Bought a S&W 3913

[kalevatom]

Bought this from a downstate GS last week for $480. I probably paid too much, but, it came with a 1yr warranty, a 1 hour free shoot at their indoor range, and a 6 month club membership, so I can live with the price. I've been interested in these for a while and the only ones I've seen have been on line. I wanted to handle one before I bought. It's just slightly bigger than my wife LC9. It's in very nice condition, only a couple finish scuffs and no wear on the grip. Doesn't look like it's been fired much, very little finish is worn of the slide rails. I don't know the production date or the history, other than it was a police turn-in, so I was going to spend the $50 for the S&W history. Still haven't shot it. I'm home this weekend, and practicing a little hunting season etiquette for my neighbors.

[Shadi Khalil]

Very nice gun. S&W 3rd generations are some of the best autos ever made, IMO. The price maybe a little high for a police trade in and you won't need the shops warranty because S&W will pretty much fix anything with their name on it at no cost, at least that's been my experience. Does the gun have any department markings on it? Be sure to post a range report when you get to shoot it.

[TennJed]

i have a 5906 that love. I did not realize those were as small as that. Any way you could post some pics of it side by side to the lc9?

[Sparks1957]

I carried a 3913 for several years, then foolishly sold it. Beautiful little pistols. It is on my short list of guns that I need to buy soon.

[kalevatom]

Here are some comparison pictures between the 3913 and the LC9. Heres a link with some technical comparisons. http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-w...ruger-lc9.html





I'm going to put a few rounds thru it today. It's raining, so I don't think the hunters(ambushers) will be out.

[carguychris]

You probably don't need to bother with the history letter, at least to find the production date. Guns with the post-1982 3-letter 4-number serial number style are usually in S&W's computer database and can be looked up by customer service.

Also, the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson indicates that the TCB prefix was used in 1988 and the TED prefix was used in 1989; the TDT prefix theoretically falls between those, so let's say 1988-1989.

[kalevatom]

Thanks for the serial info , chris. I'm interested in the history because I read that S&W did a series of update mods on some older 3913's and returned them to service. It was also said that S&W may still do the mods on guns that were missed. How much of this is true, I don't know. But being that this was a police turn-in and it's age, I'd just like to know the history of it, if any.

[KyJim]

Congratulations! The SW 3913 is a top of the line compact carry 9mm. I own one and have been very satisfied with it. I don't think I've ever read a negative about it.

[GaryH]

Nice!

[chadk7]

Great gun. You won't be disappointed. I have one too and I love it. Actually I love all the 3rd gen smiths. They are very nice looking guns and built like tanks.

Congrats and enjoy.

[BU1]

Looks like the ones for sale on Guns America. From the California Dept of Corrections. The dept serial # styles match.

[kealil]

Congrats on the new gun! I can almost garentee that it will never fail and last longer than you will

[Laserlips]

FWIW:

If you have the interest check out the 6906's on sale at CDNN now for only $329.00 for "good, very good", and $369.00 for "select" quality pistols.

The 6906 is basically a double-stack 3913...

I have a 3913, 3913LS, 6906,5906, and CS45 so you know I'm a big 3rd Gen Smith fan.

What I really like about the 6906 is you can use the 15rd mags from the all steel 5906 (w/S&W mag adapter) and you wind up with a capacity of 15+1 in a pretty darn concealable 9MM pistol.

I've bought all of my 3rd Gen Smiths from CDNN (w/exception of the CS45) and 3 HK P7's and I've found CDNN to be good folks to deal with..

Just something you might want to consider for on "down the road"

Good Shootin'

Jesse

[JohnO]

Why did Smith discontinue their 3rd gen guns? I always thought they were very good and fairly priced.

[Laserlips]

JohnO:

A Senior Customer Service person at S&W told me the 3rd Gen Smiths were (in his opinion) some of the best pistols S&W ever made.. He said they were built of excellent stuff, seldom needed any repair, and what he heard as to why they were discontinued was because "plastic guns" were becoming "fashionable", and Smith & Wesson could make "plastic" guns cheaper than steel guns anyway.

