Quick ref. for 39 changes

[gmborkovic]

I pulled together all my notes for 39 changes. Just a quick reference. Not complete by any stretch of the imagination.
Gathered from Journal articles and books. Please correct or add.
1. relief on front grip for grip plate/base, A180000
2. black plastic follower, A200000
3. dust cover cut, 8900-A300000
4. bushing change A130000
5. straight ramp, A160000
6. hammer hole, A180000
7. chamber stamp, A160000-A200000
8. mag release nut to slotted, ????
9. Mod-59, A170000
10. serrations under lever, 1001 thru the 30Ks, fwd at 60K
11. slide relief cut moved rearward????
12. Grip angle was changed from 25 degrees to 15 upon production s/n 1001
13. Model number, longer tang, longer safety lever s/n 2624
14. Back strap and main spring plunger 80000
15. Eliminated 9mm from bottom plate 104000
16. Extractor changed, added 'A' prefix A121000
17. Relief cut behind safety lever A250000
18. 'P' changed to 'T' on trigger guard A250000-A300000

 

[Heinz]

Mike, thanks for posting that. I know it represents a LOT of work

 

[Goony]

gmborkovic -

Do you have a feel for the serial number range when the truncated frontal slide relief cuts were lengthened? Also the movement of the slide serrations forward?

 

[gmborkovic]

Hello Goony, serrations under the de-cocker lever moved forward at 60000.
So from 1001 thru the 30000s.The slide relief? Dont know yet. Let me look.
Know I have it somewhere. Back to you, or someone will chime in.

 

[Goony]

Oops, my second question was irrelevant, I see now it was on your original list. My bad.

 

[gmborkovic]

Goony, which number? I have a terminology mix up?

 

[cougar015]

Mike, Great quick reference to when changes were made. We know that the numbers are not absolute as S&W would not waste any parts so new and old can still be found intermixed among serial numbers in the ranges that are mentioned. A few more changes:
Grip angle was changed from 25 degrees to 15 upon production s/n 1001
Model number, longer tang, longer safety lever s/n 2624
Back strap and main spring plunger 80000
Eliminated 9mm from bottom plate 104000
Extractor changed, added 'A' prefix A121000
Relief cut behind safety lever A250000
'P' changed to 'T' on trigger guard A250000-A300000

 

[gmborkovic]

Rich. do you have any notes on when the Factory started to slot the nut
on the mag release button?

 

[cougar015]

Rich. do you have any notes on when the Factory started to slot the nut
on the mag release button?

Mike, Interesting question. I'm not sure if I ever saw this information before. I'm going to look at some of mine and see if I can figure out about when the change was made.

 

[gmborkovic]

Rich, there were so many subtle changes that were gradual, its hard to keep up with them. There were no minor engineering changes that can be traced or documented. But thats the fun of 39s.

 

[Goony]

Goony, which number? I have a terminology mix up?

Oh. I was thinking #10 on your current list covered my second question, but in considering it further, I suppose that might be ambiguous. It is a bit of a descriptive terminology issue. I was taking "serrations under lever" as referring to their being located so far rearward.

 

[50 target]

Model 39

I have not explored yet semiautomatic of S&W, seeing I have not exhausted my interest in revolvers. This posting is timely for me as a friend recently bought a pre A prefix gun to go with his A prefix model
The pre A model is in the 87000 range and the A model in the 120,000 range. The question he asked was about the mag disconnect. One has it and the other doesn't.
Did all have it from the start of production? If not when did it start.
Didn't see any info in the S&W book.
Thanks for helping.

Bob

 

[gmborkovic]

Hello Bob, have a few revolvers myself, but you will come around to the world of S&W autos. Every new mod-39 from my dist., had the factory mag
disconnect. I was often asked to extract the disconnector and had to refuse due to liability concerns.

 

[cougar015]

Bob, Can you tell us if the gun with the 'A' prefix is a Model 39 or a 39-2? Model 39-2 guns started around serial number A120000 however there are at least four Model 39's with the 'A' prefix.

 

[gmborkovic]

Rich, glad you asked Bob that question. There were some unusual
transition model markings in the early 1970s. More on that later.

 

[Aircrewman]

Really fabulous information for us Model 39 aficionados!!!!!!!! Thank you for doing this!

 

[cougar015]

Rich. do you have any notes on when the Factory started to slot the nut
on the mag release button?

Mike, Just got all my guns out in preparation for the Symposium. None of the pre-39 or Model 39 nuts are slotted. The earliest the slot in the nut shows up is in my Model 39-2 CSP shipped in 1979. All my other 39-2's prior to that do not have the slotted nuts. All 2nd Generation 439, 539 & 639 have the slotted nuts.