Nickel 59

[6GUNSONLY]

Went in my LGS today to pick up a Ruger SR 1911 .45 (which is actually destined to be a gift). Asked my guy if he had anything else I "needed." He said, "I have two you'd probably like" and proceeded to show me a 4" Dan Wesson. 357 and a nickel-plated no dash 59 in excellent condition. Long story short, I left a deposit on the 59 and will pick it up next week. I'll post pics when I have it in hand. Next chore will be to find a couple of factory nickeled mags. It has two mags with it, neither are S&W mags. How hard are those to find?

 

[stansdds]

I could be wrong, but I don't think S&W made nickel plated Model 59 magazines. I do know that if you cannot find S&W 59/x59 magazines, 59xx magazines fit and function just fine in the Model 59.

 

[VASCAR2]

I don’t ever remember any nickel plated S&W 59 mags. Most of the nickel 59’s had black/blue mag base plates and many had black trigger and hammer plus black rear sight.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Well, that makes things easier, then. Even factory 59 mags aren't too hard to find.

 

[4T5GUY]

Mec-Gar makes nickel 59 series magazines. 15 and 17 rnd and are inexpensive, readily available and top quality. They won’t be “period correct” with the black plastic floorplate as they don’t sit flush. They do not work in one of my, (different,) nickel 59’s but are flawless in all my other 59 series pistols.

I actually got a nickel magazine with that different nickel 59. Probably wasn’t factory nickel but I don’t know. It has an aluminum, (?) follower and all markings on it remain deep.

Jim

 

[gmborkovic]

Mr. 6GUNS, you made a good purchase. There were no dash 59s or nickel mags that I have ever seen. Factory mags are out there for sale.
What did you pay for this one? Just for my data log, I track prices of 39s and 59s..

 

[K-22]

Nickel Magazines

I could be wrong, but I don't think S&W made nickel plated Model 59 magazines. I do know that if you cannot find S&W 59/x59 magazines, 59xx magazines fit and function just fine in the Model 59.

Greg Cote LLC has nickel magazines for the 59.
$24 (Mec-Gar)

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Thanks for the good info. gmvorkovic I sent you a PM.

 

[Sevens]

Here's something...

I agree that S&W never made "silver colored" magazines for the Model 59 and yes, 3rd Gen 5906 series mags certainly fit and run well, they don't look right what with the plastic floor plate.

However for about 8 years of the S&W 2nd Gen pistols... the 659 sure did come with silver colored 14-round metal floor plate magazines. So here you'll have a magazine that is genuine S&W and silver in color, if you should want your idea of a "nickel" double stack magazine for a Model 59.

 

[stansdds]

Here's something...

I agree that S&W never made "silver colored" magazines for the Model 59 and yes, 3rd Gen 5906 series mags certainly fit and run well, they don't look right what with the plastic floor plate.

However for about 8 years of the S&W 2nd Gen pistols... the 659 sure did come with silver colored 14-round metal floor plate magazines. So here you'll have a magazine that is genuine S&W and silver in color, if you should want your idea of a "nickel" double stack magazine for a Model 59.

S&W did make stainless magazines for the second generation pistols. They would have been for the 639 and 659. Other than having a stainless steel body and base plate, they were identical to their blued steel counterparts. The stainless 2nd gen magazines tend to sell for a premium price due to their relative scarcity.

 

[Sevens]

Yep! I've always hesitated in calling them either stainless or nickel. Obviously, I'm no metallurgist. I think they are sheet steel. I have no idea if sheet steel is stainless steel. I certainly cannot imagine that almost anyone (almost!) would go to the trouble to literally nickel plate a magazine.

I have a few of these double stack 2nd Gen mags. Going by memory, they have the same old school metal floor plate with S&W stamped in to it, they have witness holes but only on one side of the magazine (a single hole or maybe two holes on the other side) and they have a black plastic follower... and hold 14 rounds.

For some folks stuck in bad states, these are "pre-ban" magazines without any argument. I wonder if they are more sought after just due to that.

 

[S&W Fan]

Just as an aside, I have free Cinemax through the weekend. Last night the 1986 film "F/X" was on-hadn't seen it in years, lots of fun. The late Brian Dennehy's character used a nickel 59.

I had both blue and nickel 59s in 1979-if memory serves the mags for the nickel were standard blue.

Congrats on grabbing a piece of "wondernine" history!