I usually never find anything I'm interested in at the guns shows, & if I do it's priced more than it's worth to me. Admittedly I have a narrow scope of interest. So it was much to my delight that I found this Shorty 40 at the "Big Gun Show" recently & was able to give it a new home.
It was definitely not NIB. It was dirty & showed use, with some minor scratches on the slide. Before comitting to the purchase, I removed the slide & was happy to see all the key points were wear-free. The barrel's locking lug has a nice sharp edge to it still. It came with the correct blue plastic box with Performance Center embossed on the top, with those really "hard to open" tabs on the front. Sadly the label was gone, only it's glue remained.
Two (9) rounds mags were also included, (1) was Performance Center logoed. Nothing else.
In reading thru some of the old threads here, it appears as though this pistol was possibly part of the third batch of ~(500) Lew Horton 4006 PC Shorty 40 (Mk.I's) ordered, Product Code# 170011, largely said to be sold in 1995 within the serial number range of PCS1001 - PCS1583. However I saw one post's picture of their box's label & it's SN# is 200 after mine which showed it was made in Mar-1994 so the 1995 date range may not be totally correct. Maybe it could be part of the 1993 second batch of (500) that ran late into 1994? These were supposedly only made in 1992, 1993, & 1995 in batches of about (500) each.
.
(PS: Received this confirmation letter from Lew Horton which shows it was received by them in Oct-1993, so it was part of the second order.
)
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Shorty 40 Mk.I - Mdl 170011 - Lew Horton Letter
.
.
The Shorty 40 Mk.I's had unmarked slides. The only markings they had was the Performance Center logo on the right side. Weight is 27.1 oz. with an empty mag.
So, after doing a strip down & thorough cleaning, I replaced the firing pin spring with Wolff's extra power spring (#26106XP), Wolff's reduced power (19#) mainspring (#26919) & an ISMI GLC-18# flat recoil spring (31 coils) to replace the factory dual/nested recoil springs. Everything cleaned up well & I was able to polish out the scratches on the slide's shiny sides. The ones on the bead blasted top of the slide were minimized & are barely noticeable now, unless you look hard.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I -001 (disassembled & cleaned)
-03c
.
Concerning the factory recoil springs, I noticed the Shorty 40 had the same issue I encountered before on my 4013TSW & 4056TSW (both 1997 pre-rails) and that's with the slide bottoming out on the recoil spring, not the frame abutment, when manually cycled fully rearward. The factory dual/nested spring had bright rough flattened surfaces on each end of the outer spring where it was pounded by the slide. I'm not sure why these apparently have this issue?
I'm guessing the spring's enclosure, in the nose of the slide where the spring seats on, should of had a few thousandths less thickness to give the spring adequate space. I had to remove two turns off the flat spring (the same as I had to do on the 4013TSW & 4056TSW) to stop it from bottoming out on the spring.
Wolff doesn't list an extra power replacement magazine spring for the (9) round double stack 40's but they do for the (11) rounds 40's. They each have different PN#s in the S&W catalog, so they must be different, but I decided to compare the two factory mag springs anyway. While the metals may be of different strengths they do have the same length & number of turns. I decided to use Wolff's 5% extra power magazine spring (#74761, for the 11 round 40's), which I had on-hand from my 4006, in the Shorty 40, just to see how it worked. (I worked fine.)
I noticed they made several variations of components on these. Mine has the black hammer, trigger & slide stop, but not the mag release button like some, so I ordered a black one for it as I like that look.
As expected on these hand fitted models, the slide has a nice tight fit and the Bar-Sto barrel & Briley bushing fit are awesome. You can hear, & feel, the difference just racking the slide by hand.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (front view on pin gages)
-01b
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (hammer & tang)
-01b
.
The SA pull is 6.5# & feels good. My trigger gauge only goes to 8#s so I can't tell you exactly what the DA measures but going by feel alone I think my DAO 4056TSW still has the best DA trigger of all my 3rd Gens, but the Shorty 40 is right behind it.
So off to the range with some of my handloads that have performed well in my other 40's: (50) rounds of Zero's 165gr JHP with a full load of Longshot & (50) rounds of Xtreme's 165gr heavy plated HP with a moderate load of Power Pistol, both seated to 1.135" OAL. Both shot & functioned without flaw, though as seems to be the rule with my other S&W 40's & 10mms, it grouped noticeably better with the jacketed bullets. No real surprise.
I generally shoot at 2" red bullseyes, on a white background, at about 13yd. With most all my 3rd Gens using a 6 o'clock hold results in bullseye hits, ideally. However the Shorty 40 consistently hit several inches below the bottom of the bullseye. Only if I completely covered up the bullseye with the front sight could I hit in the bullseye.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (top view on SCSW#4)
-01b
.
After I got home I thought about it & decided to compare sight heights on the Shorty 40 & it's offspring the 4013TSW pre-rail. They both have the same rear sight height but the dot front is taller on the Shorty 40 at .235" vs. the 4013TSW's at .210" tall. (My 4056TSW also has a .210" dot front sight.)
Since I don't have a parts lists for the Shorty 40, I don't know if they all came this way or a previous owner added the taller sight, which accounts for the lower POI.
Anybody else know or can measure your Shorty 40 Mk.I's dot front sight height for comparison?
All & all, a nice addition to my 3rd Gen collection that will get plenty of use.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (left side view on SCSW#4)
-01b
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (right side view in front of SCSW#4)
-01b
.
