Need Additional Info on a S&W 3913TSW Melonite

[Dparker]

I'm looking for any information to confirm the copied emails that I have for a S&W 3913TSW Melonite finish. The individual that I purchased the 2 consecutive numbered S&W 3914TSW's from also brought a supposedly 1 of 2 S&W 3913TSW Melonite finish. The documents that he has of the S&W 3913TSW Melonite are emails between an individual (Pete username:CTPete) that purchased the gun and Wes Richardson who worked for S&W Internatiional sales. The 3 emails (that I have a copy of) between these two guys indicate that Wes Richardson's client was Singapore Police. He states he went into the S&W vault and pulled two 3913TSW's out and had S&W Melonite them. In the email Wes states his deal with Singapore fell through because they chose to go with Glock.

Wes states they did not change the labels on the two boxes. He ended up purchasing the 3913TSW I have shown here. Wes states that no other info was available on the two guns at S&W. From the emails it appears that both Pete and Wes Richardson are/were members of the S&W forum group.


Can anyone here confirm the information above? Does anyone know Wes Richardson (former employee of S&W). I examined the 3913TSW Melonite and it was professionally done and looked just like the 2 3914TSW's I purchased. I have the 3913TSW on hold prior to purchase trying to verify the info the seller has provided.

Thanks for any information.

Cheers!!!
David

 

[GaryS]

I may have to move to AL just for the 3rd Gens!

I have no information on those guns at all.

I wonder if the production date on that is 1999 or 2009?

If that was indeed a factory Melonite gun, it's perhaps the most rare of all 3rd Gen guns. In this thread 18DAI mentions that TDx serial number guns seem to be Law Enforcement order guns. I don't know if that adds credence to the story.

 

[Dparker]

I may have to move to AL just for the 3rd Gens!

I have no information on those guns at all.

I wonder if the production date on that is 1999 or 2009?

If that was indeed a factory Melonite gun, it's perhaps the most rare of all 3rd Gen guns. In this thread 18DAI mentions that TDx serial number guns seem to be Law Enforcement order guns. I don't know if that adds credence to the story.

Gary thanks for the input. The emails I have are dated Nov 2005. They look legit. I'm hoping someone can confirm either knowledge of the two 3913TSW's or know/have known Wes Richardson (former employee at S&W) or username CTPete on this forum. Wes states in his emails that he was regional manager for Asia/Pacific/Africa area for S&W International Sales.

Cheers!!!
David

 

[GaryS]

That makes sense. I think that these might be early production railed 3913TSWs as they were introduced in 2000 and production probably began before that. The production date was June 5, 1999 according to the label.

Gary thanks for the input. The emails I have are dated Nov 2005. They look legit. I'm hoping someone can confirm either knowledge of the two 3913TSW's or know/have known Wes Richardson (former employee at S&W) or username CTPete on this forum. Wes states in his emails that he was regional manager for Asia/Pacific/Africa area for S&W International Sales.

Cheers!!!
David

 

[Dparker]

I took a stab and searched the username on this site that appeared in the 3 emails I was provided and found it. I sent an email to him. I just got a reply that verified the 3 emails between him and the S&W employee.....YES!!!

Cheers!!!
David

 

[18DAI]

A Melonite 3913TSW is yet another example.......as if one were needed, of why you never say never when it comes to one off S&W Pistols.

Back in their heyday, there were quite a few "different" variations of 3rd Gen guns made up in very small numbers and marketed to Law Enforcement Agencies. Around the Globe. My Melonite 4566 with forward slide serrations is one example. Well, one of twenty five made anyways.

There were many other examples including a run of DAO 3913s for the NYPD, 4516s for the German Police, Melonite 4506-1s for samples to LE, aluminum framed 4503s and others I am aware of but cannot recall at the moment. None of these "took off" or turned into contracts and their existance is known only because the samples were purchased by employees and then sold on the public market at a later time.

It would be interesting indeed were a former or retired S&W employee have some type of list or catalog of all the models produced or prototyped that never reached mass production.

