Today, I went back to the 1986-2003 era of local law enforcement to look at a gun designed for plainclothes/off-duty and such, before the ascendency of the micro-compact 9mm of today.
We’d gone to 2nd Generation S&W Autos for general issue in 1986. As the Sheriff was a lover of the 45 ACP and didn’t care for smaller calibers, he ordered the S&W 645. Known by everyone else as the second gun used by TV character Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, we were using it while the guy on camera was still using a Bren 10.
These weren’t light guns, though they were vastly sleeker than the heavyweight 4506-1 (a -1 added because the 1006 was heavier for the 10mm cartridge and it was easier than separate manufacturing lines for each gun). Still, they were five-inch 45 Autos and the cartridge itself weighs more than the 9mm.
The reach to the trigger of the pistol was long – though the flat-backed frame of the 645 and flat-backed stocks of the 4506-1 guns we got helped some.
The largest city in the county opted for the S&W Model 5906 some years later. A double-stack 9mm, while it was a little lighter, the trigger reach for any of the ‘59’ series kept me from being able to shoot it well.
So where to go if you wanted the same manual of arms, a lighter weight and an easier to reach trigger? The S&W M3913.
An alloy-frame single-stack 9mm with an 8+1 capacity, it had the bilateral slide-mounted safety levers, a silly magazine disconnector (like our duty guns did) and Novak sights. It weighed around 25 ounces, empty. I found I could shoot it better than the 45 – and it was certainly easier to carry discreetly.
I’ll discuss the need for lighter kicking, more easily managed guns in another feature. For purposes of this story, I’ll confine myself to the small, light 9mm of old.
Acquired in 1994, holsters were a bit of a chore to arrange. Once that was done, carrying the pint-sized auto was easy.
There are stories about why S&W made the compact 9mm guns when they did, but the fact remains they were clearly “best of breed” for the users.
From the lineage of the Walther P-38 9mm pistol, the story goes, Army Ordnance was enamored of the German autoloader. The thinking appeared to be that the M1911A1 was old, clunky, heavy, and troublesome. How nice it would be to have an auto pistol with the double-action feature of the DA revolver so it would be “safer.”
And lighter, don’t forget that. S&W responded with the pistol that would later become the Model 39. An eight-shot single-stack service pistol, it shared the DA first shot, the slide-mounted rotating safety decocker and magazine of the P38 with an added magazine catch cut for an American-favored mag release behind the trigger guard.
The P38 had a heel-mount release.
The frame was aluminum, ensuring the lighter (27 ½ ounces) weight. While there were extraction issues among other things, the design was simply too good to die.
There were factory modified versions for the unpleasantness in SE Asia for our special ops types and they ultimately made a double-stack version – the Model 59 – more for police service applications. The Illinois State Police of 1967 adopted the M39 and saw some success with it, opening the door for police adoption of semi-autos that would take place in just around 18 years.
Smith and Wesson continued to refine the design, moving into the three-digit second-generation models (like the 439 and 639, blue and stainless respectively) and into the 3rd generation with the M3906 and the subject of this tale, the bobbed version the M3913/3914.
Between Paris Theodore and his ASP cut-down version and Charlie Kelsey with the “Devel,” S&W saw the appeal of the smaller, lighter hideout version of their 9mm flagship auto. It was the beginning of the “shall issue” concealed carry movement, ca. 1986, that lit a fire under them. Just into the Third Generation S&W autos, the 3913 arrived.
Feeling nostalgic, I took the little 9mm out for a short outing at the range. Standing off about 20 feet, I shot into a six-inch circle. I primarily shot singles – using Hornady American Gunner 115gr XTP and the same firm’s Critical Duty 135gr FTX loads. All the work started “decocked,” using the double action trigger. I shot a few pairs with none of the single-action second shots flying clear of the circle.
I guess it’s like riding a bike or something.
The take-away? The Model 3913 was the choice for small-handed shooters to use for off-duty when we carried second- and third generation S&W auto pistols. The concept isn’t completely dead today – but close.
It’s a superior threat management arrangement if you’re willing to learn the manual of arms.
-- Rich Grassi