All steel compact S&W

E

Elerius

New member
I've been working on my gun list, trying to add the perfect balance of variety. What I'm seeking and cannot find is a 9mm or .40 compact S&W, all stainless or carbon steel. As far as I can find, there isn't one. There's the 4566... But I don't want this one in .45. I guess it would be a 6916, 3916, or 569. As far as I know the Smith catalog normally used to find these things doesn't list anything like this, however I KNOW rare guns that shouldn't exist crop up anyway.

Does anyone know definitively that there is no such thing, no matter how rare? Or know for sure of an example that exists?
 
The S&W 4056 should fit the build, it is a all-steel (stainless frame and slide) .40 S&W DA/SA compact.

S&W 6906, 6926, 6946 (all 9mm) are all built on a compact frame as well (and have stainless slides and frames) (regardless of the third number!). The third number indicates a divergence from the standard frame for the series. The 69 series all had compact frames, hence the number 0. 0 as the third digit indicates that the frame is considered "standard" for the line. Since the line's standard is a compact frame, they are all compacts. The only difference between these three is being SA/DA, DAO, etc.)

S&W numbering is a bit tricky. :D
 
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Well hold the phone a second. Are you saying that you want the smallest S&W pistols ever made -- but NOT any of the ones with aluminum frames?

I think maybe the PC "Shorty" series and maybe the PC Recon pistols would fit the bill. But keep in mind that all of those are:
Limited production, out of production, collectible, and expensive.

And the 4566 is indeed all steel but nothing about it is small or compact. It's larger than a 5906 or 4006.

-MANY- folks are thrilled with the 3913 or even small Chief's Special (CS9,40,45) pistols. Aluminum frame but very shootable.
 
I don't think you lose any shootability with the aluminum framed models, but there are steel variants as 9X18 pointed out.
 
Well hold the phone a second. Are you saying that you want the smallest S&W pistols ever made -- but NOT any of the ones with aluminum frames?
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I already have a couple with the aluminum frames. I like the idea of heavy, smaller guns. For some reason I'm more drawn to compacts then full size much of the time.

The 6906 and others mentioned look like aluminum frames though, not stainless.

The 4056 is DAO, isn't it? Would an assembly from a 4013 fit onto it and successfully create a DA/SA combo?
 
I am not familiar with a 4056. A 4046 is a DAO stainless .40cal, fullsize.

With the right parts, you can indeed convert a DAO S&W to a traditional DA/SA.
 
The 6906 and others mentioned look like aluminum frames though, not stainless.
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Actually you are right. That is a mistake on my part. S&W's numbering scheme got a little crazy towards the end.

The DAO S&W 4056 is the only one that fits your requirements.
 
Haha, Smith & Wesson's numbering scheme got a little crazy from the first 3rd Gen ever blessed with a four digit model name. And saying it got a little crazy is being POLITE.

I can only get a mental picture of a chimpanzee with an old Radio Shack home computer, a slide rule and the complete unchecked power to bestow model numbers on pistols.
 
I made a list of the S&W 39 Series 9mm Guns:

39
59
439
459
469
539
559
639
659
669
908
908S
910
915
952
3906
3904
3913
3913TSW
3914
3953 (DAO)
3953TSW (DAO)
3954
5903
5904
5905
5906
5924 (DAO)
5926 (DAO)
5943 (DAO)
5944 (DAO)
5946 (DAO)
5967
6904
6906
6946

Not sure which had steel frames vs aluminum frames.

EDIT: Added a couple just now from the Lucky Gunner list below - notably the DAO guns. Unless the price was right, I normally would avoid DAO guns.
 
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The early 4516, and especially the subsequent -1 & -2 revisions, were popular with a lot of .45 users who wanted a regularly cataloged compact gun (3 3/4" barrel) that was all steel (stainless).

When the market started demanding lighter guns for all-day carry roles, they developed the early 4513TSW and M457/457S (also 3 3/4" barrels) that used aluminum alloy frames.

Of course, when you consider they'd sometimes made limited runs of special order/production guns, and the Performance Center would also make some interesting model variations, there are sometimes some interesting things that could make their way to the market.
 
Well there is the 5967 all steel two tone but, good luck finding one.

DSCN3482.jpg
 
Hello Elerius, S&W did make a run of 6906 Stocking Dealer all steel compact pistols about 20 years ago. They had a unique slide with 4.25" barrel and the short 6900 size frame, but in stainless steel. They were in 9MM, .356 TSW and 40 S&W. These were not the Shorty 9 or Shorty 40 pistols most S&W aficionados are familiar with. I've handled one in .356, and if had been a 9MM, I'd have bought it. I have rarely seen one for sale in any caliber. I suspect production numbers on these were very low. Product code for the 9MM is 170053, the .40 is 170054 according to SCSW3.
 
drobs said:
I made a list of the S&W 39 Series 9mm Guns...

Not sure which had steel frames vs aluminum frames.
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You forgot the 39-2. :)

Steel or SS frame 9mm guns are the 39 no-dash (39-2 frame was AL alloy), 147A (rare steel-frame Model 59 variant), 539, 559, 639, 659, 952, 3906, 5905, 5906, 5926, 5946, 5967, and the aforementioned 6906 Stocking Dealer Special. AFAIK the latter was the only 69-series (x69 or 69xx) pistol that didn't have an aluminum alloy frame.

FWIW the 5926 (which you named) and the 6926 (which you didn't) aren't DAO, they're DA/SA with a SIG-style frame-mounted decocking lever. They're also quite uncommon; the 6926 has become somewhat of a Grail Gun to many S&W metal-frame pistol fans, but the 5926 doesn't seem to have sparked the same level of interest for some inexplicable reason.
 
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