I actually own one for these! Purchased it from my father in law. He bought it in the early 90s, he bought the 5906 and 6906 for him and his wife. Squired away in the closet and he never took it out until I bought the pair in 2020. Offered 800 for the pair, and four magazine for each. They were both fairly rusty on the slides, but cleaned up with some lime-way and 0000 steel wool. Polished all the marks etc out of the slide and frame. Great shooting guns, I taught my wife to shoot, and she carried the 6906 before she discovered the Sig 365XL.
Hey thanks for sharing that, glad you own a couple and enjoy them. Sounds like a very fair deal and the extra mags are nice as they are a little pricey now. I’ve found Fritz polish works extremely well on the SS portion of the guns but a little goes a long way and a simple cotton towel works great. You can’t use that on the satin finish, it takes it right off. The Sig 365 and a few others have changed the game a bit, but the 6909 and 3914 single stack cousins hang right in there.
Yeah it would be, I always found it interesting that the 1st and 2nd Gen guns had the round trigger guard, then they moved to the square trigger guard for the early 3rd Gen and then back to the round. I also find it interesting that at least in my neck of the woods there are more of the early 3rd gens than the later ones it seems and very few with the adjustable sights versions. I tend to see a fair amount with the early basic three dot sights, then the Novak and then the adjustable type.
I built several of these during one of my S&W Armorer's School recertifications back in 1989. At that time, S&W allowed students to purchase one of their assembled pistols, so I still own one of them. They were all "TDL" prefix frames. The 6906 is a very accurate and reliable pistol, and a pleasure to shoot. More accurate than the full size examples in my experience.
Hey thanks for the great comment and your past experience. I believe I had heard that students were able to purchase their assembled firearm or even others while at S&W. Minus the folks that seem to have gotten a lemon or one with some odd problem the consensus is they are great firearms.
I have the 6904 (blued version) and I love it. As for the mag release, I worked for the USDVA Police from 2001 to 2004. They had their Berretta 92Ds custom made with a mag safety so you could remove your mag (as required) on the Psych Ward.
I just purchased one just like yours . Took it out and it shot well with no failures. Mine has outside wear. Also the slide has some forward drag ( space between rear of frame and slide ) on it as I can see yours also does . I may take to a gunsmith to see about the drag. If you know what it may be let me know .
Unless you’ve got a known failure of some type w a part, the 3rd Gen guns are super reliable. Definitely the pinnacle of the design or at least as far as they were able to take it before they moved away from the hammer fired guns. Not sure on the drag…like you can feel the slide dragging or sticking?
@@thedailydefender1408 no it works fine . Where the hammer area is and the frame and slide are not perfectly flush aka the slide is pushing forward from frame for a millimeter or 2. I think I figured it out . I think the barrel lug that rubs against slide stop bar is worn some after useage because I looked at my 5906 pistol to compare with 6906 and it is very flush and barrel lug is sharp edged not work so must be barrel fitment and is not a problem just visual eyesore
I had one back in the day. I sold it to my brother who still has it. It was super super reliable. I had put at least 1k rounds through it with zero malfunctions. I loved the gun but I couldn’t shoot it that well.
Honestly I didn’t shoot them well either in the 90s, but I simply didn’t put the time in with them. I understand the platform much better now and only shoot / carry DA/SA so it fits my wheelhouse. They are very well made and very reliable. Glad you still have yours in the family.
I have one. Very accurate and reliable. One weird quirk of mine is i occasionally get brass to face pattern of ejection. It isn't reproducible or very common. Still love it
Huh that is a weird quirk, I’ll say all of mine have been essentially flawless minus one 5903 that had a beat up extractor. I do recall a few not liking critical defense ammo with the rubber insert but I spoke to an old timer gunsmith who worked on these back in the day and he said that didn’t surprise him because that ammo wasn’t around back in the day. He recommended staying with federal JHP type ammo.
That one’s a little tricky to track down, I was on GB about a year ago and saw one advertised in a local shop so I just went over and bought it. Don’t think I’ve seen before or since in shops in the last 3-4 years. It’s one of my favorites and fits such a unique niche (single stack all metal DA/SA ) it’s still in my summer carry rotation.
