The only thing more exciting than turning 21 is having the money saved up for a new pistol. It was 1980, and I wanted nothing less than the perfected police pistols in double action, the Smith & Wesson Model 39. Why, the whole country was going 9 millimeter!

Smith and Wesson brought out their prototype for U.S. Army pistol trials in the early 1950s, the same trials which produced the Colt Commander. The Smith and Wesson is an interesting amalgamation of features. The double action and hammer dropper are certainly influenced in concept, if not in all mechanical details, by the Walther P38. The cam tracked dropping barrel lockup is mostly Browning HiPower. The location of the slide stop and magazine release are very wisely taken from Colt's Government Model.

Another feature in common with the Commander was the use of the then uncommon aluminum alloy for the frame. This brings the weight down to a spindly 26 ounces unloaded. Magazine capacity is 8 rounds, the original rear sight was adjustable for deflection only, and the original grips were mediocre walnut with poor checkering.

These pistols have a mixed reputation. Ergonomics are, to the thinking of most people, quite good. The grip is very comfortable, the slide stop and magazine release being right where most Americans feel they should. The Walther style hammer dropper is a feature which has taken years of getting used to.

Reliability is a mixed bag. Some pistols functioned wonderfully right out of the box, at least with hardball. Others jammed with dedication. My own, a 1979 gun fed hardball Remington right out of the box but, true to its era, choked on all expanding bullets. A ramp job performed by a long dead Missouri gunsmith (and none too attractively) eliminated that peccadillo. It is now, with 3000+ rounds on the frame, as reliable as could be wanted.

The aluminum frame makes this pistol questionable for use with +P ammunition. The Fiocchi load I use is not listed as such, but is quite hot, so it is shot sparingly. The Remington and Winchester loads are nowhere near that.

To provide a control, shooting was duplicated with one of the Miles' Ruger P95s. The average "group" size was no different. To prove a point on the mediocrity of current U.S. civilian ammo, a five shot group was fired with Hirtenberger's +P+ 100gr jsp "polizei" load. It WAS NOT fired through the M39!

Finish on these pistols were either blued, or bumper-chrome bright nickel. The latter, an extra cost option, is not that uncommon. During early production, a few were built as single actions (an illustration was the cover girl of "GUN DIGEST" 1955), and as steel frames. Both are rare indeed.

MSRP in 1980 was $211 for the blued gun, and $232 for the nickel. My bill of sale shows I paid $225 for my blued gun. The early 80s were not a proud era for American gun makers, and the finish on my pistol shows some shameful toolmarks, one - proximate to front sight - is fairly large. Bluing on the steel and anodizing of the receiver are not exactly color matched either. The slide has a weird purple tinge to it.

The 1980s seemed to be the era of autopistol gadgets, and while most of the articles of the era described the essentialness of rubber magazine bumpers and hex head grip screws for 1911 type pistols, the Smith was not immune (nor was its owner). Mine was eventually festooned with a MS Safari Arms ambidextrous safety, Badger laminated walnut/maple grips, a Smith & Wesson fully adjustable rear sight  (a pretty scarce item) and a Smith & Wesson spurless hammer.