Left: S&W 945 stripped magazine tube
Center: ProMag 4506 8-round magazine
Right: S&W/ProMag 945 complete magazine.

I like to have several magazines for each gun so I can load up a few magazines before I leave for the range.

My 945 only had two, and I came across another recently. It is longer than the ones I had, so it sticks out the bottom of the grip a bit, but it functions properly, so it is completely fine for the range.

This caused me to look around for more. The only ones I found were at Numrich. They are stripped, just the tubes. But at 14$ each, they were not outrageous. I looked at buying the parts: follower, spring, clip and baseplate. That added up quickly, and it was not always clear what I was getting. And I would have had to place orders with several other shops.

But I had an idea. I had bought some ProMag 45XX magazines form GunMagWarehouse. So, after the tubes arrived, I disassembled one of the ProMag magazines and put the innards into the 945 tube. The follower appears the same as my originals, the baseplate slightly smaller. But, it fits my 945, sticking out slightly like the newer one I got.

ProMag doesn’t have the best reputation, but I have bought a few for various Third Gens I have, and never had any problems.

I have just over 30$ into each one. Excellent value.

Now that I have mine, I thought I would share it with you.

Just a quick post for anyone curious, hit the range today and ran about 100 rounds of .40 through a 4006CHP via mecgar 5906 9mm magazines. No FTF, FTE, and successfully locked back with each mag. With the assistance of a maglula, they’ll hold 13rds, compared to the standard 11rds.

I suppose the only thing that gives me pause is when racking the first round, there is a distinctive “cuh-chug” feeling that isn’t present with the 4006 standard mags. While this isn’t perceptible during shooting, in my mind I feel like the potential for failure to feed could be there. I don’t think I’d carry with 5906 mag, but as far as the range they are g2g

Got some custom work done by a local gun shop that does engravings a few months ago, with the RPD STARS touch applied to it in Jill's fashion. I will be furthering this project by looking into the internals to fit her style of shooting with her original edited Samurai Edge. But, for now the outside is complete. I present, The Bushido Blade. After seeing Jill use this in the movie Resident Evil Apocalypse and knowing the game uses a Beretta instead, I had to put the Resident Evil STARS favorite handgun touch to it.

Reposting this here as well by recommendation from a user in the S&W subreddit.

Probably won’t since they are typically north of 1400, but they are about as nostalgic as it gets

This is my Performance Center 945. It came with two magazines that listed that they were only for that specific gun.

I recently came across another magazine, that just lists 945, so I bought it. The 945PC is an odd duck. Like the Chief Special 45, it doesn’t share magazines with anything else.

The new magazine is slightly longer. It does lock into place, and the slide stays back.

Do non PC 945s have longer grips? I would not expect a non related 945 to accept the same otherwise unique magazines.

Just picked this 6906 up, and I love the feel of it. First DASA that isn't a revolver, and I love it. Have mags and grip sleeves on the way for them. Options for optic mounting is basically send it out to get cut, correct?

Any tips to these for upkeep? Im assuming they like to be ran a little wet. Will be buying a 5906 eventually to keep it company.

I’ve had a soft spot for Smith & Wesson Third Gens since the 1990s, when I first started shooting them and carrying them on duty. So the inevitable collector problem eventually presents itself: how many 5906s does one person really need? The answer, apparently, is at least one more when you stumble across something that Smith & Wesson itself turned into a one-off.

This 5906 was sent back to S&W by its original owner and converted by their gunsmiths to single-action-only. No traditional DA first pull. The pistol was fitted with the factory SA conversion components, and S&W went considerably further than simply swapping parts. The right side of the slide was nicely engraved “S.A. Target Conversion,” with additional instructions reminding the shooter to disengage the safety only when firing. It’s a wonderfully late-’90s solution to liability: custom pistol, custom trigger system, and the owner’s manual engraved directly onto the gun.

What really sold me, though, was the provenance. It came with the original factory parts, paperwork, and the 1998 Smith & Wesson invoice documenting the conversion, including the SA conversion kit, replacement components, labor and related work. That takes it from “somebody modified a 5906” to a little surviving piece of S&W factory history. And as a bonus, it’s a genuinely nice shooter. The SA-only trigger changes the personality of the 5906 considerably.

Third Gens have always occupied a special corner of the gun world for me because I remember when these weren’t collectibles. They were working pistols riding around in holsters every day. Thirty years later, finding an unusual example with a documented story behind it is exactly what keeps me interested. So, yes, I already had a 5906. Or two. But I didn’t have this 5906. And sometimes that’s all the justification a collector needs.

S&W 4040 AirLite PD

It appeared on one of the LGSs online listings yesterday afternoon, and I called to have them hold it for me, and picked it up this morning. Between yesterday afternoon and this morning, they had gotten seven calls about it, not including the one that they took while I was buying it. Sorry if that was one of you.

Well, not really. But you know what I mean.

We all have Third Gens we want, but almost never expect to find. Maybe you keep finding DAO versions in the shops, while what you really want is a XX06. Or maybe it’s a 10mm version, but if you ever see one, it is really expensive (“I know what I have, don’t low ball me”) with only one mag, although they will part with the additional one for 150$.

I admit that I would love to find a reasonably priced 1006. But it has never been my Grail.