I just found out this was my Grandpa's gun that felt good when I was shooting it at 16 years old since this feels more like a toy with the slide going back and forth rather than having the muzzle rise.
I own two of these. Both have the rounded trigger guards as opposed to the square type you have. I've found them both th be extremely accurate and reliable! I while the standard magazine held 13 rounds, although they are marked for 12 rounds. I also have several of the 15 round magazines produced by Ramline.
Thanks for the comment, yep there is just something about them…..I’ll grab or work with other pistols for a while and then come back to them and be like “oh yeah these are very nice firearms” with a little searching , gun shows, pawn shops / gun shops, you can usually find OEM mags.
All of these steel, steel/alloy pistols are very cool. My son fell in love with my 469, so he carries that now. I sold my 5926 to a NY detective who fell in love with that pistol. I have to learn to just say no. 😢
Completely agree, and interesting to see the alloy frames coming onto some striker fired guns that were originally set up as polymer. I’m afraid I haven’t quite learned that one LOL….
I agree and I think most people agree as well, they were very well made and Uber engineered. Not sure they would have survived some of the torture tests that HK did or Sig w the 226/229 back in the day.. but still very well made and served LEOs for decades extremely well.
I still use the 5906 & 4506.1 have got about half a dozen of these third-generation S&W, I'm getting old and there starting to fell heavy but has never failed me, did add a Kimber and a berretta 92 to the mix but still carry the S&W
Hey thanks for a great comment, so glad to hear your still enjoying your smiths! Both are heavier and the 4506 is a big firearm but they do soak up recoil. Beretta is another solid firearm that initially got a bad rap. Not sure if you’ve shot any H&k but if you like DA/SA , and sounds like you do, and looking for something lighter I can whole heartedly recommend their p2000 and p30 line up.
@@thedailydefender1408 Thanks' after checking the H&K out , I am sold on DA/SA with de cocker andalso steel . Just can't get use to the plastic . Dan Wesson 9mm may be my next, it's great to shoot
@@nancymontplaisir3467 I actually shot the 229 DAK .40 and the HK USP compact in .40 w and LEM trigger side by side this week. I preferred the trigger on the HK but did like the feel of the all steel sig.. Grip on the HK seemed a little thinner as well. Recoil was a little heavier on the HK but nothing crazy, certainly not as bad as I recall the Glock was in .40…..
I like the one Crocket had on Miami Vice hit series which favored this pistol but actually had the full hammer spur instead and I believe it was .45 acp caliber but I prefer the 9 mm cal. !!
Great video! On my way to the shop now and they have one iv been listing after and believe I’m going to take it home today. However it does have a rounded trigger guard so I suppose at sometime they switched over to the rounded one.. I wish the one I’m going to buy had a squared one like your, that’s just my personally opinion. My fathers always loved and owns quit a few days of the earlier mod metal frame double/single. Iv watched his mod 39s, 645s etc go up in price.. do you think these pistols will keep going up in price over the years? It’s not the exact reason I’m buying it as I’m a double single guy and options are becoming harder to find as i keep collecting plus always wanted this model.
Hey thanks, the trigger guards are hard for me to keep track of too, most went from round to square but not all. The 39 is my all time favorite smith semi auto for so many reasons, harder to pick a revolver as there are just so many. As for values, I honestly don’t know, the semi auto seem to sell for what they did new or considerably higher depending on model. The revolvers seem to have taken on a life of thier own over the past 10-15 years. I guess that’s a function of what the new ones sell for vs people understanding how well built the old ones are. Plus what’s old is new again. There is some talk that when smith moves to TN and starts stamping guns as such the MA guns will go up, I guess we’ll have to see if that’s really true.
Agree, I don’t see many of the 2nd Gen compacts, in fact I actually don’t see many of the S&W semi autos from 1-3rd Gen overall as I used to. I think people might be starting to hold on to them which will drive up prices of the nice examples.
