S&W 5906 a good gun?

[megatronrules]

I am thining of buying one of these gun used it is an older model with the squared trigger guard. It has night sights that aern't really to bright and a factory 15 round mag. The gun is in good shape with a fair amount of holster wear but appears to have been shot very little, It is a police trade-in as my local gun shop tells me. My basic question is are the 5906's good guns ? I want it for a ccw gun as I prefer fullsize guns, and as I currently carry a beretta 92fs as a ccw gun it will be easy for me to conceal. Thanks for any info on the 5906's or S&W's autos in general.

 

[stans]

Nothing wrong with the 5906's. You might want to replace the recoil spring and maybe the firing pin spring. Check the magazine spring while you are at it. The third generation S&W semi-auto's are usually good weapons. They are reliable and usually accurate.

 

[Flashpoint]

My Dad has one, if Mo. ever gets thier act together then the S&W will be what he carries. It's a nice gun with a decent trigger, I don't care for the mag disconnect though.

 

[9mmLuva]

megatronrules

My basic question is are the 5906's good guns ? ... Thanks for any info on the 5906's or S&W's autos in general.

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Yes, they are great guns. BTW, the magazine disconnector is a fantastic feature if you're a "safety first" type of guy. And the following link will provide you more info than you will ever need. Highly recommend this gun. Good luck.

http://www.smith-wessonforum.com/cgi-bin/sandwcgi/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro

 

[MikeJ]

I have a 5906 that I purchased in 1988 and it is still one of my favorite guns. To this date it has never malfunctioned. Are they good guns? You bet! Mike

 

[Hkmp5sd]

I also bought one back when they first hit the street and still enjoy shooting it. It is a little heavy for CCW, but gets carried on occasion.

 

[Frenchy]

As the others have said!...Accurate, reliable and well designed. A little heavy for carry, which is why pack a 2nd. Generation 669 Compact.

 

[Tony S45]

megatronrules--

I've got a couple of 5900 series guns and I think they are excellent. The older guns may have a bit of "slide play" but don't let that stop you.

The guns tend to be very reliable and you can shoot inexpensive range ammo all day and not have any jams. Clean it up and then load something a little hotter for carry.

One of mine has the mag disconnect and one does not. No big deal ... come to think of it, I wish they both had it!

 

[Hkmp5sd]

There was also a recall on the early 5906, so check and see if yours is effected. There was a problem with the original grip in that if dropped, it could be damaged and render the gun inoperable. S&W will send you a replacement grip.

 

[RON in PA]

One more vote for the 5906. Got a new "used" one (stamped by Smith with a "U")last month. Very good DA trigger, ok SA and getting better. Totally reliable so far.

 

[Abominable No-Man]

My 5906 is the first pistol I ever bought, and it's been the only one that has stayed in my locker. Great great pistol, and to date it has never jammed on me once.

ANM

 

[James Bondrock]

The first semi-automatic pistol I ever bought, in 1991, was its close cousin, the 5904. This had an aluminum frame and a blued steel slide but was otherwise identical. Mine also had well designed and durable adjustable sights. Its accuracy was nothing special (although "combat adequate") thanks to the barrel fitting loosely in the slide, but it never, ever malfunctioned. It was stolen in 1994, but recovered and returned to me after the case was adjudicated. In 1997 I traded it in on a SIG P228. This is a superior pistol in all respects ... except price.

 

[rayjay]

I have both the 5904 and the 5906, both with the ramped rear sights. I use the 5904 for IDPA and have for a couple years. Never malf'ed and very accurate for me. The 5906 the samething. Bought both used and were police trade-ins as well. Back in Oct. the 5904's extractor finally broke(50,000 + rnds), in the middle of a match. I reached into my bag and grabbed the 5906 and finished the match with it.

Do I recommend a S&W 5906? YES
Would I carry one concealed? YES (with +P ammo)


And on a side note, factory hi-cap pre-ban mags are still available for about $20 - $25.

 

[megatronrules]

rayjay thanks for your reply first off,Also I was just wondering when you say that you would carry the 5906 concealed but with +p ammo is for a reliability issue or personal preferance? I ask as I know some guns just work better with hotter ammo thanks.

 

[Paco]

Go for it!

