Bought a S&W 3913

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kalevatom

New member
Bought this from a downstate GS last week for $480. I probably paid too much, but, it came with a 1yr warranty, a 1 hour free shoot at their indoor range, and a 6 month club membership, so I can live with the price. I've been interested in these for a while and the only ones I've seen have been on line. I wanted to handle one before I bought. It's just slightly bigger than my wife LC9. It's in very nice condition, only a couple finish scuffs and no wear on the grip. Doesn't look like it's been fired much, very little finish is worn of the slide rails. I don't know the production date or the history, other than it was a police turn-in, so I was going to spend the $50 for the S&W history. Still haven't shot it. I'm home this weekend, and practicing a little hunting season etiquette for my neighbors.

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Shadi Khalil

New member
Very nice gun. S&W 3rd generations are some of the best autos ever made, IMO. The price maybe a little high for a police trade in and you won't need the shops warranty because S&W will pretty much fix anything with their name on it at no cost, at least that's been my experience. Does the gun have any department markings on it? Be sure to post a range report when you get to shoot it.
 
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TennJed

New member
i have a 5906 that love. I did not realize those were as small as that. Any way you could post some pics of it side by side to the lc9?
 
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Sparks1957

New member
I carried a 3913 for several years, then foolishly sold it. Beautiful little pistols. It is on my short list of guns that I need to buy soon.
 
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carguychris

New member
You probably don't need to bother with the history letter, at least to find the production date. Guns with the post-1982 3-letter 4-number serial number style are usually in S&W's computer database and can be looked up by customer service.

Also, the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson indicates that the TCB prefix was used in 1988 and the TED prefix was used in 1989; the TDT prefix theoretically falls between those, so let's say 1988-1989.
 
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kalevatom

New member
Thanks for the serial info , chris. I'm interested in the history because I read that S&W did a series of update mods on some older 3913's and returned them to service. It was also said that S&W may still do the mods on guns that were missed. How much of this is true, I don't know. But being that this was a police turn-in and it's age, I'd just like to know the history of it, if any.
 
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KyJim

New member
Congratulations! The SW 3913 is a top of the line compact carry 9mm. I own one and have been very satisfied with it. I don't think I've ever read a negative about it.
 
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chadk7

New member
Great gun. You won't be disappointed. I have one too and I love it. Actually I love all the 3rd gen smiths. They are very nice looking guns and built like tanks.

Congrats and enjoy.
 
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BU1

New member
Looks like the ones for sale on Guns America. From the California Dept of Corrections. The dept serial # styles match.
 
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Laserlips

New member
FWIW:

If you have the interest check out the 6906's on sale at CDNN now for only $329.00 for "good, very good", and $369.00 for "select" quality pistols.

The 6906 is basically a double-stack 3913... :D

I have a 3913, 3913LS, 6906,5906, and CS45 so you know I'm a big 3rd Gen Smith fan.

What I really like about the 6906 is you can use the 15rd mags from the all steel 5906 (w/S&W mag adapter) and you wind up with a capacity of 15+1 in a pretty darn concealable 9MM pistol.

I've bought all of my 3rd Gen Smiths from CDNN (w/exception of the CS45) and 3 HK P7's and I've found CDNN to be good folks to deal with..

Just something you might want to consider for on "down the road" ;)

Good Shootin'

Jesse

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JohnO

New member
Why did Smith discontinue their 3rd gen guns? I always thought they were very good and fairly priced.
 
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Laserlips

New member
JohnO:

A Senior Customer Service person at S&W told me the 3rd Gen Smiths were (in his opinion) some of the best pistols S&W ever made.. He said they were built of excellent stuff, seldom needed any repair, and what he heard as to why they were discontinued was because "plastic guns" were becoming "fashionable", and Smith & Wesson could make "plastic" guns cheaper than steel guns anyway.

Or plastic is cheaper than metal..

He said the folks at S&W CS and Warranty Repair absolutely HATED it when the entire line of 3rd Gen Smiths were discontinued.

No facts to back this up, just repeating what the gentleman told me.

Jesse
 
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JohnO

New member
That's really too bad. I can see them moving in the direction of plastic pistols and they did a good job with their M&P. However, they could have held onto their 3rd gen guns as well. Not everyone likes striker fired guns.

Thanks for the info!
 
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franco45

New member
I just recently bought a police trade in 3913 also. It is a very nice pistol but it hasn't replaced either of my Kahr's in the carry rotation. I just prefer dao.
 
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tdrizzle

New member
I like my 3914 a lot, but when I saw the 3953 in a shop, I wanted to trade up.

Only trouble was, the dealer said I'd have to add 250.00 to make up the difference between his price and what he thought mine was worth (he was asking 375, as I recall).

I understand dealers have to eat, too, but saying my pistol was only worth 125.00 to him was a little too insulting. I might have come up with 50.00 or something, but that was just too big a gap to bridge. I left and didn't go back for almost a year...
 
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federali

New member
S&W

The S&W 3913 was indeed a great gun. My only complaint with S&W in general was that during the latter part of the 20th century, it seems they came out with a gun a month. It was difficult to keep track of all the models and sub-models. The only real consequence was that local gun dealers couldn't effectively stock the product line and they often had to special order whatever you wanted.

Incidentally, the original S&W Mod 39 remains one of my favorite all-time guns. I may get to own one someday.
 
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