S&W Newbie...39-2

[wing30]

I was issued a M39 by US Naval Air in 1966 and carried until Oct. 1969, gun with dust cover, one magazine with cover, manual and one box of government 9mm ammo. It was my buddy for three years. In prowling around local gun shows I came across several 39's and decided to renew an old friendship with a one owner 39-2. It came with the original box, manual, extra magazine still in original wrapping, cleaning rod, warrantee registration and S&W flyers. Took it to the range and put 100 rounds through without a hangup, feels great and shoots straight. Now I must say that I have owned 10 Rugers since 1960, pistols, revolvers, shotgun, rifles and loved everyone of them but this 39-2 is now my favorite.

 

[FirebirdV8]

That 39-2 is in beautiful shape. There is just something about how the 39 fits in my hands and how the trigger on these guns work.

 

[Kazo]

I just discovered the 39 in perusing the S&W Catologue; this last weekend, I saw a 39-2 in a local store for $400. I made a note of it.

 

[Frank53]

One of America's classics...great firearm.

 

[Srigs]

The 39-2 is the only gun I regret selling... so don't ever sell it!

Congrats!

 

[prproulx]

Model 39-2

If the 1911 is the real .45acp platform then the model 39-2 is the real 9mm auto platform. Okay maybe the Browning High Powers as well.
I really love the S&W 9mm autos. They never fail.

 

[C/O]

That is one beautiful handgun, enjoy.

 

[j38]

Very nice! The 39 is one of the best hand-fitting pistols to ever come down the pike. Enjoy yours,

Jerry

 

[bryuer]

Introduction

By way of introduction. I'm pretty much a newbie who fell into some wonderful stuff by accident and came up rose petal sweet....

Started shooting less than a year ago, and didn't do enough research into all things handguns. So of course, I made several mistakes. Went out and got a Glock 23. Why??? It's a Glock of course. Nothing wrong, but I had not shot enough different weapons to really know. Then, I wanted a .38 for next to the bed. Second mistake, S&W 638. No, it's a fine gun, but for a newbie, a snubby takes time to learn. That's about the time I fell into it....A cousin passed away and left me some goods. Among them, a S&W 15-3 and 39-2. Neither of them in the most pristine of condition, but none-the-less, quite serviceable.

I'm heading out tonight to check out the 39-2. It's serial number is in the A-634000 range. Any idea how old that would make it? I took it down last night, oiled it up good and dry fired a few times to test functionality. Tonight it goes to the range. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Another winner is the 15-3. That's got a couple spots of rust on it, but after oiling and re-adjusting the sites, it's lovely. Less kick than the snubby, and more (much more) accurate because of the 4" barrel. Looking for a good suggestion on a grip for it, though.

One of the reasons I'm so looking forward to testing the 39-2 is that I have a Colt 1911A1 from 1943, and the feel is about the same. I know the 39-2 was designed to replace the 1911 series for the military, so that would likely explain the design and overall similarities.


Wish me luck.

 

[smith500]

You can't have to many of them. The 39 is one of my favorite 9mm semi's. Enjoy your new pistol.

smith500

 

[bryuer]

My pleasure with the 39

Two nights ago I took the S&W 39 out for its first walk. After cleaning and oiling the dear put out about 100 rnds just where I wanted them.

A friend told me that the 39 'barks', but with a 115gr round, it purred. Felt just like my Colt 1911. This is a keeper.

The best thing is that now my Sig 226 is going to be sold, along with my Glock 23.

 

[deuterij]

That is a beauty of a 39. I am getting into S&W semi-autos now and appreciate the photo.

 

[bryuer]

Just got three more mags (OEM) for my 39-2. There appears to be about about a 1/8" gap at the bottom of the grip to the baseplate of the mag. Don't think that will be a problem, but will test.

 

[FirebirdV8]

Just got three more mags (OEM) for my 39-2. There appears to be about about a 1/8" gap at the bottom of the grip to the baseplate of the mag. Don't think that will be a problem, but will test.

You don't need to worry about that gap on the new magazines. They extended the 39 series mags to hold an extra round and included a plastic base plate instead of a the metal one that shipped with the 1st generation pistols originally. Besides looking a little funny, the new magazines will shoot just fine.