Recently purchased this fine example of a 45acp to go along with the 1911 collection. Should have picked one up years ago, but was too busy with 1911's and life. Got some rounds loaded up and going to the range over the weekend to try it out. Little big and heavy for CC but its a classic that will not go out of style in my opinion. Hope you enjoy the bad picture.
First S&W semi for this old man
- Thread starter ncairman
- Start date
bannockburn
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- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 26,320
ncairman
Congrats on the new addition to your family!
That's one good looking "Golden Oldie .45" and a fine example of a Gen.3 S&W auto! While not as svelte as a 1911, it was built like a tank and was a solid, reliable performer.
Congrats on the new addition to your family!
That's one good looking "Golden Oldie .45" and a fine example of a Gen.3 S&W auto! While not as svelte as a 1911, it was built like a tank and was a solid, reliable performer.
Congratulations on a successful New Gun Day!
GooseGestapo
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- Joined
- Jan 6, 2003
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- 6,164
The 3rd generation S&W’s were under appreciated in their days.
There has been something of a push to get Smith to bring them back.
IIRC, they recently made a special run of one of the 6900 series with aluminum alloy receivers. A special order by a large agency.
I’ve got 5! One is a garden variety 5906, with an LPA adjustable rear sight. Another is a Super 9 with 3 barrels (9x19, 9x21, .356TSW). The other 3 are Performance Center match guns. 4”- 5906 PC IDPA, 5” PPC-9, 6” PPC-9.
Collectively, they’re worth more than my 4x4 pickup or car!
Those S&W’s are massively built. They practically last forever. However, small pieces do fail.
DO NOT drop the slide on a chambered round. You’ll chip the extractor claw. Leads to erratic extraction… Parts are difficult to obtain.
There has been something of a push to get Smith to bring them back.
IIRC, they recently made a special run of one of the 6900 series with aluminum alloy receivers. A special order by a large agency.
I’ve got 5! One is a garden variety 5906, with an LPA adjustable rear sight. Another is a Super 9 with 3 barrels (9x19, 9x21, .356TSW). The other 3 are Performance Center match guns. 4”- 5906 PC IDPA, 5” PPC-9, 6” PPC-9.
Collectively, they’re worth more than my 4x4 pickup or car!
Those S&W’s are massively built. They practically last forever. However, small pieces do fail.
DO NOT drop the slide on a chambered round. You’ll chip the extractor claw. Leads to erratic extraction… Parts are difficult to obtain.
Enfielder
Member
I had a 645 for a while. I see these weapons like I see the cars from the 60’s and 70’s. Big, powerful, big, well built, big, heavy, and big. Did I mention big? They’re pretty big.
I agree on one thing the 3rd generation Smiths are tough guns, and I would like to see them last forever. I really love their revolvers and was raised shooting revolvers, so the DA/SA is not a problem for me. Maybe I need to find one that is DA only ?
Diamondback
Member
Classic indeed...Congratulations....Very fine pistol.
hemiram
Member
Mine looks exactly like yours, OP. My only problem with it was one of the mag followers was falling apart, so I had to look around to find some new ones. Same thing happened with some of my other 3rd Gen S&W pistol magazines.
JR24
Member
Classic
Ks5shooter
Contributing Member
3RD gen smith a real tank.....love mine!!!And Im a glock guy.
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
Nice score!
As HemiRam said, watch out for brittle mag followers- yellow bad, orange maybe a little better, black/red good, steel best. A couple years ago, S&W was still selling blue replacement followers which were supposedly pretty good.
Also, inspect closely for cracks in the grip module at the retaining pin hole.
But aside from these problem areas, they are great pistols. Enjoy!
As HemiRam said, watch out for brittle mag followers- yellow bad, orange maybe a little better, black/red good, steel best. A couple years ago, S&W was still selling blue replacement followers which were supposedly pretty good.
Also, inspect closely for cracks in the grip module at the retaining pin hole.
But aside from these problem areas, they are great pistols. Enjoy!
Thank you for the information, all three of my magazines are yellow, but they are not worn out. So I guess I need to order black ones or steel?
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
The early M645 magazines had steel followers (and baseplates), but they pretty quickly switched to the yellow plastic, which carried over into the 3rd Gen 4506 mags. Dont know if anyone ever sold a service replacement steel part, though the early, all stainless magazines pop up on Ebay somewhat regularly- but can be pricey.
Any of the other colors are a big improvement over the yellow ones, so youll probably be well served by whatever you can find online.
MachIVshooter
Member
Nice score! The 4506 is a fantastic pistol.
Be careful, though. S&W autos are addicting!
Be careful, though. S&W autos are addicting!
hemiram
Member
On my yellow followers, most of them had at least one of the "arms" cracking and breaking off, and when they would come off, the follower would get cocked in the magazine, and that was no good. The replacements were all blue ones and they seem to be fine. My 6906 came with a black follower, and the new mags I just bought for it have what appears to be black ones, but in bright light you can see they are brown.
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