Smith & Wesson and 3rd Gen Auto Repairs

According to some postings on the Smith-Wesson Forum Smith&Wesson no longer does warranty work on that line of auto pistols.
 
How about parts availability for these guns? Just about the only thing stopping me from getting a Gen 3 S&W auto is that they are no longer made anymore, and if something breaks I may have a hard time finding replacement parts.
 
Tons of them were made. They were the Glock of their day in terms of the LEO market. Parts are readily available.

Some mags like the ones for the 3913/3914 etc... are getting hard to find but most wear/replacement parts are available for most models.

If the price is right I would not hesitate picking one up.
 
S&W no longer makes or stocks any parts for the 3rd gen. guns. My understanding, though I could well be wrong, is that they will not do any repairs on these guns - because they no longer have any parts. Certainly, that includes warranty work. That does not necessarily mean that they will not do a refinish job on them - just no repair/replacement of parts.

As regards source(s) for parts, this is pretty much limited to stock on hand (whomever might still have any such parts)... and used parts.
 
How about parts availability for these guns? Just about the only thing stopping me from getting a Gen 3 S&W auto is that they are no longer made anymore, and if something breaks I may have a hard time finding replacement parts.
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Trust me. Unless you are shooting a box of +P+ every day for a year, almost nothing will be breaking on a 3rd Gen S&W semi.

The only things that you will need to swap out, if ever, will be the springs, maybe an extractor, maybe an ejector, & a firing pin. I know. I have over a dozen 3rd Gens. Even the half dozen 1st Gens I have will outlast most shooters.

One of the best US made pistols ever. :)
 
I would concur with Onward Allusion on this. Even though repair services and parts availability are more limited than before, the 3rd gen. Smiths are truly EXCELLENT guns. As he said, in all likelihood the only things you'll ever need to replace are springs.
 
One of the best 3rd. Gens to look at is a police trade-in. Many were carried a lot and shot a little. I recently picked up a 5904 made in 1989 and although there was some holster and handling wear on the outside of the gun and magazines, the insides looked new after a severe cleaning session. There was lint falling out of the magazines and I had to use a plastic scrapper on some parts inside the gun, but almost every internal part had little to no wear.

S&W has parts, but you'd have to call them to find out which ones. They sent me a brand new set of updated grips for my 5904 even though that recall is 25 years old and I'm not the original owner. You may get a rep that doesn't know much about their stock and then get one that knows the company like the back of their hand. Parts are available online so I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 3rd. Gen if the price was right. Best thing would be to check over at the S&W forum if you need something since many of those guys over there can point you in the right direction.
 
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