Questions on 4506-1

[john14_18]

I have a 4506-1 that I have had for quite a while and never use so I was going to list for sale on here but just happened to notice that BPD95-0109 is on the left side of gun and have never noticed before. Is that from the factory? Gun is in excellent shape with 3 factory mags, oversize S&W box and I was going to ask $650 plus shipping. Is that price in line with these guns?

Thank you in advance for any assistance you may offer and have a Blessed Day!

 

[acco40]

Looks like you have a firearm from a police department. Usually those markings are done post-factory but others with more knowledge than me can provide better information.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[toddimusnimski]

BPD - possibly Birmingham Police Dept? That would be kinda nifty for you. Looks like it's in great shape.

Todd

 

[Fishslayer]

You've had it how long & never noticed that?

My guess would be Birmingham PD, 1995, #0109

I would pay $650 for it if it was in Kalifornistan. That would be a steal here.

 

[john14_18]

That's what i was thinking Todd,because I am right outside of Birmingham. Gun is in great condition so I am pretty sure it wasn't ever carried.

 

[john14_18]

When I bought it, I just stuck it back and recently took it out. Guess I need to put on my glasses more often

 

[Fastbolt]

The factory would mark LE guns with specific agency alpha numeric identifiers upon request when ordered, although it wasn't uncommon for agencies to have them marked on their own after being received.

Looking at your pictures, I'd speculate that 4506 was carried by a right-handed cop. Note the pattern of frame wear from being holstered, and how the right side of the grip butt shows what appears to be more wear on the right side than the left. Not uncommon when a gun is carried in an exposed uniform holster and the grip hits things every day (like getting in and out of a car, especially on the driver's side).

You can see the wear patterns if you look and note the "leading edges" of contact where the frame corners and edges were rubbed smooth from being inserted in the holster.

Nice, though.

 

[john14_18]

Thank all of you for your input. It has been very informative. Thanks again!

 

[Fastbolt]

Thank all of you for your input. It has been very informative. Thanks again!

de nada. Please don't mistake my comments about signs of normal service wear as being anything other than observations. It's not really possible to put guns in and out of hard leather or lined synthetic duty holsters without the edge/wear points getting some "polishing". It's normal, even if the gun is only fired for qualification and left sitting in someone's locker when they go off-duty.

Ditto the bottom of the hard plastic grip getting a bit marked and scuffed. I've got a brand new, never-used 4506 grip that I received directly from the factory (from someone I knew), and it has more wear marks on it than the one in your picture. The plastic baggie in which it was shipped was worn and had several small wear/tear holes showing it had been stuffed in with others for a while. (Leaving them inside thin plastic baggies - unlike the hard plastic boxed retail display packaging - and stuffing bunches of them jammed together in boxes can do that. )

When my former agency was shipped a large box of extra/spare replacement grips (cops are HARD on grips), they were just dumped into the large cardboard shipping container, without being in individual packaging. They looked worn and scratched without ever having been installed on a gun. )

Those nice boxy hard plastic & cardboard Retail/display packaging can much better pamper stuff shipped to store front stores.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

My 4506 is a Fresno County Sheriff trade in. I would be happy to buy another 4506 in good shape. They are great 45 ACP handguns.

 

[Fastbolt]

My 4506 is a Fresno County Sheriff trade in. I would be happy to buy another 4506 in good shape. They are great 45 ACP handguns.

It's been more than 10 years, so I'm not sure if I'm remembering the agency, but when I was talking with the factory about a potential guide rod issue in a couple of our 4566TSW's, they mentioned that they'd had to replace some 4506 guide rods for a CA SO, and I thought it was Fresno CO SO. Their issue supposedly had to do with some rods apparently not having been heat treated properly, and over time and shooting the front ends of the affected rods deformed into a "mushroom" shape. This mushroom deformation caused a problem with the rod ends fitting and moving in the opening of the slide's spring box hole during functioning. Duh. The only time I'd ever heard of that happening was with a major aftermarket manufacturer & vendor who marketed non-factory steel guide rods (the manufacturer told me about it).

Our problem was different and simpler. We had some of the aluminum guide rods in our 4566TSW's, and apparently the guy operating the press that staked the heads/collars to the guide rods (the older 2-piece design rods) had gotten a bit exuberant in his staking, causing some very, very small cracks to appear in and around the staking dimples.

The good news was twofold.

First, it only happened with a very few of the guns I saw, and S&W they immediately replaced the rods.

Second, they called back a while later and said the engineers had closely examined the effects of deeply staking the aluminum so fractures appeared in the staking dimples, and they'd found it only created surface micro-fractures (but big enough to see with a magnifying glass) which didn't compromise the security of the staking inside the rod bodies. It just looked gnarly (no, he didn't use that word ).

That second bit of good news was good news, indeed ... because of the extra replacement guide rods they'd sent me, a couple of them also had the itty bitty fracture cracks in the staking.

Some days you've just gotta roll with what the universe lobs at you.

Naturally, if the guide rod in your 4506 is the new style 1-piece steel assembly (with removable plunger and spring), none of this applies because there's no staking.

 

[vigil617]

I think $650 is a very fair price for what you're offering, John.

 

[john14_18]

Again, thank all of you for the valuable info. I lowered the price to $650 shipped in the classified section and if it doesn't sell for that I will move to Gunbroker. I also put a magnet on the guide rod and it is steel. It's a really nice gun but just bigger than what I need. Again, thanks to all for your input and have a Blessed Evening!