Series chart for S&W 1-3rd Gen.

[Ignition Override]

Hope this clears up unfamiliarity or any confusion.
My sincere thanks to whoever created this at "LuckyGunner"!

[gc70]

Thanks for posting the chart!

[kymasabe]

Wow, great chart, thank you !

[agtman]

Yep, great chart!

[Jim Watson]

Smith and Wesson once made up a decoder wheel to sort out the multitude of different models and sub-types. I guess one would be a collector's item in its own right.

[dahermit]

If the first generation M39's were "black finish", why do I have memories of me wanting a M39 because it was bright Nickle finish (or were they stainless steel?)...I would have never lusted after a black M39 (I did have a Black M59 at one time...didn't like the double action first shot, change-over to single action).

A side note, back in about the Summer of 1987, I was in a parking lot across the street from Ferris State University, when a guy with long blond locks and a Nickle M39 in Mexican carry got out of a car which held three or so other males to make a phone call from a telephone booth. He did not appear to be a student. I have often wondered if those guys were cops of some kind, or perhaps drug dealers. I suspect cops...inasmuch as they were smartly dressed, but still casual clothing. I would have suspected that drug dealers would have dressed much more inconspicuously. It kills me that I never found out who they were.

[Ignition Override]

Glad it is of interest with so Many variations avail., and might help a potential buyer/trader avoid fraudulent descriptions or misrepresentations of a specific type.

Nothing about this appeared--in the past--on SmithandWessonforums (for rifles, handguns etc), except the chart which I posted a week or two ago.

Wouldn't you imagine that this would be a "Sticky" on Every primary S&W gun forum website?
Such indifference surprises me .

Had I not been using Youtube to know how to disassemble and clean a friend's S&W 1911, this classic all-metal series would have been unknown to me.
Pure chance.

[TunnelRat]

Good info, thanks for sharing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Forte S+W]

I actually just picked up a S&W 4006TSW CHP (California Highway Patrol) a few days ago. CDNN Sports was selling them for $399 in good to very good condition, and having missed out on them in years passed when they first started hitting the used market a few years back, I made sure to jump on it this time.



Mine has a fair amount of external holster wear, but internally it's like new, and I honestly like the holster wear because it's just part of the mystique of a police trade-in to me.

The 4006TSW CHP models are actually a post-production special order by tne California Highway Patrol with a few otherwise unique features such as an integral rail machined right into the frame. Apparently there were only about 10,000 of them ever produced, with a fair amount of them in the hands of CHiPs who opted to buy back their pistols rather than part ways with them entirely.

[Bill DeShivs]

The model 39s were available in both blue and nickel.

[dahermit]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

The model 39s were available in both blue and nickel.

Adding to my confusion, I found this ad for what is titled as a "Nickel plated M39(-2), but further down in the advertisement it is described as "polished stainless steel". Go figure.
https://www.gunsamerica.com/95739253...d-like-new.htm

[Ignition Override]

Forte S+W: That's a superb value and gun.

[URIT]

The S&W Gen 1-3 semi-autos are some of the best-used handguns on the market and make great carry gun options and come in a host of versions not indicated by the chart above. However, the chart below goes into much more detail... http://www.skjos.net/sw/3rdgen/S&W%2...%20Models1.jpg

I favor the single stack models.

[Ignition Override]

URIT: I finally saw that huge list somewhere else. Amazing.

Thanks for posting it.

[dgludwig]

Thanks for providing the helpful list. However, the "Fourth Digit Finish & Material" section describing the number "6" as being s/s doesn't seem to apply to the Model 6906 (the frame on the Model 6906 being made from alloy/aluminum; not s/s). Or am I misinterpreting the list?

[KyJim]

I used to carry a 3913 LS. I loved it. I only quit carrying it because it was the only pistol I owned where down was safe and up was fire. I didn’t want to get confused in a stressful situation

[dgludwig]

I only quit carrying it because it was the only pistol I owned where down was safe and up was fire.

You probably already know this and choose not to but you can always carry it with the safety "off" and still be safe (like other pistols of its ilk; i.e., the Beretta 92).

[URIT]

I don't care for the TDA model's safety/decocker option for my EDC so instead of carrying my 3913LS or 3913NL I opt for my S&W DAO model 3953.

The TDA guns are great fun at the range though.

[tipoc]

Glad it is of interest with so Many variations avail., and might help a potential buyer/trader avoid fraudulent descriptions or misrepresentations of a specific type.

Nothing about this appeared--in the past--on SmithandWessonforums (for rifles, handguns etc), except the chart which I posted a week or two ago.

Wouldn't you imagine that this would be a "Sticky" on Every primary S&W gun forum website?
Such indifference surprises me .

Thanks for the work on the chart.

There have been various charts floating around over the years. Most folks who are interested in S&W products though have copies of Jim Supica's and Richard Naha's book "The Standard catalog of Smith and Wesson" which is upgraded every few years and is now in it's 4th Edition. These books contain the required facts on every model of gun that S&W produced. With extensive info on the S&W semis. It isn't possible to place all of that in charts which are primarily quick reference tools.

So I can't agree that it's "indifference", though I can see where you might think that, it's more that the Standard catalog is a more complete tool. It also has it's own charts in the book.

tipoc

[tipoc]

The 39-2 had an aluminum alloy frame and a steel slide. It was offered with a nickel finish. It was not made in a stainless steel. In production 1959-82 or so.

S&W didn't make any Stainless Steel pistols till the early to mid 1980's.

tipoc

[10-96]

Cool, based on that chart, I would have wanted a 5925, 5975, or a 4525, 4575. To bad they didn't offer them up like restaurant menus.

[laytonj1]

Nice chart but not complete.

Both the model 39 and 59 were offered in nickel.
The model 41 and 52 were left out of the first gens.
The model 845, 945 and 952 were left out of the second gens.
I'm sure there are others.

Jim

[Ignition Override]

laytonj1:
Is this the much longer list you must have seen?
It is on "Smith and Wesson Forum", the S&W website with the blue background.
This overwhelmed me when first found, merely by chance.

[tipoc]

This is a link to the S&W Forum.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/

As I and others mentioned earlier there are a number of such charts floating around. Most, more complete than the lucky Gunner chart and more accurate.

There is more complete info in the Standard Catalog.

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Cata.../dp/1440245630

tipoc

[Sevens]

The model 41 and 52 were left out of the first gens.
The model 845, 945 and 952 were left out of the second gens.
I'm sure there are others.

The 41 and 46 are not any “Gen”, they don’t follow the S&W design for center fire semiauto pistols.

The 845, 945 and 952 are absolutely not 2nd Gens. These are hand fitted Performance Center Limited pistols. The 952 most closely aligns with the 1st Gen, but isn’t one. The 845 most closely aligns itself with a 3rd Gen but isn’t one. And the 945, like the 41/46 isn’t any “Gen.” Nor are the 1911 pistols or the Sigma guns or the P99 series or the M&P.

S&W thought their number system made sense and it might have if they hadn’t sabotaged it all by themselves time after time after time again and again.