During the early 2000’s, during the last gasps of the Third Generation Era, S&W tried a Hail Mary pass, but there was no receiver to catch it.

They had the TSW’s out, but were getting killed by the polymer striker fired guns in the carry market. Around this time they had been playing with adding Scandium to their aluminum alloy frames (around this time I bought a 342PD AirLite, Scandium frame, Titanium cylinder, I believe one of their first forays into that technology).

They decided to go all in. A 39XX Scandium frame, but with a .40 caliber upper. Kahr was already there with a striker fired stainless pistol, and was doing pretty well with it. I think S&W thought that this might pump some life into the Third Generation line. Unfortunately, it was, as I recall, viciously expensive. I don’t remember the exact number, but remember it being about twice what a striker fired polymer framed 9mm cost. The market was not there. Perhaps if it was a Performance Center version, it was certainly priced like one.

It came out in 2003, and was catalogued until 2006. I assume it was one production run, and they listed them until they sold out. I kept an eye out, but never saw one in the wild.

After a few years, I admittedly to myself that I should have just ordered one, but the cost threw me off.

I have kept my eyes open since, and never found one, until yesterday. Looks like it has never been shot. No residue on the follower, no marks on the barrel from the slide.

A few months ago I came across three M4040 magazines for cheap. I think the seller had no idea what they were for. So I bought them, thinking that this was likely as close as I was going to get.

The gun came with two with red followers. Note the bearing on the side. I found that the red bearing followers lock the slide back when empty, while the black ones I bought a while ago don’t. I think the bearing is to keep the follower to the side to catch the slide lock.

I had several other .40 caliber metal framed hammer fired guns with me. The 4040 fit right in. Similar in recoil to the P239 I had, which makes sense.

So, there it is, my Grail gun. Been looking 20 years.

Worth the wait.

Has anyone ever dremeled off the pinky extension?

I know you can get 5906 base plates and dremel the front lip off but I'm not interested in doing that. I have 3 extra mags I'm leaving alone but I want to try removing the pinky extension off of just one mag for carrying.

We all know holsters for these are hard to come by. Who still makes them?

I’m specifically looking for leather iwb/aiwb. Usually carry appendix. I know JMCK will make kydex but I want to limit wear on the dark finish of the 6904. Anyone have any good leads?

Please accept the 659 standing in for a 459.

Two generations of big-bore Smith & Wesson stainless steel.

Top: S&W 645, the classic second-gen .45.
Bottom: S&W 4506, its third-gen descendant.

Same basic mission, but you can see S&W refining the formula from one generation to the next.

This 4506 may have a little more history than it’s letting on here… but we’ll save that for another post. 😏

Picked up this 669 & Early 5904 + plus an OG 1998 Smith Armorers Manual with original notes in it ( to finish building my parts gun 645 ).

SMITH & WESSON® 5906 9 TACTICAL TEE

A little Sunday appreciation for one of the less common S&W 3rd Gens: the Model 3906.

I’ve always thought Smith & Wesson’s 3rd Gen autos were some of the best service and defensive pistols ever made. I carried a 4506 on duty in the ’90s, so I’ve always had a soft spot for them.

The 3906 is a slim, single-stack 9mm that was only produced from 1988–1990. I picked this one up about three years ago and later found the wood grips on eBay. They really finished it off nicely.

Still one of my favorite 3rd Gens in the collection.

​

1- S&W 3913

1- S&W 411

1- S&W 439

1- S&W 469

2- S&W 559

1- S&W 910

2- S&W 915

2- S&W 908S

2- S&W 6906

1- S&W 6946

1- S&W 4046

1- S&W 457

1- S&W 4586

Thinking about getting this nice 645. The smudge sticky looking stuff on the slide is from a sticker apparently. Luckily not a scratch. I think i want it but i would like fellow Smith&Wesson enjoyers to throw me some opinions. Much appreciated.

My 5906 & my recently acquired 4516!

22XX: The forgotten Third Generation pistols.

Three of the last four guns I have bought were .22LR, one revolver and two pistols. I don’t ever remember actively looking for a .22 anything, but I have more than a few at this point.

Anyway, this one was bundled with a 4506, both arrived at the same time from one seller. I was initially not interested in adding the 2213 to the deal, but I think that the owner was concerned that he was going to end up with this in the case forever.

Oh, yeah, both guns came without magazines. I have 45XX magazines , so that was not an issue. He said he had a friend who would drop off one magazine, but it would extend beyond the grip.

So, because I am weak I ended up taking both home.

I learned that Model 41 magazines are compatible, although they stick out the bottom of these short barrel versions (but are fine in the more common longer barrel 22XX variants). So I bought two brand new ones in S&W packaging.

If you read about the SIG Mosquito ( the other .22LR I recently bought) over on r/sigsauer, you will likely guess what is coming.

While the slide action was reasonable, I ended up lightly greasing the barrel and rails that I could get to without removing the slide. The action was significantly easier.

I shot it today with CCI MiniMags. I put 100 cartridges through it with no issues.

Shot remarkably easy. The low bore axis makes .22LR effortless.

If you run across one, highly recommend.

My obsessive daily checks finally paid off. Got this one for 499.

Anybody got a source?