Hey I commented before and this video cemented me buying my 6906.. if you have any advice I’d really appreciate it, iv owned the pistol for about a year I’d say.. bought a obv used clean example. I got it to the range for the first time my buddy put 1 round through it and the slide locked to the back and has been there since sadly… I did mess with it a bit but it is hung up! on something. I can’t figure out what’s keeping it locked back tho and I am familiar with them somewhat so I am stumped. All I can think is that I did take the slide apart to wet sand an polish the sides of the slide and possibly did something wrong in reassembling it causing the issue? If you were having to have any idea what would cause that again? I greatly appreciate the help. Either way, if I can’t fix it, someone else will and I will never get rid of it. Love these older Smiths
Thanks interesting question b/c even a couple of the 90s catalog I have don’t mentioned those dims but I’m showing a H with Novak sights to the mag well of 5” and about 5.5” with mag pinky extender. I’d put the W at 1.5”.
@@ohreally1021 it’s not really , that was decocker to decocker although the grip width is similar. The guns themselves are rather narrow. Grip is very natural in the hand , at least for my hand. The single stacks like an 3913 are very nice and slim.
Good information on the model. If I could give some constructive feedback about how much you repeated yourself. It was a bit much and dragged out the video a bit.
It may be marked 6906 but it's a second generation 669 frame and slide. Not unusual. I have one marked 669 on frame but it's actually a 6906 frame with a 669 slide. Thee are significant differences between the two, mostly shape of trigger guard and sights. Fine gun either way. I also have 3914, which is single stack version of 6906.
Certainly possible it’s some type of hybrid or Frankenstein depending on how you look at it….I think it would have to be a 3rd Gen frame otherwise it wouldn’t take the one piece wraparound grip. Sights could certainly be 2nd Gen that was common on early model fixed sights. Smith is well known for using all the parts in the parts bin and model or engineering change over periods can and did share parts.
I have one of these from my father, he got it as a buy back from his dept when they phased them out. he carried it as a back up while on duty. is there a laser site grip to fit these? or a way to mount a laser ?
Thanks for the comment, there are a lot LEO trade ins and buy backs with the these pistols. Crimson Trace did make a laser grip back in the day, I had one for a short time but wasn’t my thing. I guess they are kind of sought after these days. There is no rail as you know but there was an option to mount a light, again back in the day.
I believe the company that you are referring to was named Devel. They chopped the first gen pistols by an inch or so on the barrel and slide, and then reduced the height of the frame also by an inch or so. You can spot one of these because they used clear plastic side panels instead of the factory ones and a proprietary magazine that had a rather large slot through it showing exactly how many rounds you had left in the mag. Forgotten Weapons has a great video on it: ruclips.net/video/K-t3T0_bFkE/видео.html
Hey thanks for the comment and info, that company name doesn’t ring a bell but the clear panels do. I seem to remember that and have also seen one or two on auction sites I believe. Thanks again for the info.
Thanks for reminding me about those ones with the plastic clear grip panels.. wow that brings me back to the old days. I never owned one of those but I remember seeing them in the gun stores
I actually own one for these! Purchased it from my father in law. He bought it in the early 90s, he bought the 5906 and 6906 for him and his wife. Squired away in the closet and he never took it out until I bought the pair in 2020. Offered 800 for the pair, and four magazine for each. They were both fairly rusty on the slides, but cleaned up with some lime-way and 0000 steel wool. Polished all the marks etc out of the slide and frame. Great shooting guns, I taught my wife to shoot, and she carried the 6906 before she discovered the Sig 365XL.
Hey thanks for sharing that, glad you own a couple and enjoy them. Sounds like a very fair deal and the extra mags are nice as they are a little pricey now. I’ve found Fritz polish works extremely well on the SS portion of the guns but a little goes a long way and a simple cotton towel works great. You can’t use that on the satin finish, it takes it right off. The Sig 365 and a few others have changed the game a bit, but the 6909 and 3914 single stack cousins hang right in there.
Devel did the custom chopped version of the 39 and 59.
It certainly looks like a first generation because of the square trigger guard.
Yeah it would be, I always found it interesting that the 1st and 2nd Gen guns had the round trigger guard, then they moved to the square trigger guard for the early 3rd Gen and then back to the round. I also find it interesting that at least in my neck of the woods there are more of the early 3rd gens than the later ones it seems and very few with the adjustable sights versions. I tend to see a fair amount with the early basic three dot sights, then the Novak and then the adjustable type.
