Polished 5906 project.

[OneSevenDeuce]

The 5906 is all steel. There were definitely a ton of alloy 3rd gens made, but that is a different model number IIRC.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

Rusy, I have wood stocks on order from Hogue as we speak. I am going to sand them down and carve a mag release channel, ala modern 1911 stocks, then refinish them. That, and a little more polishing will complete the project.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

The Hogue stocks have been carved and refinished. Unfortunately the mainspring retainer was cracked so I had to call Hogue for a new one. Once it arrives the project will continue.

 

[jhb]

5903 was aluminum frame version.

5906 was steel framed version.

This looks like a 5906 to me....The op says it's a 5906....it's stainless steel frame.

Hope that helps......

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

It is definitely a 5906. Even if I couldn't tell the difference between steel and alloy, it says so on the frame.

 

[hAkron]

How does the serial number area look after the polish? I would be worried about obscuring it.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

It's not an issue. You'd have to take of a lot off material to alter or erase it. This is a slow process as well, so you'd know it if you were getting close to taking off too much.

 

[fireboat]

Keep us posted on the grips, I would like to see how they come out. I may do it with my 5906 also.
I do like the gun a lot and have thought about getting another (I haven't been able to give my wife a rational reason why, lol). I even bought a big container of bead blast so if I get a beat up police gun, I'll take it apart and refinish it.
Nice work btw!

 

[dsk]

I've thought about doing this with one of my stainless Series 70 Governments, but I'm a bit concerned about how good a job I'd do using just sandpaper and paste polish. I'd rather pay to have Colt to do it, but they're so backed up they're not even accepting refinishing jobs right now.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Hogue wood grips.....

That's good about the custom wood.

Are you able to upgrade the sights too? Id think Wayne Novak(if he isn't fully retired) might still offer after market S&W pistol sights for the 5900 series.
See www.novaksights.com . Smith & Wesson customer service would probably start laughing if you asked them about replacement night sights for a 5906 in 2014.

You might get some 3 dot sights from www.Trijicon.com but maybe not.

EDIT; I checked Novak Sights, they do still carry 3rd gen series 3900/5900 9mm pistol sights. You can get tritium also. Novak is highly rated so custom sights would be a nice touch, if you plan to tote the custom 5906 9x19mm.

 

[CNobbe]

eBay is your friend, tons of genuine and Hogue 5906 grips and various parts.

 

[TennJed]

I would be curious to see any before pics you have. I was wondering how bad these current batch of police trade ins are. It looks good BTW. Nice work

 

[bannockburn]

dsk

It's really pretty straightforward to polishing the metal. I have used Mothers Mag Polish (paste formula), on several stainless guns, without having to utilize any emery sandpaper (the guns were used but didn't have any deep surface scratches or marks). All it took was just a cloth rag and lots of elbow grease. It's relatively slow going and it may take a number of applications but before too long you can get a really shiny appearance. While this is the Autoloader Forum these are three of my more shinier stainless revolvers that had the Mothers Mag Polish treatment. The Vaquero was done by a friend of mine over several evenings while he was watching TV.

 

[Confederate]

Regardless of how it looks, no one can deny that it's an excellent auto and in my view better than any striker-fired pistol ever made and most of the 1911s. One thing I wasn't crazy about in this particular model is the black platicized trigger and hammer of the later models. Another is the pinned in fixed sights. The hard-chromed hammer and triggers, as well as the protected adjustable sights were the nicest parts of the pistol, though for a combat gun they weren't absolutely necessary. I just don't know where this two-toned craze came from.

After it's polished, you might want to get the gun hard-chromed. It'll pick up a lot of nicks and scratches if'n you don't. Hard chrome is very thin, but very resistant to things like table tops, cleaning benches and files, for that matter. Plated parts pretty much stop wearing, including the bore. Also, the parts become self-lubricated, which helps reliability when pistols become dry and dirty. Most hard plating places like Mahovsky's also chrome the screws, which look good wit wood or black plastic grips.

Would love to see the final gun whichever way you go. If you can find any non-plasticized hammers or triggers, you might pick up some.




The early Smith autos were gorgeous, in my view, but the differences were likely more
cosmetic than functional.




My two-tone Beretta air pistol looks very similar to the Beretta 9mm, but the slide release on the 9mm is black.
I don't know who would prefer the two-tone over the original. To each his own.

 

[jhb]

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for a reference of what it might have looked like before the op polished it into being pretty again............here is my police trade in 5906 with zero work done on the finish.......except cleaning off the greasy donut fingerprints, etc. just a bad joke police brethren....

all in all a pretty good shooter and truck gun.........

 

[RustyShackelford]

Centerfire Systems catalog....

KY area gun dealer/accessory store; Centerfire Systems has a few stainless used 9x19mm/9mm Luger 5900 series magazines.



EDIT: The Centerfire Systems price for the Smith & Wesson 9x19mm pistol magazines is $14.99 USD.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

Finally got the replacement part from Hogue. They were super helpful btw, and sent me the part free of charge and no questions asked. Here is the 5906 with the modified stock installed. Also, great looking guns, guys!

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

jhb, that is indeed close to what mine looked like from Bud's. I don't have any "before" pictures, but the photo on the Bud's website is pretty close too.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

bannockburn,

You can indeed get a very nice shine just from using the Mother's Mag. It is my experience that if you want a MIRROR shine that you need to do some metal prep. YMMV.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Sights upgrade?....

Any plans to upgrade the S&W pistol sights?
Both Wayne Novak & Trijicon sell S&W third generation 3 dot/regular sights.
Novak's would be good for CCW or regular carry.

BTW; will this custom 5906 be a safe queen or do you plan to carry-shoot it? Id consider having the Smith & Wesson Pro Center check it out and maybe replace the factory springs/barrel if they can.
Wolff Gunsprings might have S&W 5900 series springs. That would be prudent for a defense/CCW pistol.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

I wouldn't say it is a safe queen, but it will not be my carry gun any time soon. They are great guns, but just to big to conceal for me. It was cheap and I am a dedicated tinkerer and I needed a new project. I was considering replacing the sights but I don't know what I want yet. By the by, I did replace some of the springs with Wolff replacements, and I put a new-ish barrel in it. The one that came with it wasn't TOO bad, but the lands and grooves were pretty shallow.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Safe....

If I bought a police trade-in or used pistol, Id replace the barrel, magazines/springs, sights, and grips.
Id feel safer with some minor upgrades for a carry-duty gun than carry it & have serious doubts .
The pistol looks great & you should get a lot of enjoyment from it.

Rusty

 

[Mainsail]

I was considering replacing the sights but I don't know what I want yet. By the by, I did replace some of the springs with Wolff replacements, and I put a new-ish barrel in it. The one that came with it wasn't TOO bad, but the lands and grooves were pretty shallow.

My dad sent me his 5906 because he didn’t feel like registering the assault magazines in CT. He bought it from a Cromwell cop who carried it on duty. I swapped out the recoil spring for a one pound heavier and loaded it with Underwood 147gn +P rounds- it’s fantastic.




So if I need to get my S&W fix for open or concealed carry, that’s the only option I have until….

…my 1076 comes back from the Smith & Wesson shop where they’re giving it the once over twice. It’ll get new springs and new night sights. That will be my open/concealed carry gun for the times I want to leave the 1911 home.

 

[OneSevenDeuce]

I love those straight grips. If I could find a set for mine I'd gladly put those on, but at the moment the Hogues were the only option.

 

[Big Shrek]

Beautiful work!!

So...what's the next project??