My 3914 carry gun

[automaticlee]

Hi, I've carried this for over 20 year's and always wanted to convert to DAO. I'm a little concerned it may drastically change the double action trigger pull. Has anyone had this procedure done and what were the results? I spoke to someone at S&W and they are offering this service at $175.00 Been thinking about this for a few year's and i'm ready to pull the trigger on this. Sure would like to have some input first. A little nervous, she's my baby.

 

[squidsix]

I would sell it and buy a 3954 instead. (Or save up and get it) if you really want DAO, those are the cat's pajamas.

 

[automaticlee]

I looked at the 3954, i don't like the longer slide and there in the neighborhood of $500.00.

 

[Lost Lake]

I looked at the 3954, i don't like the longer slide and there in the neighborhood of $500.00.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (I'm used to it! )

I thought the only difference between a 3914 and a 3954 was the action, one is TDA and one is DAO.

The barrel length on both should be compact.

As for the 3954 being $500.... That's about what you'll get for your 3914 so it should be a close swap. Certainly not $175 difference. And then you won't end up with a DAO 3914 which is abnormal, and possibly worth less.

And...... I heard some people have recently ordered NEW 39xx from the factory... I believe 18DAI was close to pulling the trigger on a brand spankin' new one... They still have some models.

 

[squidsix]

The barrel length is the same, but OP is right: The rear of the slide is longer. This is why I went with the 4586TSW over the 4586, the slide just looks better.
If the conversion S&W makes will make the hammer pre-cock like the 3954, you will like it. It's a sweet action. Seems like a lot of money, but to get the gun you WANT, it's worth it.

 

[ColbyBruce]

Here is a photo of a 3953 & 3913 so you can see the difference in the slide. The guns belonged to another forum member, who changed the hammer on the 3913. I swapped him two 39-2 pistols for the 3953. I carry this gun pretty much 75% of the time.

 

[Ross3914]

I'd make sure you get the details of the facotry conversion from the factory itself.

The conversion they offer may be one that just eliminates the SA feature and the hammer drop safety. Then you would have the same trigger pull as the DA is on your 3914, only have it all the time.

The older DAOs had a pretty nice DA trigger because it pre-cocked the hammer.

I can't see S&W only charging $175 for a conversion that would consist of different lockwork, parts and slide. I don't think you'd end up with a 3954 at that price. I would suspect strongly that the conversion they offer is one where they just eliminate the SA feature/safety.

The factory is who you need to ask about the details of the conversion. I'd really suggest you know for sure before proceeding.

 

[GoodMornin]

I had the conversion done for my CS9, some would consider it heavy, but I like it and it is very smooth. I think it took a few months, but I did feel like it was worth it.
These are the parts they sent back

Here it is:

 

[Dot_mdb]

The original DAO trigger combined with the longer slide incorporated maybe a 50% pre-cock. What made it a good system was that it resulted in a relatively short trigger pull. It was also smooth. The trigger was better than on a good revolver in my opinion. When S&W went with the standard slide on the DAO models they reduced the pre-cock to maybe 25% so that the gun did not look like a cocked and locked 1911. I haven't owned one of those but I believe the second version is not as good as the first.

Either version is likely to result in a trigger pull with approximately the same weight. S&W apparently used two different hammer springs with these models but the lower weight spring will result in a DA pull of about 10 - 11 pounds. That is about the same as the DA pull on the DA/SA guns.

A while back one forum member had a DA/SA gun converted to DAO. The factory installed the 50% pre-cock and that resulted in a visibly cocked hammer. In my opinion that was very nice and very lucky. Who knows what kind of conversion they would do today? Personally I would not be interested in the longer trigger pull of the second version. i also think that the standard DA/SA version is better than the DAO.

Bill

 

[BigDaddy7972]

I had my 4506 converted to DAO by S&W and I'm very happy with it.