I built several of these during one of my S&W Armorer's School recertifications back in 1989. At that time, S&W allowed students to purchase one of their assembled pistols, so I still own one of them. They were all "TDL" prefix frames. The 6906 is a very accurate and reliable pistol, and a pleasure to shoot. More accurate than the full size examples in my experience.
Hey thanks for the great comment and your past experience. I believe I had heard that students were able to purchase their assembled firearm or even others while at S&W. Minus the folks that seem to have gotten a lemon or one with some odd problem the consensus is they are great firearms.
Can these use the 5906 full spurred hammer? And if so, would it be able to be cocked for single action?
I have the 6904 (blued version) and I love it. As for the mag release, I worked for the USDVA Police from 2001 to 2004. They had their Berretta 92Ds custom made with a mag safety so you could remove your mag (as required) on the Psych Ward.
I am really enjoying your videos of your collection.
Thanks really appreciate the comment and support.
I just purchased one just like yours . Took it out and it shot well with no failures. Mine has outside wear. Also the slide has some forward drag ( space between rear of frame and slide ) on it as I can see yours also does . I may take to a gunsmith to see about the drag. If you know what it may be let me know .
Unless you’ve got a known failure of some type w a part, the 3rd Gen guns are super reliable. Definitely the pinnacle of the design or at least as far as they were able to take it before they moved away from the hammer fired guns. Not sure on the drag…like you can feel the slide dragging or sticking?
@@thedailydefender1408 no it works fine . Where the hammer area is and the frame and slide are not perfectly flush aka the slide is pushing forward from frame for a millimeter or 2. I think I figured it out . I think the barrel lug that rubs against slide stop bar is worn some after useage because I looked at my 5906 pistol to compare with 6906 and it is very flush and barrel lug is sharp edged not work so must be barrel fitment and is not a problem just visual eyesore
I had one back in the day. I sold it to my brother who still has it. It was super super reliable. I had put at least 1k rounds through it with zero malfunctions. I loved the gun but I couldn’t shoot it that well.
Honestly I didn’t shoot them well either in the 90s, but I simply didn’t put the time in with them. I understand the platform much better now and only shoot / carry DA/SA so it fits my wheelhouse. They are very well made and very reliable. Glad you still have yours in the family.
I bought one in 1989 brand new. I still have it and 34 years later it still looks brand new.
Oh wow wish I would have done the same with my 5904 and 4506 , since replaced them but sorry I sold them 15 or so years ago.
I have one. Very accurate and reliable. One weird quirk of mine is i occasionally get brass to face pattern of ejection. It isn't reproducible or very common. Still love it
Huh that is a weird quirk, I’ll say all of mine have been essentially flawless minus one 5903 that had a beat up extractor. I do recall a few not liking critical defense ammo with the rubber insert but I spoke to an old timer gunsmith who worked on these back in the day and he said that didn’t surprise him because that ammo wasn’t around back in the day. He recommended staying with federal JHP type ammo.
Thx you for sharing.
Great time spent.
Thanks for watching!
I wish I could get a hold of a Smith & Wesson 3913 compact 9mm in excellent condition.. I've always liked those guns
That one’s a little tricky to track down, I was on GB about a year ago and saw one advertised in a local shop so I just went over and bought it. Don’t think I’ve seen before or since in shops in the last 3-4 years. It’s one of my favorites and fits such a unique niche (single stack all metal DA/SA ) it’s still in my summer carry rotation.
They do make the round guard but, only years after the 59's had already gone round. Thanks very though video.
I just found out this was my Grandpa's gun that felt good when I was shooting it at 16 years old since this feels more like a toy with the slide going back and forth rather than having the muzzle rise.
I own two of these. Both have the rounded trigger guards as opposed to the square type you have. I've found them both th be extremely accurate and reliable! I while the standard magazine held 13 rounds, although they are marked for 12 rounds. I also have several of the 15 round magazines produced by Ramline.
Thanks for the comment, yep there is just something about them…..I’ll grab or work with other pistols for a while and then come back to them and be like “oh yeah these are very nice firearms” with a little searching , gun shows, pawn shops / gun shops, you can usually find OEM mags.
