The OP said said used glocks where going for over 800 dollars where they live (Cali). It’s like no one reads the posts anymore. The gun has to be on the “list”, it actually has to be in the store, and he has to be able to afford it. This thread has turned into “my girlfriends first gun” thread.

With limited options and crazy pricing I took his question to mean would this gun be a good choice in this environment since it was available and priced reasonably. Around here the guns that don’t exist on shelves right now are the standard choices. If you want to sell a 320 or a Glock or any modern “normal” gun it will sell quickly and over msrp.

Given those choices, this thing is available and reasonably priced due to the perception that it is a relic. It’s not. To the guy above who thinks the buyer would get blank stares if they need questions answered, I have to wonder where you shoot that idiots can’t answer questions about a standard DA/SA gun with a safety/decocker? Unless you shoot under a rock or have never heard of a Beretta 92 this isn’t a mystifying option. No one is asking a guy at the range to break the gun down to pins and springs.

How pathetic have we become that a solid old DA/SA gun has become a “how do it work” moment.

I have a S&W Model 39 safe queen, purchased new about 40 years ago. It doesn’t feed JHPs reliably. At least not the JHPs available in that era. Might do better with modern JHPs, but I haven’t tried any of them.

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If he needs advice/help with this thing from the local gun shop or shooting club, he's going to get blank stares.

Where do you shoot and shop? My gun club is full of old guys with all kinds of knowledge about all things shooting, and they have some really interesting stuff squirreled away. At 35, I'm the kid. I love talking to the other members, because I always come away learning something about some really interesting out of production firearm or other. The other day we had a discussion about reloading .38 special wadcutters for a S&W model 52.

All the LGSs are the same way...even the ones that have some young counter guys have got some older, more experienced guys who can set the kids straight if needed. The big-box places are the exception...but you're not going to get knowledgeable staff with useful information about new guns there, either...those guys are trained to help people get through the 4473 and keep the log book up to date, that's about it.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:

Given those choices, this thing is available and reasonably priced due to the perception that it is a relic. It’s not. To the guy above who thinks the buyer would get blank stares if they need questions answered, I have to wonder where you shoot that idiots can’t answer questions about a standard DA/SA gun with a safety/decocker? Unless you shoot under a rock or have never heard of a Beretta 92 this isn’t a mystifying option. No one is asking a guy at the range to break the gun down to pins and springs.

How pathetic have we become that a solid old DA/SA gun has become a “how do it work” moment.

Everyone knows how to pull the trigger on the thing -- that's not the issue.

Try doing something a new shooter would do, like walking in and asking a 30-year old range attendant or salesman why he thinks your 45-year-old model 59 is jamming. There are good answers, but they're very different than the answers those people are used to giving. If the person doesn't have knowledge of 1st gen s&w autos, a blank stare is a lot more helpful than being told about limp-wristing, over-lubing, or being put on a quest to locate new model 59 mags.

pedropcola is correct. The choices here in CA are limited under normal circumstances, so very limited now. I just saw a used SIG SP2022 (9mm) priced at $775 and a Springfield XD9 (older model-not XDM) for $750. No shit! And they were both more than an hour away. My buddy wanted to spend no more than $600 on the pistol. I think he did well, and I will be helping him learn to use the pistol. I've made it a point to familiarize myself with any firearm I can get my hands on and have owned a Smith and Wesson 3913 in the past. I only sold it because I preferred my SIG P225 at the time.

First off, if you are dumb enough to think most guys behind the sales counter are the guys to go with questions you have made your first mistake. Secondly, what makes you think this thing is going to jam? You guys are still talking like this thing is a dinosaur. Maybe it has issues with HP’s. Maybe. My bet is that this gun feeds mag after mag with no issues. I would love a range report in this classic. BTW, half you guys would lose your minds over a pristine P6 that guaranteed wouldn’t feed HP’s. Lol

Sounds like the guy bought the 59. I sincerely hope he got a good one.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
First off, if you are dumb enough to think most guys behind the sales counter are the guys to go with questions you have made your first mistake. Secondly, what makes you think this thing is going to jam? You guys are still talking like this thing is a dinosaur. Maybe it has issues with HP’s. Maybe. My bet is that this gun feeds mag after mag with no issues. I would love a range report in this classic. BTW, half you guys would lose your minds over a pristine P6 that guaranteed wouldn’t feed HP’s. Lol

1st gen s&w's are notoriously iffy with self-defense ammo. I've shot them, and I've gotten persistent jams. But they worked well with FMJ.

