How did you get bit by the Third generation bug?

[ColColt]

I can blame Massaud Ayood for my introduction to the 3rd Gen S&W pistols. Being a fan of Combat Handguns I believe it was there I first read of the new at the time, 4506. He extolled the virtues of it and I read at least two articles how it just wouldn't jam.

I was sold. Reliability is everything, especially for a home defense weapon and that's what I wanted at the time. I bought one and never looked back. It was and still is, the first 45 I ever had that never has given me any problems feeding or extracting. I love a good 1911 and no trigger is better but for utter reliability my vote goes to the 4506. However, my 4516-1 would have to come in second place. Marvelous pistol that since I bought it has resided under my pillow. I sleep well at night.

 

[84Carrera]

For me it was the caliber. I jumped on the .40SW bandwagon at the beginning. I've had my 4006 since the early 90s, 91 or 92 I believe. Now I have 5 of them including a NIB Shorty Forty, which I'm still hemming & hawing about shooting.

 

[RDFabsRep]

After my LGS offered me a dismal amount of money to trade in my Airweight towards a Beretta M9A1, I posted the Airweight on a local forum. A guy offered me a few trades, including a "9mm S&W 459," which I had never heard of. Did a little research, looked at a few pictures and said "what the hell?" Brought the 459 home, shot it and loved it. Within a month or so I also had a 5906 and a 6926. Within 8 months, I had...more.

 

[SonnyJames]

My introduction to these fine guns came in the fall of 1986. I was at school in Pennsylvania, over a thousand miles from my home in Tampa. It was a windy and cold Friday night and my dormitory was virtually empty. I decided to order a cheesesteak from a local place and hunker down for a cold weekend. I was looking through the TV Guide and then remembered it was Friday night, and I could see Florida on TV ( was terribly homesick ). I put the channel on NBC and watched some lady windsurfing and wetting her hair, a row of fine Rolls Royces', a rather attractive lady bounced by, all set to some sort of electropop music. Yep, it was time to watch Miami Vice. I remembered reading about the Bren Ten back then and thought it was pretty neat. This particular episode Crockett pulled out a shiny 45 that I swore I had to have when I turned 21. It spoke to me like a siren song, and I knew I had my new ( and to this day ) favorite gun. Yep, the 645.

Well, 30 years have passed. I am now fat and older, own no pastel clothing other than my lawn mowing shirt, and own a few 4506s, many 645s, 1006, 1076, 1066, 4505, 4566, 4516, and of course my 5906 ( my attempt to lure my wife to the dark side and justify my hobby ). Sure fads come and go, and technology has made newer guns from space age polymers and other lighter material. But I guess I like the feel of hard steel in my hand and the questions I get from the young folks at the range. Besides, it lets me introduce these wonderful things to a whole new generation of fans.

 

[Syspila]

In the Late 1980s to the 1990s, I handled large sums of money to the bank...I was told by superiors that since I had a lot of firearm experience for a civilian I might want to consider a firearm option. Lots of discussion and CCP resulted in me looking for an effective handgun that could handle some grubbing. I ended up with a circa 1991 SW 5906--still love shooting that gun...I also picked up a 4006, used of course. They are both great guns. My 5906 has the squared trigger guard; someday I might get one with the usual roundguard. Both guns are in pristine shape and are exceedingly accurate. I really like the way they look and feel!

 

[Sevens]

The thread title is a bit frustrating (others may agree) because I am just deeply in love with all three generations of these pistols but I suppose "3rd Gens" is the closest thing we have as a nickname for these pistols that we are passionate about.

I was 19 in '92 and the resident gun guy in our rented college party house. One of my roommates was older than all of us and more than two years out of a 3 or 4 year dose of the Army. So he was like 25 and wanted to buy his first handgun and he wanted my advice. Of course, the very best idea was a four inch .357 Magnum revolver, right? But no, he didn't want an old-school revolver, he wanted a semi-auto. So a .45cal 1911 then, yes? Well, maybe -- but he really wanted POWER.