All of these steel, steel/alloy pistols are very cool. My son fell in love with my 469, so he carries that now. I sold my 5926 to a NY detective who fell in love with that pistol. I have to learn to just say no. 😢
Completely agree, and interesting to see the alloy frames coming onto some striker fired guns that were originally set up as polymer. I’m afraid I haven’t quite learned that one LOL….
I think you forgot to mention that you could use the 15 round mags on the 6906
That’s a good point , I may have.
I carry the 17 round gar mag with a grip adapter in mine.
The quality of these is really impressive.
I agree and I think most people agree as well, they were very well made and Uber engineered. Not sure they would have survived some of the torture tests that HK did or Sig w the 226/229 back in the day.. but still very well made and served LEOs for decades extremely well.
Great video. My boss had the 669.
Thanks, the 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen guns are solid!
I still use the 5906 & 4506.1 have got about half a dozen of these third-generation S&W, I'm getting old and there starting to fell heavy but has never failed me, did add a Kimber and a berretta 92 to the mix but still carry the S&W
Hey thanks for a great comment, so glad to hear your still enjoying your smiths! Both are heavier and the 4506 is a big firearm but they do soak up recoil. Beretta is another solid firearm that initially got a bad rap. Not sure if you’ve shot any H&k but if you like DA/SA , and sounds like you do, and looking for something lighter I can whole heartedly recommend their p2000 and p30 line up.
@@thedailydefender1408 Thanks' after checking the H&K out , I am sold on DA/SA with de cocker andalso steel . Just can't get use to the plastic . Dan Wesson 9mm may be my next, it's great to shoot
@@nancymontplaisir3467 the polymers are a different breed for sure. Have you checked out a Sig p229, another favorite of mine.
@@thedailydefender1408 Yes my brother carry's 2 of these now they are nice no recoil
@@nancymontplaisir3467 I actually shot the 229 DAK .40 and the HK USP compact in .40 w and LEM trigger side by side this week. I preferred the trigger on the HK but did like the feel of the all steel sig.. Grip on the HK seemed a little thinner as well. Recoil was a little heavier on the HK but nothing crazy, certainly not as bad as I recall the Glock was in .40…..
I like the one Crocket had on Miami Vice hit series which favored this pistol but actually had the full hammer spur instead and I believe it was .45 acp caliber but I prefer the 9 mm cal. !!
Yeah I believe on the smiths he started with a 645 and eventually to a 4506, both in .45.
@@thedailydefender1408 Yeah now i do remember him having the model 4506 since you mentioned and it sure was a beautiful pistol !!!
@@jeffreyelliott622 I own a 4506, it’s a large although slender pistol. Pretty neat firearm, the PD in the town I grew up in carried them.
Great video! On my way to the shop now and they have one iv been listing after and believe I’m going to take it home today. However it does have a rounded trigger guard so I suppose at sometime they switched over to the rounded one.. I wish the one I’m going to buy had a squared one like your, that’s just my personally opinion. My fathers always loved and owns quit a few days of the earlier mod metal frame double/single. Iv watched his mod 39s, 645s etc go up in price.. do you think these pistols will keep going up in price over the years? It’s not the exact reason I’m buying it as I’m a double single guy and options are becoming harder to find as i keep collecting plus always wanted this model.
Hey thanks, the trigger guards are hard for me to keep track of too, most went from round to square but not all. The 39 is my all time favorite smith semi auto for so many reasons, harder to pick a revolver as there are just so many. As for values, I honestly don’t know, the semi auto seem to sell for what they did new or considerably higher depending on model. The revolvers seem to have taken on a life of thier own over the past 10-15 years. I guess that’s a function of what the new ones sell for vs people understanding how well built the old ones are. Plus what’s old is new again. There is some talk that when smith moves to TN and starts stamping guns as such the MA guns will go up, I guess we’ll have to see if that’s really true.
Would be nice to see a side by side comparison with the 669 🙂
Agree, I don’t see many of the 2nd Gen compacts, in fact I actually don’t see many of the S&W semi autos from 1-3rd Gen overall as I used to. I think people might be starting to hold on to them which will drive up prices of the nice examples.