It was definitely not NIB. It was dirty & showed use, with some minor scratches on the slide. Before comitting to the purchase, I removed the slide & was happy to see all the key points were wear-free. The barrel's locking lug has a nice sharp edge to it still. It came with the correct blue plastic box with Performance Center embossed on the top, with those really "hard to open" tabs on the front. Sadly the label was gone, only it's glue remained.
Two (9) rounds mags were also included, (1) was Performance Center logoed. Nothing else.In reading thru some of the old threads here, it appears as though this pistol was possibly part of the third batch of ~(500) Lew Horton 4006 PC Shorty 40 (Mk.I's) ordered, Product Code# 170011, largely said to be sold in 1995 within the serial number range of PCS1001 - PCS1583. However I saw one post's picture of their box's label & it's SN# is 200 after mine which showed it was made in Mar-1994 so the 1995 date range may not be totally correct. Maybe it could be part of the 1993 second batch of (500) that ran late into 1994? These were supposedly only made in 1992, 1993, & 1995 in batches of about (500) each.
.
(PS: Received this confirmation letter from Lew Horton which shows it was received by them in Oct-1993, so it was part of the second order.
).
Shorty 40 Mk.I - Mdl 170011 - Lew Horton Letter
.
.
The Shorty 40 Mk.I's had unmarked slides. The only markings they had was the Performance Center logo on the right side. Weight is 27.1 oz. with an empty mag.
So, after doing a strip down & thorough cleaning, I replaced the firing pin spring with Wolff's extra power spring (#26106XP), Wolff's reduced power (19#) mainspring (#26919) & an ISMI GLC-18# flat recoil spring (31 coils) to replace the factory dual/nested recoil springs. Everything cleaned up well & I was able to polish out the scratches on the slide's shiny sides. The ones on the bead blasted top of the slide were minimized & are barely noticeable now, unless you look hard.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I -001 (disassembled & cleaned)
-03c
.
Concerning the factory recoil springs, I noticed the Shorty 40 had the same issue I encountered before on my 4013TSW & 4056TSW (both 1997 pre-rails) and that's with the slide bottoming out on the recoil spring, not the frame abutment, when manually cycled fully rearward. The factory dual/nested spring had bright rough flattened surfaces on each end of the outer spring where it was pounded by the slide. I'm not sure why these apparently have this issue?
I'm guessing the spring's enclosure, in the nose of the slide where the spring seats on, should of had a few thousandths less thickness to give the spring adequate space. I had to remove two turns off the flat spring (the same as I had to do on the 4013TSW & 4056TSW) to stop it from bottoming out on the spring.
Wolff doesn't list an extra power replacement magazine spring for the (9) round double stack 40's but they do for the (11) rounds 40's. They each have different PN#s in the S&W catalog, so they must be different, but I decided to compare the two factory mag springs anyway. While the metals may be of different strengths they do have the same length & number of turns. I decided to use Wolff's 5% extra power magazine spring (#74761, for the 11 round 40's), which I had on-hand from my 4006, in the Shorty 40, just to see how it worked. (I worked fine.)
I noticed they made several variations of components on these. Mine has the black hammer, trigger & slide stop, but not the mag release button like some, so I ordered a black one for it as I like that look.
As expected on these hand fitted models, the slide has a nice tight fit and the Bar-Sto barrel & Briley bushing fit are awesome. You can hear, & feel, the difference just racking the slide by hand.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (front view on pin gages)
-01b
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (hammer & tang)
-01b
.
The SA pull is 6.5# & feels good. My trigger gauge only goes to 8#s so I can't tell you exactly what the DA measures but going by feel alone I think my DAO 4056TSW still has the best DA trigger of all my 3rd Gens, but the Shorty 40 is right behind it.
So off to the range with some of my handloads that have performed well in my other 40's: (50) rounds of Zero's 165gr JHP with a full load of Longshot & (50) rounds of Xtreme's 165gr heavy plated HP with a moderate load of Power Pistol, both seated to 1.135" OAL. Both shot & functioned without flaw, though as seems to be the rule with my other S&W 40's & 10mms, it grouped noticeably better with the jacketed bullets. No real surprise.
I generally shoot at 2" red bullseyes, on a white background, at about 13yd. With most all my 3rd Gens using a 6 o'clock hold results in bullseye hits, ideally. However the Shorty 40 consistently hit several inches below the bottom of the bullseye. Only if I completely covered up the bullseye with the front sight could I hit in the bullseye.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (top view on SCSW#4)
-01b
.
After I got home I thought about it & decided to compare sight heights on the Shorty 40 & it's offspring the 4013TSW pre-rail. They both have the same rear sight height but the dot front is taller on the Shorty 40 at .235" vs. the 4013TSW's at .210" tall. (My 4056TSW also has a .210" dot front sight.)
Since I don't have a parts lists for the Shorty 40, I don't know if they all came this way or a previous owner added the taller sight, which accounts for the lower POI.
Anybody else know or can measure your Shorty 40 Mk.I's dot front sight height for comparison?
All & all, a nice addition to my 3rd Gen collection that will get plenty of use.
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (left side view on SCSW#4)
-01b
.
Shorty 40 Mk.I - (right side view in front of SCSW#4)
-01b
.
Last edited:
...I don't know how I missed this thread the first time through....and I think my chance of finding an affordable for me PC gun has passed me by
