-cocked hammer. It could not have been made as a transitional parts gun.

Now, there is a very good chance that this lot of 512 were made in 1990 and sat around the factory for 2 years until they were shipped off as part of a deal with RSR.

I remember handling a 5944 dealer sample way back when. Nice.

 

[S. Kelly]

Very nice gun. I have a 5946 with squared trigger guard, guess I should have it lettered.

 

[All2kool]

I just acquired a S&W 6944 today. It's in excellent condition, not a scratch on it. I did some research before making a trade (for a Taurus I had $280 invested in) and decided that with so few of these produced, I just had to add it to the collection. It was a no-brainer I think.

 

[All2kool]

And now for the pictures:

 

[tdrizzle]

So, I have a 3914 and a 3953. I'm trying to wrap my head around the differences. Yours is double column mag, blued, DAO, squared trigger guard. My 3953 is single column mag, stainless, DAO, round trigger guard.

I always feel smarter when I can break the Smith code. Nice pistol for sure.

 

[halbstarke]

Being new this is my first posting-I have recently found a model 6944 with a serial # higher than 0558. This pistol has a stainless steel slide and the serial begins with TVD. On the opposite side is a stamping for DSC Prescott Az- This I believe is Davidson's. How can this DA-6944 be possible with a serial # higher than the rare 518 supposed to be manufactured? Just checking because the gun is for sale.

 

[gnfrk]

halbstarke - the 6944 that is listed for sale cant be a 6944 if it has a stainless slide, that would be a 6943 if the frame is alloy, or a 6946 if the frame is stainless, hence the reason the serial number is not in the range mentioned.

 

[kaveman]

S&W fumbled the model numbers with the 69xx series. As mentioned, the 6944 is a blue slide on an alloy frame. A stainless slide on an alloy frame which should be a 6943 is actually a 6946. There is no 6943 and there is no 69xx with a stainless frame.

Of course there's nothing to prevent someone from slapping a stainless slide(6946 or even 3953)on a 6944 frame.