Things I never knew about my 5906

[Heneryg]

I've owned 2 5906's and lately my wife and I have been to the range to shoot one of our pistols. My question is , When last round is fired, slide stays open correct, reload magazine and I've noticed that when so doing it automatically forwards slide and reloads for next firing. I only notice this on the 5906 that I will call mine, But does not happen with Wife's pistol. It will do this consistently with all 6 15 rd magazines. Is this normal? I do happen to like that feature and if any one can explain why this happens and how I can modify the wife's pistol to do the same.Makes for very fast reload and not having to release the slide.

 

[raidersrule]

My Glock 19 will do the same thing with a fully loaded mag. My 5906 has never done it, though. Might be a light spring in the slide catch lever which the force of slamming home is knocking loose?

 

[blujax01]

My 5906 doesn't do it but my M&P 45C does.

 

[eddie234]

My 5906 also stays open

 

[tom-tom]

The Mauser HSc had this feature built in: whenever a magazine's inserted, loaded with cartridges or not, the open slide closes. For a third gen S&W, though, to do that is a sign of something wrong.

 

[wlp624]

Might be a light spring in the slide catch lever which the force of slamming home is knocking loose?

That would be my guess also.

 

[grif684]

My Glock 19 will do the same thing with a fully loaded mag. My 5906 has never done it, though. Might be a light spring in the slide catch lever which the force of slamming home is knocking loose?

Exactly, some do, some don't. Not a thing wrong with it.

 

[Printer]

heneryg that's not normal. Normally after the last round is fired the slide locks to the rear. When a fully loaded magazine is inserted you must depress the slide stop allowing the slide to go forward.
With the slide locked to the rear, look at the engagement of slide stop to the slide stop notch in the slide. It could be the slide stop notch in the slide isn't deep enough or the slide stop is "rounded" and doesn't engage the notch enough. First try replacing your slide stop with you wife's. Next you can sharpen your original slide stop, making sure you maintain the correct angle. Happy filing.
Bob St.George
Chief Armorer Instr. S&W (Ret.)

 

[Arik]

Ive had that happen on all my guns from time to time. Sometimes its just the right amount of force applied to the mag.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Printer]

Arik,
Yes that happens from time to time. Some officers I taught asked me how to make the gun do that on purpose because its faster and I wasn't supposed to tell them because of liability reasons.

 

[4506517]

My duty gun will do that consistently. I have to gingerly insert my reload to assure it doesn't do it. Our firearms instructors teach everyone to "gently" slide the mag into place. We are also taught never to use the slide catch to release the slide. Always pull the slide to the rear.

 

[Rock185]

Heneryg, it may not bother some shooters, and some seem to like it, but it is not normal and is not a design feature. Since the mid '60s I have owned S&W 39s,539s, 639s, 3906s, 5906,1006, 1026, 1076, SW1911,etc. standard production guns, and several 9mm and .45ACP Performance Center pistols. None ever released the slide to go forward when inserting a loaded magazine, even if the magazine was inserted energetically. The S&W 3rd. Gen. auto pistol owner's cautions that the slide may go forward and chamber a round if the magazine is inserted with excessive/violent force...ymmv

 

[kaseofkors]

Depends on the force of magazine insertion. Almost all locked breach automatic pistols will auto-forward with enough force. It's not a design feature and cannot be depended on but it will do it if you ram the magazine home. It can actually incur a malfunction in partial loaded magazine by using excessive force which can cause the rounds to come out of alignment with the follower. However, to Printers point, if gentle insertion force causes the slide to forward, chamber a round, and come into battery something isn't quite right.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I've owned 2 5906's and lately my wife and I have been to the range to shoot one of our pistols. My question is , When last round is fired, slide stays open correct, reload magazine and I've noticed that when so doing it automatically forwards slide and reloads for next firing. I only notice this on the 5906 that I will call mine, But does not happen with Wife's pistol. It will do this consistently with all 6 15 rd magazines. Is this normal? I do happen to like that feature and if any one can explain why this happens and how I can modify the wife's pistol to do the same.Makes for very fast reload and not having to release the slide.

We are seeing this quite a bit with shooters with the M&P pistols, but I do not hear of it much with any 3rd Gen.

I have never had it happen on a 3rd Gen.

There is no way to "modify" the other pistol, as it is not really a feature that is supposed to be there.

Thus, enjoy it if it happens as it makes reloading quicker, but don't depend upon it happening every time or on every gun.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

my S&W 5943 and 3953 both do it. If I slam the mag in, the slide chambers the round. I actually like that it does this b/c it saves me a step