Cost $460
Summary: A fine compact nine that fits well in the hand and really delivers. There are a few items that I'd like to see modified but all in all I'm happy as heck. Smith and Wesson gets high marks on the design and quality of this product, but poor marks on "image making" points like warranty cards and packaging.
Smith and Wesson semi autos never get much of a review here in rec.guns. There have been some favorable reports but their large frame semis tend to get lost in the Glock vs Sig wars. I myself chose a Beretta over a full size S&W 9, although I did give it a serious look. The company has taken a bit of a beating over the military contract testing and the FBI 10 mm problems. However I feel that the same people who like to stick it to S&W are the same ones who gloss over the Glock, Beretta and H&K problems. I think S&W is in about the same position as a company like Ford, they have a very good product, but are trying correct for the misdeeds of the past. The quality is very good and the prices are reasonable.
One area that they excel in offering you what you want. A person use to memorizing all 7 Glock models will be baffled at the selections and confused by the numbering scheme. However (most) all their models come in blued and stainless and are offered SA/DA or DAO. I ran into members from their custom shop and was really taken with their "Shorty 40", a slicked up version of their 4013, a small single stack S&W .40. I'm not a .40 fan and the custom shop models were about a grand, but it got me interested in their 3913, the 9mm version of the same design.
The specs are:
When I was talking to the store owner about the 3913, he told me that S&W now offers a LIFETIME warranty. Am I the only person on the planet that doesn't know this? Why the He!l dont they scream about the warranty in every ad the way that Taurus does?? We all know how well regarded the Taurus warranty service is in this forum and I personally know two people who bought Taurus because of it. Some one from S&W ought to get off the stick on this. However, the warranty is not quite as good as Taurus, it only covers the initial purchaser and you are required to fill out this annoying little card that ask all sorts of questions, like your income. I thought it was against the law to fill out a card to get a warranty, and my first impulse is to say none of your business and fill it out with garbage. To be nice to them I decided to leave some fields blank rather than telling them I made $1,000,000 per year and had a 6th grade education. You also have to fill out the serial number of the firearm, all the digits. What are they thinking? Here you have a person who is buying a firearm and you want all this personal information and the firearm serial number? To top it off *you* have got to provide the stamp. Here is a hint for S&W, give two cards, both postage paid. One card requires your name (address optional) and the serial number with the last 3 serial number crossed out. The other card is purely optional and asked all sorts of personal questions but requires no name and address.
When our beloved President decided to protect us all from ourselves and sign the Brady Bill, I joined the minions in line and bought the 3913. I lacked the cash for the optional night sights and they were out of the ones with the Hogue rubber grips. The dealer was a nice guy, and threw in the grips for $5 and the deal was done. The night sights were $100 extra, $135 if you want to upgrade at a later date, not bad considering that the best price I've seen on Novak night sights is about $100.
I returned home and unpacked my prize. The first thing I noticed was the venerable Smith and Wesson blue box just had the gun and some paper inside. Come on guys, whats a plastic case cost? Throw in a $2 lock for the case (ala' mossberg) and market it as a "child proof" case, in the years ahead your going to need all the help in this area you can get. Field stripping is a bit weird, sort of a combo of a Colt 45 to get the slide off and Beretta to get the barrel out. It is a pain to position the slide to pin release point, because the spring is still under tension, but there is no barrel bushing to muck with. Reassembly is a bit tricky because the hammer has got to be down and the slide mount safety position is important (I think) all in all it is not too bad. I do like the the integral barrel link, although there was a plastic piece in the slide and a small sheet metal looking part mounted inside the frame about the trigger that caught my eye. They just didn't look that tough. The overall fit and finish was quite good.
I headed out to the range with my cleaning kit and a couple of boxes of hardball for my break in regement. I got pretty good at field stripping it as I stripped it and JB bore cleaned the barrel with a bronze brush every 5 shots. The trigger pull is *nice* both in the single an double action modes. The double action is a bit heavy, and a bit long, but has one of the nicest out of the box triggers that I have seen. One potential problem was that it is possible to sweep the safety to an intermediate position that gave a 50-50 chance of being safe or off. It has become less likely after the safety has been cycled a couple of hundred times, but I feel that this is a big deal and should be corrected either by more positive detents in the on and off position or better fitting of the mechanism.
The gun is a dream to shoot. The Novak sights are sleek and have a melted to the frame look. They were right on. I was suprized how well I did with a small gun at 50 ft, I can barely make the paper with a 2" revolver. Recoil was OK, but I wouldn't want any more. I was able to get some quick double taps off, but it does kick a lot more than a full size 9. I don't think I have the skills to handle it in a .40 and I know I couldn't double tap this gun chambered in 45. The Hogue rubber "pimpled" grips were real nice, although the standard S&W grips were ok too, I just like rubber grips. One annoying thing is that the gun came with one mag with the pinky rest base plate and one mag without. This is guaranteed to leave 100% of the people 50% unhappy. I have a big hand and need the pinky rest to get a solid grip. I called S&W hoping I could trade my strait base plate or better yet they would give me one. No dice, I had to buy one for $2.50 plus $1.50 shipping and handling. How much would it cost them to throw in an extra of each so that the customer would be 100% happy, a buck?
I would like to see them implement a chamber loaded indicator, like on the Beretta. All this would take is (I think) is a thicker extractor that would stick out a bit when a round is chambered. Although I first thought this was a gimmick, I do look at it before I pick up my Beretta. Wake up guys, here maybe a chance for a free safety device that also has a tactical advantage. You can tell that they don't have to sweat the import points.
The gun has behaved flawlessly for about 500 rounds, 100 hardball, 30 hollow points, and the rest 130 gn RN and 147 gn SWC lead reloads loaded up 5% below max. I don't really buy the "just a breakin" jam theory. One burr did develop on the aluminum slide that I removed with crocus cloth. Although I bought this more as a carry gun than a weekend plinker, I'd say it is just as likely to find its way into my range bag Saturday morning as my Beretta. If I were the type of person to CCW, I would be very happy with this gun. I feel that it is a very good compromise between size, weight, capacity and caliber.
I'll admit I've been a bit hard on S&W but I think they need a good kick in the pants. I want to see them succeed. They make good products and offer a much wider variety than the competition. They've got to work on their image. First off, adopt a Taurus style warranty, no questions asked, then tell the world about it. I called (800) information and they had no listing but when I called the parts department, they gave me an (800) number. Do they really have an unlisted (800) number? Given their location, and their design hardware (DECstations by the looks of the brochure) they should get on the net. You want access to well paid professionals and college students, here we are, 1000's of us, and you don't have to bother your customers with questionnaires. Wouldn't it be nice to get the official answer to the perennial questions like "can I use +P in my Al frame 442? If their designer read the file they could see what we want. Yah, I know I'm dreaming...
They are in a bit of a tough spot with no big military contract to amortize the tooling, and with Taurus and the Easter Block armories climbing the quality ladder. The stuff out of their custom shop is superb but leaves me with the question if they can do it in the custom shop, why not the production line? We all dream of H&K quality at Davis prices but we all would like Sig quality at Taurus prices. I think Smith and Wesson has done a damn fine job improving their quality levels and keeping their prices low. However they are in a tight race with the big boys still in front and Taurus is squarely in the rear view mirror. Take a look at their stuff next time your in a shop, I think you will be pleasantly suprized.
I'm also going to forward a copy of this review to Smith and Wesson, I'll let you know if they respond.