New 5906 batch released by S&W

[Robinson]

I know there are some 3rd Gen Smith fans here, so I am just passing this along. S&W has released a batch of unfired 5906 pistols with 10-rd mags to distributors. Here is a listing on GB showing an example:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/881077561

[Brian T]

There is a pretty neat thread regarding these on smith-wesson forums.

Seems they were made around 2008 for expositions, shows, testing, and the like. They are new, but not 2020 new. Bud's has been selling these with the picture of the stupid rare 5906STS as the representative photo. Some took a chance on a $700 5906STS only to receive these, but the buyers were still happy as the pistols are a NIB 5906 in 2020.

[Suvorov]

I would love one of these. But it is not considered safe by the state of Kalifornia so all I can do is look.

[Bigghoss]

$700 for a brand new 5906 is reasonable but I'm just not THAT interested. If it were a decock only TSW I'd totally be down.

As it is I got my eye on a 5946 TSW but it has 10 days to go.

[MattyD380]

Man I’d like to grab one of these. But I’ve made quite a few purchases recently.

[rd62]

Me too. My current gun fund is earmarked for a 1911 build in progress.

[TheNewbie]

$700 for a brand new 5906 is reasonable but I'm just not THAT interested. If it were a decock only TSW I'd totally be down.

As it is I got my eye on a 5946 TSW but it has 10 days to go.


What does the TSW mean?

[Lester Polfus]

What does the TSW mean?

IIRC Tactical Smith and Wesson. They had a rail.

Our K9s had them as soon as they were released and there was an applicable holster, so they could mount a light under the gun and have a hand free for the dog leash. When we looked at the price to upgrade all our 5906 and 4006 to 4006 TSW models so we could all have lights, the answer that came out was "let's buy Glock 22s."

[Bigghoss]

What does the TSW mean?


IIRC Tactical Smith and Wesson. They had a rail.

I think that's right. Yeah, they just have a light rail. Some of them were also decock only but not all. I think they were all capable of being swapped over to decock only but the parts aren't available anymore so it's moot at this point.

[gc70]

It is interesting that the pistol in the GB link does not have a slide rollmark or the S&W logo stamping. I do not remember seeing any other 5906s where the model and serial numbers were the only markings.

[Vista461]

$700 for a brand new 5906 is reasonable but I'm just not THAT interested. If it were a decock only TSW I'd totally be down.

As it is I got my eye on a 5946 TSW but it has 10 days to go.

Yep a decock only TSW, and I’d be selling stuff to fund one or two of them.
I love 3rd Gens, but I’d rather have a TSW than a regular one.

[Bigghoss]

Yep a decock only TSW, and I’d be selling stuff to fund one or two of them.
I love 3rd Gens, but I’d rather have a TSW than a regular one.

Yeah. I'm not much into .40 but when I first learned about the CHP version of the 4006 TSW I knew I HAD to get one. I also had a regular 4006 TSW but the hammer spur would dig into my hand so I sold it when I got my CHP one.

[MattyD380]

That’s interesting on the unmarked slide. I guess I just assumed they’d dulled the markings digitally for... confidentiality or something. But the serials are still there. So... I’m thinking it legit doesn’t have a roll mark?

Honestly, it looks more badass that way. If these had the big adjustable sights (because Mulder and Scully wouldn’t have it any other way) I’d be hard pressed resist (not that I’m not hard pressed to resist already).

[Lester Polfus]

My understanding is that the tooling was idled for the 3rd Gen Smiths some time ago, but they would roll it out every blue moon to maintain a stock of replacement guns for agencies that were still running the 3rd gens.

Pure conjecture on my part:

I'm wondering if 1) the stuff they needed to apply the appropriate markings wasn't maintained or 2) they decided not to do it for cost savings.

They can't have been making money on those small, odd lots of guns they were making. So they must have been doing it just to maintain goodwill with the agencies involved in the hopes of selling them M&Ps when they finally gave up on the 3rd Gens.

[TheNewbie]

Before I state this let me say, I probably misunderstood and I am likely wrong. My goal is not to falsely get anyone's hopes up.


But has anyone else heard that Apex tactical may make parts for the 3rd gen at some point? I read this on another forum a while back. It was one post or two posts and was not widely discussed.

[MattyD380]

My understanding is that the tooling was idled for the 3rd Gen Smiths some time ago, but they would roll it out every blue moon to maintain a stock of replacement guns for agencies that were still running the 3rd gens.

Pure conjecture on my part:

I'm wondering if 1) the stuff they needed to apply the appropriate markings wasn't maintained or 2) they decided not to do it for cost savings.

They can't have been making money on those small, odd lots of guns they were making. So they must have been doing it just to maintain goodwill with the agencies involved in the hopes of selling them M&Ps when they finally gave up on the 3rd Gens.

Yeah. It's a good guess. Be interesting to know if these were made in Springfield or Houlton.

They made 3rd gens (3914DAOs, 3953TSWs and 5946s) in Houlton all the way up until 2013 or 2014. The 3914DAOs were for NYPD off-duty guns, I think. You could find them on GB NIB, a few years ago.

