I mentioned this on another forum, didn't get any answers, and decided to check here with the experts. I know there are lots of fans of the 3rd generation Smiths, so maybe someone else has noticed this change and can explain it.
The Model 39 has a lug under the barrel through which the slide stop rides to drop the barrel and unlock the slide. This is the same system as the Browning Hi-Power. My 908 doesn't have the under barrel lug. Instead it has diagonal cuts alongside the chamber that ride in matching cuts in the frame. This seems similar, from what I've read and seen in photographs, to the system used in the old .455 Webleys.
The exploded diagram in my 908 owner's manual shows a generic pistol with the same unlocking/locking slot under the barrel as the original 39, 39xx, 59xx, and 69xx. Obviously the 908 has a different barrel dropping mechanism that isn't represented in the drawings.
S&W part numbers are different for barrels to the 908, 909, 910, and 915 but I wonder if the unlocking slots are used in the value series guns like the 908 and 915. Or am I wrong and the 908 lock up is different from the 915? That wouldn't make sense to me, but odder things have happened. What about the 457 or 745, which I think are the value line .45 ACPs?
Does anyone know why the change was made and on which models? I would guess it was for economic reasons since the 908 was built to sell for less than the 3913, but is the 908 locking that much cheaper to manufacture when considering the cost of different machinery and loss of interchangebility?
The Model 39 has a lug under the barrel through which the slide stop rides to drop the barrel and unlock the slide. This is the same system as the Browning Hi-Power. My 908 doesn't have the under barrel lug. Instead it has diagonal cuts alongside the chamber that ride in matching cuts in the frame. This seems similar, from what I've read and seen in photographs, to the system used in the old .455 Webleys.
The exploded diagram in my 908 owner's manual shows a generic pistol with the same unlocking/locking slot under the barrel as the original 39, 39xx, 59xx, and 69xx. Obviously the 908 has a different barrel dropping mechanism that isn't represented in the drawings.
S&W part numbers are different for barrels to the 908, 909, 910, and 915 but I wonder if the unlocking slots are used in the value series guns like the 908 and 915. Or am I wrong and the 908 lock up is different from the 915? That wouldn't make sense to me, but odder things have happened. What about the 457 or 745, which I think are the value line .45 ACPs?
Does anyone know why the change was made and on which models? I would guess it was for economic reasons since the 908 was built to sell for less than the 3913, but is the 908 locking that much cheaper to manufacture when considering the cost of different machinery and loss of interchangebility?