And then there are the 3rd Gen guns that were modified or custom made by the Performance Center, during the first two years of its existance. Yes, when the doors first opened there, for a short time, the great unwashed could send in a gun or call up and order a modified gun, made to the buyers request (where possible). But this practice was quickly discontinued as it evidently was not profitable or practical.

Oh to have been around, aware and had money - back then! You are again amassing a very nice and VERY interesting collection Dparker. Congrats! And good luck and good hunting on your further aquisitions! Regards 18DAI

 

[Dparker]

A Melonite 3913TSW is yet another example.......as if one were needed, of why you never say never when it comes to one off S&W Pistols.

Back in their heyday, there were quite a few "different" variations of 3rd Gen guns made up in very small numbers and marketed to Law Enforcement Agencies. Around the Globe. My Melonite 4566 with forward slide serrations is one example. Well, one of twenty five made anyways.

There were many other examples including a run of DAO 3913s for the NYPD, 4516s for the German Police, Melonite 4506-1s for samples to LE, aluminum framed 4503s and others I am aware of but cannot recall at the moment. None of these "took off" or turned into contracts and their existance is known only because the samples were purchased by employees and then sold on the public market at a later time.

It would be interesting indeed were a former or retired S&W employee have some type of list or catalog of all the models produced or prototyped that never reached mass production.

And then there are the 3rd Gen guns that were modified or custom made by the Performance Center, during the first two years of its existance. Yes, when the doors first opened there, for a short time, the great unwashed could send in a gun or call up and order a modified gun, made to the buyers request (where possible). But this practice was quickly discontinued as it evidently was not profitable or practical.

Oh to have been around, aware and had money - back then! You are again amassing a very nice and VERY interesting collection Dparker. Congrats! And good luck and good hunting on your further aquisitions! Regards 18DAI

18DAI

Very very true on the S&W 3rd gens! It's amazing to track and research all 3rd gen variants! Thank you so kindly for your nice words regarding my collection! The people on this forum site ALWAYS have valuable information to add on the S&W 3rd gens!

Cheers!!!
David

 

[Fastbolt]

Yep, Never say Never when it comes to what someone at the old S&W might decide to do.

When I ordered my 3913 in '98, directly from the factory under the old armorer discount purchase program, I ordered a Sally Rand 3913.

When it arrived, I was surprised to see that the slide had been machined for the spring-loaded, decock-only, which at that time was a LE-Only option. Back then only the PC was doing the machining of the slides for the decock-only. (I subsequently sent my '99 CS45 to the PC for the slide to be machined for the option.)

I immediately called the LE contact at the factory and ordered a stainless decock-only assembly, and asked why my 3913 had come with that machined slide. They couldn't tell me why the slide on my gun had been machined that way, but their best guess was that it was possible someone at the PC had done the machine work on the slide for a canceled LE order, or a special PC project that was dropped, and they'd sent the machined slide back over to the factory, where it had ended up being used to assemble the 3913 which was pulled for my order.

Of course, by the time my next 3rd gen armorer class rolled around, I learned that the decock-only assembly for the 9's now required the .45 ambi lever to be used. The reason given was that the standard 9.40 ambi lever allowed some excessive lateral movement of the assembly, and we were told it was thought possible the assembly might shift so that FP movement might be affected if the assembly shifted too far to the left.

The .45 ambi lever had an extra "tab" that acted as a spacer, indexing against the outside of the slide, preventing excessive lateral movement of the assembly to the left. I'd not had any ignition issues with my 3913, and I didn't have any spare .45 ambi levers in my parts kit, so I naturally called and ordered the .45 ambi lever to replace the 9 ambi lever on my 3913. Apparently, the updated info about using the .45 ambi lever on the decock-only modified 9's hadn't yet reached the LE service contacts, though, as it wasn't yet known to the guy taking my order for the .45 lever. Go figure.

Here's the difference in the levers. The .45 ambi lever is on the right, and the tip of the pin punch is pointing to the extra tab that limits leftward movement of the decock-only assembly.



Of course, I compared the difference in my 3913 once I got the .45 ambi lever, and found that I could push the assembly a bit to the left when the 9 ambi lever was installed, but the .45 ambi lever prevented it. Made me wonder how someone at the company had come to determine the revision of changing the ambi levers had been required.