Houlton is where they make 1911s, now. Maybe they use some of the same machinery for 3rd gens (knowing virtually nothing about manufacturing).

[gc70]

The GB gun linked in the OP also has a "U" mark above the trigger guard on the right side of the frame. It is my understanding that S&W uses the "U" to indicate a gun that has been used in some way but never previously transferred at retail (i.e. a demo gun or salesman's sample, or T&E gun).

[Bucky]

It’s interesting how desirable these are now that they’re no longer made. Most LE friends I knew that had them back in the day would have much preferred a Beretta or Sig.




Our K9s had them as soon as they were released and there was an applicable holster...

Did these fit their paws better? ;) sorry, couldn’t resist




When we looked at the price to upgrade all our 5906 and 4006 to 4006 TSW models so we could all have lights, the answer that came out was "let's buy Glock 22s."

Did you experience the G22 mounted light issues?

[Lester Polfus]

It’s interesting how desirable these are now that they’re no longer made. Most LE friends I knew that had them back in the day would have much preferred a Beretta or Sig.




Did these fit their paws better? ;) sorry, couldn’t resist




Did you experience the G22 mounted light issues?

I legit laughed out loud at that...

The gun cops hate the most are the ones their admins tell them they have to carry. The Beretta and Sigs had more cachet at the time, but I don't think any sound argument could be made that they were "better." Our S&Ws ran like tops, and were pretty durable too. I think the biggest criticism you could make about the 5906/4006 series guns was they had all steel frames, and were thus heavier than the alloy framed Sig and Beretta offerings.

Also, current guns are perfectly workable, but they are all plastic framed, minimal part count, minimal machining designs. A 5906 has a bunch of appeal if you like Nice Things, compared to that.

I dunno about the G22/mounted light issues. That decision was made during my last week on the job. We did our decision making a little differently than many agencies. When there was a major equipment change, they'd get a committee together composed of an LT, a Sgt, a patrol guy, and any other parties with a vested interest or relevant expertise. In this case I was the patrol guy, and we had one of our firearms instructors on the team.

Our charge was to do a comprehensive review of all our firearms and make a recommendation to the chief. For handguns we had 5906s, 4006s, 6906s for detectives, and a smattering of 3906 and 3913s for folks with hands that didn't fit bigger guns. For long guns we had both lethal and less-lethal 870s with both rifle and bead sights, as well as fixed stock MP5s with semi-auto only trigger packs installed.

I think by that point the switch to a Glock platform was a given. The thing I was most passionate about was either moving to a different less-lethal platform or ditching lethal shotguns, because I thought it was a fuck up waiting to happen. A neighboring jurisdiction proved me right a few years later.

One of the last things I did before hanging up my gear was formalize the recommendation that we switch to the Glock .40 platform of guns with WMLs, ditch the MP5s in favor of a 16" AR platform, and convert all the 870s to less-lethal guns with a formal policy that no lethal shotgun ammo be carried in inventory. I had wanted to keep our 14" 870s along with the new rifles, and switch to a 37mm less-lethal platform, but cost wise it just wasn't going to happen.

They made the switch after I left, so that was a long-winded way of saying "I dunno."

[Duelist]

Hit two gun stores today on a day off. One 3rd gen under the glass - an older 3904 with the clunky-looking adjustable rear with the huge protective ears and hooked trigger guard. A small amount of visible external wear.

Should be a nice piece, but I don’t need it. A 5906 or 4506 might have gotten my credit card moving.

[MattyD380]

Hit two gun stores today on a day off. One 3rd gen under the glass - an older 3904 with the clunky-looking adjustable rear with the huge protective ears and hooked trigger guard. A small amount of visible external wear.

Should be a nice piece, but I don’t need it. A 5906 or 4506 might have gotten my credit card moving.

For some reason I love the big adjustable sights on 3rd gens (This, coming from a guy who shudders at all the red dot space-blaster sights that are all the rage these days).

I'm pretty sure it's because of X-Files and Training Day.

[jlw]

One needs to consider the long term availability of spare parts. It's been almost 15 years since the 3rd Gens were in production, and it wasn't like there was tons of market support for them even then.

[NH Shooter]

Enabling.

https://i.ibb.co/DRMhwys/5906-11.jpg

[Lester Polfus]

One needs to consider the long term availability of spare parts. It's been almost 15 years since the 3rd Gens were in production, and it wasn't like there was tons of market support for them even then.

One does. It would totally be a nostalgia/special occasion piece for me.

[Lester Polfus]

Enabling.

https://i.ibb.co/DRMhwys/5906-11.jpg

Handsome.

Have you considered wood grips?

[MattyD380]

Enabling.

https://i.ibb.co/DRMhwys/5906-11.jpg

Beautiful.

[NH Shooter]

One does. It would totally be a nostalgia/special occasion piece for me.

That's pretty much the story with mine. Been a reclusive safe queen since I purchased it new, maybe 600 rounds through it. I thought it deserved the MS 55-BN after all this time.

