S&W Model 59

[jmiller320]

I bought a Model 59 in 1980. The thing would throw brass all over the place. You shoot 15 rounds down range and spend 10 minutes trying to find where they went. I sold it for what I paid for it a year later. One of two pistols I ever sold.

 

[XCheckR]

I bought a Model 59 in 1980. The thing would throw brass all over the place. You shoot 15 rounds down range and spend 10 minutes trying to find where they went. I sold it for what I paid for it a year later. One of two pistols I ever sold.

Wow. Thought this was unique to my 659

 

[Michigander08]

I bought a Model 59 in 1980. The thing would throw brass all over the place. You shoot 15 rounds down range and spend 10 minutes trying to find where they went. I sold it for what I paid for it a year later. One of two pistols I ever sold.

Did you ask S&W if the barrel is straight after you purchased it?

 

[Bob A]

Wow. Thought this was unique to my 659

It's an undocumented feature!

 

[Cold Steel]

Classic Model 59- 1977 vintage. My MIL recently inherited through the passing of her sister who lived with her, the pistol originally was owned by her father.

I wanted one of these in nickel when they came out, but at the time they had an unsavory reputation as jammomatics. Later, these problems were fixed and the ramps were improved to take hollow-points. I'll be anxious to hear how it shoots.

When the 659s came out I got a great deal through SHOTGUN NEWS and bought two of them; then, later, I picked up a 5906. Never got around to shooting any of them.





In the interim, I got a Taurus PT-92. Several of them, actually. They weren't as accurate as my Beretta 92, sadly, so I got rid of them. Then in the early 2000s, I got a stainless steel Taurus PT-92 and dang it, that was as accurate as my Taurus, so I've still got it! Beautiful gun, though it's a bit gaudy. Picked up a few 20-round mags for it and hope I never need them. The wundernines came into their own after the U.S. military dumped the .45s.

I'm just sorry the U.S. signed off on the treaty that bans hollowpoints.

 

[Cold Steel]

One more thing about 59/39/659/5906/645/4506 and whatever other variants are out there. These guns, when deactivated, are very popular in the U.K. And the kicker is, U.K. residents pay just as much for them as we pay for the real thing! A few years ago, I found a website that carried deactivated guns. They sold for hundreds of dollars per gun.

Imagine you're invited to a friend's house for dinner. After the main meal, but before dessert, your host goes to his safe. He carefully removes a S&W 659 in a gun pouch and removes it to the gasps of interest.

“This is the type of gun used in the movie, Reservoir Dogs,” he says, handing it to you. “It's always been one of my favorite movies!”

The market for deactivated guns is quite high, I was surprised to learn. And people shell out the money.

“No licence is required to purchase a deactivated gun,” one site says. “A deactivation certificate is supplied with every deactivated gun.”

 

[John from MD]

I carried a 39 at one agency and a 6906 at another. While the 6906 fit me just fine, the larger 5906 felt like a block. The 6906 had one of the smoothest triggers for a duty gun out of the box. I feel it was even better than my Sig 229.