So then... it sure seemed like 10mm was the answer! And I was spending his money, not mine! Getting ammo would be a pain, I told him. But wait... "I can handload it for you." I'd already been loading for more than 3 years at that point.

Well he went right out and bought a fixed sight 1006 in June of '92 on my recommendation. And four boxes of factory ammo was plenty to get us started and all the ammo I built (Speer FMJ) ran beautifully as well.

Two years later and his new wife thought it was a bad idea to have a handgun in the house with a baby on the way. This thinking maddened me, of course... but for $400, this nearly MINT 1006 that I helped hatch in the first place came in to the hands of the owner who will never let it go -- quite obviously where it had always meant to be.

 

[loeman]

Thanks Syspila for helping to restart this thread. I didn't respond when it was fresh but I will now.

It started for me in 1996. I was interested in a compact .45 and the local proprietor of my LGS suggested I try the 4516 as I did not want a 1911 single action type gun. I've always liked the gun but to be honest I never shot it much. After joining this forum and reading about all the love for the 3rd Gens I started to shoot it more and at the same time ran across a nice 4506 no dash. Wow! What an amazing gun. Accuracy and reliability that I had never experienced. That big .45 has become my all time favorite semi-auto and that was the catalyst for more. Then came a 5906, 4006 and most recently a 4566. I like the 59 and the 40 but to be honest once again, I prefer single stack guns. They just feel better in my hands.

Here's a pic of my 3 3rd Gen .45s. At top is the 4506, center is the 4516-2 and at bottom right is the 4566. I guess you could say "brothers in arms".

 

[Raven312]

I've only been into guns for two years. However, in my third month of shooting I was seduced by a 1911 and decided to go look at some so I could figure out what I wanted. The LGS that I went to had 2 third gens. I don't remember what they were but one was a TSW. The cheapest of the two was $650. Since I was so new to guns I couldn't see paying that much for such an old gun (I still wouldn't pay that but I understand how they can get away with it now). I never got those guns out of my mind. Fast forward 2 yrs and I finally brought one home today (6906). It fits me like a glove and I can't wait to shoot it tomorrow.

 

[malph]

For me it was the 952. It was my first 3rd Gen and it opened my eyes to how good the smith's could be. Before that I shot glock and h&ks. The 952 was soon followed by an 845 and then a bunch of others. Over time I came to like the single actions like the 952,845,super9,....and the DAOSs like the 4583 and 3953. These days that's mostly what I shoot and collect.

 

[Ascension]

Have been a Browing High Power fan for years but had also gone to Glocks. I am a 10mm shooter and a few years ago my son gave me a 1066 for my Birthday. I soon sold off the Glocks then picked up a 4043 and it was on.
Picking up a 97 MK III factory adjustable sight shorty .40 today off layaway in fact. Makes for my #5 in 3rd gens( 910, 6904,4043,1066 and the Shorty)!

 

[Turn & Bank]

My first was the 1006

Bought the 1006 in '92 or '93. Prior to that mostly revolvers (all Smith's) but I did have a model 39 prior to the 1006. Heck I don't know if a 1006 is a 3rd gen or not but that was the start. 59 next, then a 5906, then I moved to the free State of Wyoming (from Maryland, yikes!) and wanted a non-striker fired concealed carry piece with some sort of safety. Yes I know but it's what a person is comfortable with. All you constables out there have all that training and years of experience, but I digress!

Then after moving I started shooting 45 ACP (Smith 4566TSW) and now I've got five Smith 45's. Oh then the process escalates to a 4013 & CS40 (both going 10MM) and then the .356 TSW PC Shorty, and finally (yeah right!) a PC Shorty 9mm. Oh the humanities! Will this never end? Oh I hope not.

Oh I have Tupperware guns and they are what they are and function great but every time I'm done at the range I want to "burp the lid" on them!!!
Take Care
T&B

 

[TTSH]

Oh I have Tupperware guns and they are what they are and function great but every time I'm done at the range I want to "burp the lid" on them!!!

And I thought it was only me!