I personally would be happy to own a 1st gen s&w as a collector piece. I like the old school fit/finish which is almost impossible to find these days. And I'm confident I could get the thing to work -- but I'm not a first-time shooter.

Many new shooters just have no idea who to talk to when things go wrong -- that's what it means to be new. Zero experience. And there's a good chance that his first box of overpriced self-defense ammo is going to leave an unpleasant taste in his mouth. The guy behind the counter at least has some experience, and at least they'll talk to him -- they talked to him before when he bought the gun. But we have a good idea of why that's a bad idea.

Personally, the $800 Glock doesn't sound like a such bad choice for a guy's first gun in a powderkeg environment. Things have the potential to roll downhill very quickly, and this guy's first-gun choice may turn out to be rather important. This is CA, after all -- what's the median house price and cost of living there, anyway?

Well, the good news is he has a buddy like elberettas...who I'm sure can offer sound advice, and at the very least point him in the right direction if he does end up needing help. It's not like he's all on his own.

I'm also sure the gun will be fine, and highly doubt he will regret his purchase. With all the cheap junk floating around out there these days, he could have done WAY worse than a classic S&W for a first handgun.

Yes, it is, and better than its contemporaries, IMHO.

The big honking S&W slide mounted safety is one of the only ones I like. I have never missed it or fumbled it, unlike the smaller/sharper/more sculpted slide mounted safety/decocker on the Beretta.

The DA trigger on that gun - if my dad's two examples are anything to go by - will probably be easier to learn than a bunch of other DA/SA pistols, and the gun has a very forgiving grip.

Strong recommendation from some of the other replies, track down 659/5906 magazines (if you're stuck with 10 because Cali, oh well, otherwise you should be able to find some pre-ban 2nd and 3rd gen mags). Neither of my dad's have ever hiccuped with any ammunition when using the later generation of magazines, but was iffy with some JHP with the original 14-rounders. (Don't ask me which ones, the last time we fed any JHP through either of those, I wasn't yet old enough to drink).

Enjoy, those are fantastic guns and from a generation of semi-autos where a full-frame gun was still slim enough to carry comfortably.

I look forward to reading the range report on this 59.

Hopefully it works flawlessly for the new shooter.

I have one I bought new around 75 or 76 iirc. It had just come on the market. It is easy to shoot and works well with the two factory mags. I’ve tried two aftermarket mags that didn’t work well.

It’s easy to shoot well and my wife easily qualified with it on the Texas CC qualification test.

It’s never carried. Bigger than I like. Good for auto or home defense.

I have a 659 and love it.

I bought it off a friend who got in in a trade for some labor. It came with 250 rounds of reloaded ammo.

My friend said some of the reloads are really hot. First range trip I had three rounds out of 150 that stuck the case in the barrel to where it had to be driven out with a squib rod. Each time I did a thorough inspection to find no damage. Dang thing is built like a tank.

Gave the rest of the reloads to a friend who was going to pull them and reload them. My 659 has the mag disconnect. I purchased three ten round Promags and the rear of the magazine doesn’t protrude high enough to push the mag disconnect bar up to fire. So the last round will not go bang unless you push up on the magazine. So they are marked range mags.

No it is not a worn part in the pistol it is the junk Promags. I have some really old 14 round S&W mags and bought some ten round Mec-Gar mags and they all work well.

Looking for magazines for it go here. They have Mec-Gar 10 round magazines.

https://gregcotellc.com/cart/index.php

Looks like they are currently sold out.
Probably due to the panic buying.
They do come and go. the ones with MGSW part numbers are Mec-Gar Mags.

Owned 39 and 59, back in the day.
Both performed just fine.
Firearms of yore can still pack a lethal punch...Mauser, Luger, Tokarov and Makarov, to name a few.

No robber ever decided to press his disadvantage because the good guy was pointing an ancient S&W 59 at him.

The fucking retardness of this discussion baffles me. The 59 was initially sold in 1971. You know when the basically unchanged Wilson Combat 92 that you have been lusting over came out? Yep, you guessed it. A massive 5 years later in 76.