I miss all metal guns
Thank goodness they are still out there and most were made so well they are double lifetime guns.
Hey I commented before and this video cemented me buying my 6906.. if you have any advice I’d really appreciate it, iv owned the pistol for about a year I’d say.. bought a obv used clean example. I got it to the range for the first time my buddy put 1 round through it and the slide locked to the back and has been there since sadly… I did mess with it a bit but it is hung up! on something. I can’t figure out what’s keeping it locked back tho and I am familiar with them somewhat so I am stumped. All I can think is that I did take the slide apart to wet sand an polish the sides of the slide and possibly did something wrong in reassembling it causing the issue? If you were having to have any idea what would cause that again? I greatly appreciate the help. Either way, if I can’t fix it, someone else will and I will never get rid of it. Love these older Smiths
Hmmm can say to be honest, I’ve never done much to them than clean and lube them and they generally just run….I’ve also left all of them stock.
Handy info, thanks! Could you share the dimensions of the 6906? Can't seem to find the height/width
Thanks interesting question b/c even a couple of the 90s catalog I have don’t mentioned those dims but I’m showing a H with Novak sights to the mag well of 5” and about 5.5” with mag pinky extender. I’d put the W at 1.5”.
@@thedailydefender1408 Much obliged! Sounds a bit chubby, is 1.5" the grip width or the slide width?
@@ohreally1021 it’s not really , that was decocker to decocker although the grip width is similar. The guns themselves are rather narrow. Grip is very natural in the hand , at least for my hand. The single stacks like an 3913 are very nice and slim.
where can i get additional magazines? :(
Good information on the model. If I could give some constructive feedback about how much you repeated yourself. It was a bit much and dragged out the video a bit.
You know it’s funny because I picked up on that myself on that one. Some are smoother than others LOL…
It may be marked 6906 but it's a second generation 669 frame and slide. Not unusual. I have one marked 669 on frame but it's actually a 6906 frame with a 669 slide. Thee are significant differences between the two, mostly shape of trigger guard and sights. Fine gun either way. I also have 3914, which is single stack version of 6906.
Certainly possible it’s some type of hybrid or Frankenstein depending on how you look at it….I think it would have to be a 3rd Gen frame otherwise it wouldn’t take the one piece wraparound grip. Sights could certainly be 2nd Gen that was common on early model fixed sights. Smith is well known for using all the parts in the parts bin and model or engineering change over periods can and did share parts.
anybody tried swapping out a 69 2nd gen safety with a 3rd gen safety? i hate the screw lock on the right side safety of the 2nd gen.
Very interesting question, I’m not sure but 100% agree with the screw use, looks like a last minute thought to an otherwise great looking firearm.
I have one of these from my father, he got it as a buy back from his dept when they phased them out. he carried it as a back up while on duty. is there a laser site grip to fit these? or a way to mount a laser ?
Thanks for the comment, there are a lot LEO trade ins and buy backs with the these pistols. Crimson Trace did make a laser grip back in the day, I had one for a short time but wasn’t my thing. I guess they are kind of sought after these days. There is no rail as you know but there was an option to mount a light, again back in the day.
Did the 6906 come in all stainless steel
I think there were all SS slides w alloy frames.
Thank you
S&W 6906 and 6904 compatible?
Yep same gun m different finish
Would this be good for self defense
I thought the square trigger guard was a S&W 669 and rounded trigger guard is 6904, i love these things. Built like tanks
I understood that the square trigger guard indicated a first generation.
I believe the company that you are referring to was named Devel. They chopped the first gen pistols by an inch or so on the barrel and slide, and then reduced the height of the frame also by an inch or so. You can spot one of these because they used clear plastic side panels instead of the factory ones and a proprietary magazine that had a rather large slot through it showing exactly how many rounds you had left in the mag. Forgotten Weapons has a great video on it:
ruclips.net/video/K-t3T0_bFkE/видео.html
Hey thanks for the comment and info, that company name doesn’t ring a bell but the clear panels do. I seem to remember that and have also seen one or two on auction sites I believe. Thanks again for the info.
Thanks for reminding me about those ones with the plastic clear grip panels.. wow that brings me back to the old days. I never owned one of those but I remember seeing them in the gun stores