These are great, highly underrated guns. I have a 5906 with the square triggerguard and I couldn't be more pleased. I shot about 300 rds. thru it without a hitch, but just to be sure, I polished the feedramp with my dremel to a mirror shine and threw in some extra power wolff springs into the mags. Voila! Shot 400 more rounds, and the same boring thing: No malfunctions. By the way, the high caps are one of the few factory highcaps out there that you can get pretty cheap. I like the fact that these guns are on the heavier side as it soaks up the mild recoil of the 9mm and makes a good thing even better. Heck, I spent good coin trying to make my G19 heavier what with those heavy guiderods. Two more points: that mag disconnect has saved officers lives and that's not some jive made up by the S&W folk. As for the safety going the wrong way? Well if you dedicate yourself to really learning the manual of arms on a piece, you'll be golden. If it conflicts with the manual of arms of another piece, the choices left to you are this:
1)incorporate the new manual of arms with diligent effort
2)write bad press about it, and never take the time to learn it
3)shrug your shoulders and toss the piece over your shoulder, staying with the one you have.

-paco

 

[gungobang1]

have experience with this

i know from "experience" that agency trades are usually worn out!.. as in thousands and thousands of rounds being blown out of them. stay away from agency trades.. however, if you buy new or used,it happens to be an awesome weapon.

 

[jayp]

My 5906 was also the first autopistol that I ever bought. 100% reliable, well built, accurate. I say get one.

 

[Headless]

holy 3 year old thread revival batman

 

[Devonai]

I would rather see necroposting than starting a 20th thread on the same topic.

I once bought a NIB 5906 with four 15-round mags for $450. It worked just fine but the magazines rattled when 14 or 15 rounds were loaded. Many pistol mags rattle a little but these were so bad that it sounded like I was wearing spurs when I walked.

If I could find mags that didn't do that I would be quite open to buying another 5906.

 

[Headless]

I agree entirely

Interesting you mention that; i have 3 mags for my 659 (gen2 5906 predecessor) that rattle too. One of them did not used to, but has started to recently. I think it's a spring issue...but i've never had any kind of misfeed, failure to eject, failure to fire....she's always gone bang and i've put ~25k through her now without replacing a single part, just cleaning + lube. Heavy, yes...big grip too..but reliable, has high cap mags and can fire hot +P 9mm all day long. I bought it for 500 with 3 of the heavy duty 14 round mags...it had less than 20 rounds fired out of it at the time.

 

[MachIVshooter]

My basic question is are the 5906's good guns ?

A Resounding yes. One of the most robust 9mm Pistols ever built. Machined from all stainless steel, they are way overbuilt for such a mild round. My current 5906 is a late production (round trigger gaurd) with adj. sights.

I have 4 S&W 3rd gens; 5906, 4006, 4506 and 1006. All four are accurate and reliable. IMO, the 3rd gen S&W stainless guns are quite possibly the best combat auto's ever built. Only drawback is that they are all heavy. But that's the price you pay for such sturdy guns.



FWIW, I detest the mag disconnects and promptly remove them whenever I aquire a new specimen. Easy to do. Just tap out the sight. *I have found it difficult to remove the adj. sights and generally just mangle the plastic disconnect plunger with a small screwdriver and extract it from the bottom on adj sight models.

 

[10-Ring]

IMO, this is really a subjective question. If the grip fits & is comfy for you hands, this a very nice gun. I just don't like the fit & feel of the S&W auto grip esp. the bigger grips But if it fits, they can be very nice guns

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I had a close relative, a 5904 (same size but with a blue steel slide and alloy frame, with adjustable sights). It was 100% reliable and decently accurate.

 

[soutex50]

Carried one on duty 4 many years, have the following to say:
1. 100% reliable ours were at least
2. very accurate
3. SOLID all around
4. plus they're purty, kinda like a SIG and a 1911 baby

 

[4719]

I was issued a 5903 for a few years and had no problems with it at all.

With regards to LE turn in guns, some have been beat on and fired quite a bit. But unfortunately, most have not been fired very much. These guns will suffer from neglect, and rust.

Sometimes agencies will tranistion to a new weapon, and by a few extra. The extra weapons sit in a safe for years and are never fired. Then one day the agency transitions again, and the weapon is traded in. That's the gun that you want.