Or plastic is cheaper than metal..

He said the folks at S&W CS and Warranty Repair absolutely HATED it when the entire line of 3rd Gen Smiths were discontinued.

No facts to back this up, just repeating what the gentleman told me.

Jesse

[JohnO]

That's really too bad. I can see them moving in the direction of plastic pistols and they did a good job with their M&P. However, they could have held onto their 3rd gen guns as well. Not everyone likes striker fired guns.

Thanks for the info!

[franco45]

I just recently bought a police trade in 3913 also. It is a very nice pistol but it hasn't replaced either of my Kahr's in the carry rotation. I just prefer dao.

[Doc TH]

The 3913 and 3914s were some of the best small semiauto's ever made.

[tdrizzle]

I like my 3914 a lot, but when I saw the 3953 in a shop, I wanted to trade up.

Only trouble was, the dealer said I'd have to add 250.00 to make up the difference between his price and what he thought mine was worth (he was asking 375, as I recall).

I understand dealers have to eat, too, but saying my pistol was only worth 125.00 to him was a little too insulting. I might have come up with 50.00 or something, but that was just too big a gap to bridge. I left and didn't go back for almost a year...

[federali]

The S&W 3913 was indeed a great gun. My only complaint with S&W in general was that during the latter part of the 20th century, it seems they came out with a gun a month. It was difficult to keep track of all the models and sub-models. The only real consequence was that local gun dealers couldn't effectively stock the product line and they often had to special order whatever you wanted.

Incidentally, the original S&W Mod 39 remains one of my favorite all-time guns. I may get to own one someday.

[fastbolt]

The 3913 is the functional reliability standard against which I measure all my other 9's.

The 3913 pictured in the OP's posts appears to have the MIM hammer & trigger, as well as the wider tabs on the slide stop lever and manual safety/decocking levers. The MIM parts would put it somewhere in at least in the middle/late 90's production range, if I remember right. If it has a wide barrel tab and straight-cut breech face (instead of the earlier narrow barrel tab and the rounded breech face shoulders to hold the case base) that would definitely put it in the later production period.

[dsk]

Originally Posted by JohnO

Why did Smith discontinue their 3rd gen guns? I always thought they were very good and fairly priced.

I'm pretty sure it was simply Economics 101. They likely cost too much to produce and were at a severe disadvantage compared to Glock, HK and other brands when going after lucrative police contracts. The last models released were the budget-priced 410/411 and similar models with carbon-steel components and simplified exterior machining, but apparently even that didn't save them. It's a real shame, because they were all reliable, built like tanks and felt solid in the hand. Unfortunately the cheap, lightweight plastic fantastics rule the world now, with 1911/Hi-Power lovers pretty much the last bastion of good ol' steel and walnut.

[jonathanmanopla]

i just buy this gun
can someone tellme some info about it
wich generation production thanks

[carguychris]

jonathanmanopla, if it has "Ladysmith" script on the non-visible RH side of the slide, it is a Model 3913LS. Otherwise, it is a Model 3913NL.

The slanted dustcover and light grey grip unit are the major differentiating features compared to the standard 3913, which had a straight-cut dustcover and black grip. In addition, most LS's and NL's lack a RH-side ambidextrous decocker/safety lever.

These pistols were also offered with matte blued finish as the 3914LS and 3914NL.

All factory S&W 9mm single-stack compacts are 3rd-generation. The 1st- and 2nd-gen pistols only came full-size.

The mags are 8-rounders with the flat plastic bases. These pistols generally shipped with two differing styles of magazine or base plate (see my post in the magazine thread), so presumably one of those mags didn't come with the pistol, or a prior owner swapped a plastic pinky rest base for the flat one.

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Very nice gun. S&W 3rd generations are some of the best autos ever made, IMO.

You got that right.

i have a 5906 that love.

Me too as well as a 5903. The lighter 03 still handles recoil well.