Model 39 S&W

[marlinman93]

Back when I went a bit off the deep end with Marlin leverguns, and single shot rifles, I sold off a huge number of my S&W collection, and had some immediate regrets for selling certain handguns. One of those was my Model 39 S&W 9mm, which was one of the finest 9mm handguns I'd ever owned.
Yesterday a friend called me and asked if I would be interested in buying a bunch of ammo and reloading supplies, and I told him I was very interested! I figured with shortages in primers, powder, and just the cost of loading tools today, it would be well worth looking.
So I called his friend and arranged to go over to the home and put together an offer for all the loaded ammo, and supplies today. We're sitting in the reloading room and there's an old glass front gun case with rifles and pistols inside. I didn't want to be pushy as they told me they had a deal with a local gun store to buy all the guns. But after staring at the case for a couple hours I finally asked the son if I could look at what I was pretty sure was a S&W 39 sitting on a shelf inside. He said sure, and opened the glass door. I lifted the Smith off the shelf and sure enough it was a spectacular original 39-2 in almost new condition!
I told him it was a gun I'd regretted selling, and was going to follow him to the gun store and buy it as soon as he handed it to them! He told me the gun store had offered him $300 for it, and he wasn't sure he'd take the offer yet. But added if I wanted it, it was mine for the $300 gun store price!
I quickly whipped out my wallet and paid him, thanking him profusely and he probably thought I was a little nuts. Heading back over on Sunday with my Suburban to pick up a huge amount of 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45 ACP, .223, .30-06, .303 British, plus a bunch of reloading tools, primes, powder, etc.
He had planned to give it all to the local police dept. as it's reloads and he felt nobody would want it. My friend said his friend was a very careful reloader, and the ammo was all good stuff. Not sure I'll sell much, but I'll sure be set for these cartridges for sometime with as much as he had loaded.
Another friend was there to buy a 3 screw Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum, still not converted to a transfer bar. It was in very nice shape also, but we never found even one round of ammo for it today?







Can't wait to get the 39 out to the range and see if it shoots as well as my old one!

[junkbug]

Single stack 9mm pistols don’t get a lot of love today. Glad you were able to get it. You will appreciate more than most, I believe. Hope it won’t be a safe queen
.

[Ysabel Kid]

That was a heck of a deal! Congrats!!!

[Walt]

Nice looking model 39, Vall!

I had one decades ago that I probably shouldn't have sold.

[marlinman93]

Yes, single stack semiautos are old school and not the in thing these days. Everybody needs at least 13 rds., and 18 are even better! I guess I never understood why, as I came from the school of make your shots count, and not the new school of spray and pray.
But this 39 will see plenty of shooting, along with my high capacity 59 S&W 9mm! I love both guns, but even with my big mitts the 39's single stack grip frame just feels better than any semiauto I've ever owned or shot much. Something about the 39 that just feels like it was made just for me! And they and the 59 both have one of the finest triggers a semiauto was ever equipped with!

[JBowen]

Looks like a classic! I am not familiar with the 39. Is it a DA/SA with a decocker lever?

JBowen

[samsi]

That's a nice classic pistol. I've shot a couple but never owned one myself.

[44shooter]

The safety decocks it

[Walt]

I imagine the DA/SA action is based on the Walther design.

[marlinman93]

I imagine the DA/SA action is based on the Walther design.

Yes, it's a DA/SA, which I really like since they have such smooth trigger pulls, and get better after the first DA pull.
I set this 39 next to my 59, which I remembered as being a bit larger. But I quickly noticed they share a lot of parts, as the two guns use the same upper, and only the grip width is different. The 59 is the later double stack mag grip frame, so it feels larger in the grip. But both guns fit my DeSantis inside the belt leather holster perfectly!

Heading back to the estate this weekend with my son in law to pickup all the reloading tools, primers, powder, and a huge amount of loaded ammo! Probably 1000 or more each of 9mm, .38 Spl., .357 Mag, .45 ACP, .223, .22-250, .30-06, and 8 apple crates of 12ga shotgun loads! We're taking my old '69 Suburban, and his new Chevy 4x4 to haul it all away.

[piller]

No personal experience with them, but those who can shootbdo seem to like them.

[trooper joe]

When the Illinois State Police adopted these in the 60’s, they were the first major law enforcement agency to use auto loaders instead of revolvers. I remember ordering one for an off duty gun (which was allowed by my department even though our duty gun was a revolver).

Sold it a few years later and always regretted it. About two years ago I found this one in southern Mississippi and sent it home. It is so neat that I sometimes spend hours just looking at it. As stated above, the trigger is very smooth (double and single action). After I bought this one that came with only two hard to find magazines, I found three more mags at a gun shop near Flint, Michigan.

I am truly a happy camper with this one. Thanks for the great post.




Trooper Joe

[Paladin]

I always liked the Model 39 and have owned three but let my brother have one, and the others went to friends who talked me out of them. I found one two years ago to replace my losses and still consider it a great firearm for everyday carry.

[91B40]

I have never found a pistol that fits my hand better. It is like the 39-2 was custom made for me. They were allegedly jam prone, but mine has thousands of rounds of every description through it with no malfunctions at all. I would love to find a 639 or 3906, but they are scarce here in California. If people have them, they don’t sell them.