[NH Shooter]

Beautiful.

Thanks. There is something about steel and leather.

[jh9]

They can't have been making money on those small, odd lots of guns they were making.

Maybe they did off-contract maintenance/replacement to woo organizations to the M&P rather than saying FU and having them finally approve plastic...from Glock or Sig? Isn't that the story behind the Six-series Rugers? They lost money on the guns, but they wanted both a foot in the door and Not Smith in the holsters.


Yep a decock only TSW, and I’d be selling stuff to fund one or two of them.

Did S&W ever build a decock-only TSW-badged gun? I thought the only decock only pistols they made were FBI-mandated Sig-style abominations, all of which were way before the railed TSWs were released. I don't think I've ever seen a slide-mounted decock only setup on anything, be it 1st, 2nd or 3rd gen... but it is S&W which means never say never.

[MattyD380]

Maybe they did off-contract maintenance/replacement to woo organizations to the M&P rather than saying FU and having them finally approve plastic...from Glock or Sig? Isn't that the story behind the Six-series Rugers? They lost money on the guns, but they wanted both a foot in the door and Not Smith in the holsters.



Did S&W ever build a decock-only TSW-badged gun? I thought the only decock only pistols they made were FBI-mandated Sig-style abominations, all of which were way before the railed TSWs were released. I don't think I've ever seen a slide-mounted decock only setup on anything, be it 1st, 2nd or 3rd gen... but it is S&W which means never say never.

Yeah, they did. But they were slide-mounted decockers that simply sprung back up—a la Beretta G. I think most of the late 3rd gen slides were machined for this feature... even if it didn’t come stock.

Back in the early 90s, they made frame-mounted decocker models (A la, Sig), among which were the FBI 1076s.

[Vista461]

Maybe they did off-contract maintenance/replacement to woo organizations to the M&P rather than saying FU and having them finally approve plastic...from Glock or Sig? Isn't that the story behind the Six-series Rugers? They lost money on the guns, but they wanted both a foot in the door and Not Smith in the holsters.



Did S&W ever build a decock-only TSW-badged gun? I thought the only decock only pistols they made were FBI-mandated Sig-style abominations, all of which were way before the railed TSWs were released. I don't think I've ever seen a slide-mounted decock only setup on anything, be it 1st, 2nd or 3rd gen... but it is S&W which means never say never.

Yep the 4006TSW CHP guns are decock only. I’ve also seen 4566, 4563, 5906 TSW’s over the years but when I’d see them I didn’t have money. I wish I would’ve picked up a CHP gun when they were everywhere for $399. But I don’t really need another 40. But I may still pick one up.

[jh9]

Yeah, they did. But they were slide-mounted decockers that simply sprung back up—a la Beretta G. I think most of the late 3rd gen slides were machined for this feature... even if it didn’t come stock.

Back in the early 90s, they made frame-mounted decocker models (A la, Sig), among which were the FBI 1076s.

Do you remember when they started doing that?

Does a modern, 3rd-gen, 92G-analogue for my old 2nd-gen 645 exist? Looks like I'm going down the gunbroker rabbit hole.

[jh9]

Yep the 4006TSW CHP guns are decock only. I’ve also seen 4566, 4563, 5906 TSW’s over the years but when I’d see them I didn’t have money. I wish I would’ve picked up a CHP gun when they were everywhere for $399. But I don’t really need another 40. But I may still pick one up.

Well damn.

Here's an appropriate 90s-era response:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3wzV2fYB8qQYo/giphy.gif

[MattyD380]

Do you remember when they started doing that?

Do a modern, 3rd-gen, 92G-analogue for my old 2nd-gen 645 may exist? Looks like I'm going down the gunbroker rabbit hole.

I'm not sure what year, exactly--probably after 2000. Not sure if this is a hard and fast rule... but I think if you find a TSW that has black levers, it's more likely to be a decock only? I had a "first-gen" (but still a 3rd gen) 3913TSW, without black levers... not a decock only.

As far as your 645 (I have one too)... If you wanted to make it decock only, I think it could be done, but you'd have to have the slide machined to accommodate that feature. You'd also have to buy slide levers that are decock only.

I remember I bought a later 4566 (non-TSW) from a guy on the Smith forum. It wasn't decock only, but it was late enough to have the larger hole (or whatever it is) needed for the decock-only lever. He also sold me the actual decock-only lever, separately... which I could have put in, but never did.

[NIU2009]

IIRC Tactical Smith and Wesson. They had a rail.

Our K9s had them as soon as they were released and there was an applicable holster, so they could mount a light under the gun and have a hand free for the dog leash. When we looked at the price to upgrade all our 5906 and 4006 to 4006 TSW models so we could all have lights, the answer that came out was "let's buy Glock 22s."

It was a proprietary rail, IIRC.

[Totem Polar]

Somebody be sure to let me know when the NOS S&W 6946s hit the market...

[Lester Polfus]

It was a proprietary rail, IIRC.

It was. I forget who made the holster, but at one time there was exactly one option.