New to me model 39

[Scotsman13a]

Greetings all! Finally, recently, got back into the S&W game with a 39, and a 36 but that's a different forum.

I've always liked the 39, but never owned one til now, and know little about them. It was an old ISP gun, or is marked as such, with I presume a rack number or inventory number, or something akin to such. Of the 6 magazines it came with, 2 have the same 3 digit number electro-penciled on them as the rack number on the gun. It's a straight 39, no dash, but has had some sort of modification/replacement extractor installed, if I understand correctly, as it is not a long single piece extractor. Overall decent shape, bit of holster wear, unsurprisingly, and the grips are mighty tired. May replace those some day.

I'm curious about when it was made. Serial # has no letters, 106xxx, if anybody can ballpark it, that'd much appreciated.

<edit> Oh, and the guide rod protrudes about 1/8". Is that normal?

Any tips, tricks, or warnings are appreciated as well! New ground, this one is.

 

[jimbo728]

The 39 is a piece of history. Especially, in my mind, an ISP pistol.
The Illinois State Police was the first major agency to adopt the Model 39.
Just remember , that because extractor breakage can occur, to not drop the slide on a chambered round. Always load from the magazine. I would love to see a photo of your 39 and to see if your extractor received a modification which helped prevent extractor breakage.
Dont be to concerned but try to read up on as much as you can about the Model 39. It will give years of service if handled, loaded, properly. Those pistols did not have a drop safety and if dropped on the muzzle from over 3ft, a discharge may occur if the safety is in the fire position and a round is in the chamber.
They are great pistols.Enjoy!
Jim

 

[DCW]

Welcome, Greetings and All That

Scotsman13a, interesting moniker but, nonehtless, welcome to the 39 side of the world. It is the proper side, too.

I'm now ballparking, but your 106,xxx Model 39 (no dash) came pretty close to the end of the no-dash production, which went into roughly, the A120,000 range, as there is at least one no-dash 39 with an A120xxx serial number.

This 39 collector likewise has an Illinois State Police 39, mine carries a rack or "property" number of 857 and S/N of 106434.

The ILSP Model 39 guns came in two purchases, the first 500 in 1967 and then again with another 600 right around the 39-2's release - evidently some turbulence occurring on the department's part, it having an understandable desire not to have two different extractor systems, one of the key differences between the no-dash 39 and the 39-2.

The ILSP would only a few years later also buy big on the then-new Model 59, double column that was derived from the 39 - another considerable story in itself.

Among our membership within this Forum is a former ILSP member, who often weighs in on these matters.

Of no doubt, however, is the ILSP being key in the "saving" of the Model 39, for without the ILSP - which was the first LARGE LEO agency to purchase the Model 39 - it might've died a death due to a starvation of purchasers. However, the ILSP put the gun on the map, so to speak, and civilians began taking notice.

And there we are. One can pretty well say your gun and mine was in that 1967 ILSP purchase, leaving unknown as to how mine was racked at 857 out of an intial 500-gun purchase.

Others will chime in with still more information, so keep watching this space for further news.

And . . . here's my ILSP Model 39

Later.

 

[PJO1425]

The 3 digit #on the slide, the magazines, and possibly the barrel is an ISP inventory number. Mine, #415, was issued to me in the ISP academy in Sept. '68. I bought it back in 1980 or so when ISP went to the 439. The only problem I've had with it is that the two piece safety/decocker separated last year.

 

[395dog]

Guide rod sticking out

On my 39-2 that means the pistol is not fully in battery. Racking the slide should do it unless there's some other reason for it not going into battery.

 

[ispcapt]

As PJO1425 mentioned the number stamped on the side of the frame is an inventory number. Back then state law was every piece of state owned equipment over a certain dollar amount had to be marked with a unique state of IL inventory number. It didn't matter that the manufacturer had given it a serial number, it had to have a state number too. Even the squad cars had a state of IL number stamped somewhere. Later the law was changed so only the 39s (not the 39-2) will have an inventory number.
The long extractor was modified to the 2 piece wide extractor like picture below. There might be a few ISP 39s floating around that still have the long wide extractor but most were modified.
One correction to DCW. The ISP never purchased nor issued the Model 59. There is at least 1 book, maybe 2, that have been published that incorrectly state the ISP issued the Model 59. Whoever did their research got their info wrong. The 39 and 39-2 were issued until 1981 when we went to the 439. Those of us on SWAT (which we called TRT) could carry a 459 if we purchased our own 459. I never cared for the 439 I was issued. My 39 (below) had a much better trigger and was a lot more accurate than the 439. Plain clothes people were issued the 469. When I was issued my 469 I never liked it much either and continued carrying my 459 which had been tuned a bit and was a lot better shooter. After the 439/469 we then went to the 5904/6904 until the ISP went to Glock in 1999-2000. I bought my 39 when we went to the 439.
DCW's 39 serial number is 31 from this one.

 

[Jeppo]

As a 39-2 fan, I've enjoyed following this thread and learned a lot. I was always under the impression that Troopers only carried 12ga pumps.

 

[2K7]

Your guide rod....

is perfectly fine. All the 39's protruded that 1/8 inch or so.