The 59’s didn’t feed the hollow points of the day. Want to try a box of modern Gold Dots today? I will lay a crisp 100 dollar bill next to yours that it will feed and fire 3 mags in a row. Any takers? As for strikers are superior to DA/SA, well you just need to grow up. They are different. They each have some pros and cons. I just posted on a Walther P99 thread. Walther nailed the striker issue (what kind of striker is best) early on and no one copied them and Walther absolutely blows in the marketing dept so no one knows. Pick up a P99 and it’s the best of both worlds. Striker and hammer.

So yes, of course the 59 is still a viable option.

Edited to add: To allay you red dot guys, yes the P99 decocker is in a bad place for you. Yet it probably could be moved to allow rds placement. If you have never shot a P99, you owe it to yourself to try it.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
The 59’s didn’t feed the hollow points of the day. Want to try a box of modern Gold Dots today? I will lay a crisp 100 dollar bill next to yours that it will feed and fire 3 mags in a row. Any takers?

A hundred bucks? Maybe we should raise the stakes a little.

Imagine your life were on the line (how absurd, right?). And the first-gen Smith in this test is maintained, loaded, and fired by a "total newb," under stress, using whatever ammo he shows up with.

YMMV, but it's not a bet I actually recommend to people.

I've had my fair share of all generations of Smith autos including a semi custom model 39 that I was told was a light Devel job, never varified that but it was not your typical 39-2.
Yes the early 39s would not feed hollowpoints, Smith fixed that for the most part with the 39-2 which predates the 59, 59 has all the then upgrades minus drop safety and should be noted it's magazine only held 14 rounds, another little tidbit is it said the model originated from the X147 which according to what I've read was made expressly for the US Navy.
Anyway, first gens are not built for +p ammo so stick to standard pressure, accuracy can be a thing depending on the fit (remember until the coming of the 469/669 645 all the full sized 439,459/639,659 have a bushing you need to remove during field stripping, the 3rd gen guns did away with that and have a fixed bushing and belled muzzle.
Would I go outta my way to buy a 59 to day? No not when for probably the same money you can get a Ruger P89, but I wouldn't kick it outta bed if it's all that was available either!
DA trigger will be heavy, SA trigger fairly light and the reset is as short as a PPQs if not shorter. Reliablity, ones I shot liked the more pointy HPs than the squared off ones of the time, it will eat most of what's out there today due to the re-engineering of the bullets for 9mm.
Lastly keep lubed, maybe a new recoil spring, new mags and enjoy.
Dale

So to summarize, you won’t take my bet but you will engage in hyperbolic wordplay. Got it. How about this? Any gun can fail. The Smiths, even the early ones aren’t known to choke on anything but perhaps HP’s of the time. A problem that was easily and readily solved. What newbie issues are you referring to? You mean like limp writing a modern Glock? Don’t be a cherry picking moron. Old Smith autos are very reliable. What are the going to argue next? How impossible the double action to single action transitions are? That a part might break? If you honestly think this 59
is so unreliable then make the bet. How about a couple box’s of hp’s?

You guys are being dumb. This isn’t a thread about the perfect choice for a first time gun buyer. It’s about what’s available not only in thin covid times but in California to boot.

The 59 is a solid choice. It’s old. My first 92 is nearly as old and I would absolutely trust my life and my families with it. It gets shot on a rotation with most of my guns and has zero malfunctions other than years ago with my suspect reloads. It has also shot a fair amount of modern SD ammo and tons of the dreaded Russian steel ammo.

I am going to speak heresy. I love my strikers, that being said I don’t think they are necessarily the best first choice. If you take the time to learn a TDA gun then the transition to a striker is not very challenging. If you start the other way you might never even try a TDA.

There is an undercurrent of disdain for TDA guns that isn’t justified. There are some real benefits and yes advantages to the nasty old DA/SA gun. Some of you guy’s bias is showing.

In a world of minimal options ending up with a gun that will outlive us all and be reliable to boot is not a bad outcome. If I strolled into a gunstore with no gun at all and came out with any of my Smith autos I would not consider myself hobbled. In any way. Still look forward to the range report where it shoots great and has zero malfunctions including a box or two of HP’s.

This thread has devolved into your average moronic conversation with gun store employees. Lots of angst not much meat.

The 59 was my first pistol. Bought it at a pawn shop, like new, for $200 in Lincoln, NE. I wanted a Sig P226 but they were very expensive and I was a 21 year old college student (1990).

Love the Smith semi autos. I wanted a 645 when they came out but were too expensive for me then too. I will get one for the heck of it if I see one today.

I currently have a 5906, 4506, and a 4506-1.