 

[Gunhacker]

So there is now 91 endorsements in this thread alone.... makes me feel like printing it off and mailing it to the S&W brass to see...

 

[S&W1006]

For me it started with my love for the 10mm. I originally started looking in the mid 90's for a Colt Delta Elite. I could never find one I could afford and someone mentioned the 1006. By that time they were out of production like the Delta Elite but were generally much more reasonably priced. It took me several years to track one down at the right price when I had the money but I finally found one in 2009 for $525. I was well pleased with it's accuracy and reliability and then I lucked up and found a 1086 for $475 at the same pawn shop. I was hooked on the 3rd gens. I have several more on my list to acquire and I am slowly adding to my collection snagging them as a deal pops up and I have the extra cash. I don't know if I will ever acquire all the 3rd gens I want but I enjoy all the ones I own.

 

[tim c]

Gunhacker please do

 

[loeman]

My introduction to these fine guns came in the fall of 1986. I was at school in Pennsylvania, over a thousand miles from my home in Tampa. It was a windy and cold Friday night and my dormitory was virtually empty. I decided to order a cheesesteak from a local place and hunker down for a cold weekend. I was looking through the TV Guide and then remembered it was Friday night, and I could see Florida on TV ( was terribly homesick ). I put the channel on NBC and watched some lady windsurfing and wetting her hair, a row of fine Rolls Royces', a rather attractive lady bounced by, all set to some sort of electropop music. Yep, it was time to watch Miami Vice. I remembered reading about the Bren Ten back then and thought it was pretty neat. This particular episode Crockett pulled out a shiny 45 that I swore I had to have when I turned 21. It spoke to me like a siren song, and I knew I had my new ( and to this day ) favorite gun. Yep, the 645.

Well, 30 years have passed. I am now fat and older, own no pastel clothing other than my lawn mowing shirt, and own a few 4506s, many 645s, 1006, 1076, 1066, 4505, 4566, 4516, and of course my 5906 ( my attempt to lure my wife to the dark side and justify my hobby ). Sure fads come and go, and technology has made newer guns from space age polymers and other lighter material. But I guess I like the feel of hard steel in my hand and the questions I get from the young folks at the range. Besides, it lets me introduce these wonderful things to a whole new generation of fans.

SonnyJames, that is one good story! I have NEVER seen one episode of Miami Vice, but now I wish I had, maybe I'd have gotten into 2nd and 3rd Gens a decade earlier than I did. Oh well, everyone has bright tail lights!

 

[davek610]

My first third gen was a 1086. There seems to be a lot of victims of 10mm pills here leading to addiction.

 

[G-Mac]

I had a little experience shooting a new 639 (my brother-in-laws) and then came close to buying a 469 when they were introduced. When the "Safe Act" was made into law in New York State, limiting law-abiding gun owners to 10-round magazines, I decided to sell my Glock 19 and replace it with a single-stack 9mm made out of steel. The 3913 fit the bill perfectly!

 

[Frank237]

Back in the late 1980's my Agency HAD to replace our aging M-28's with something as the 28's were no longer being made. Thankfully we did some testing and ended up with 5903's. They were absolute TANKS. Took all sorts of abuse, yet always worked. I always felt well armed with my 3rd Gen, even though it was in "whimpy" 9mm.

When we finally went to SIG 229's almost 10 years later I bought my old duty gun 5903 and snagged about a dozen mags from Supply. I have lent that gun to people for CCW classes, for basic Firearms classes, etc. Simply keeps on running.

Still have the 5903, just snagged a 1006 and also have an early M-59 and a later M-469. Also have a M-52 somewhat related but not really a 3rd Gen.

Now if I could just snag magazine #3 for my 1006 . Hate only having two mags.

 

[RufusG]

In the late 90's I belonged to a gun range where I lived back east. They had police turn-in 6946s for $225 with two mags. I didn't need another 9mm, and didn't really want a DAO semi, but the price was too cheap for as clean as the guns were so I bought one. The first time I shot it, I shot it better than all my other guns. And the rest, as they say,....