The little gun has always intrigued me. I was just getting into firearms not long before the CS9 came out. Is it still a superior handgun compared to modern single stack nine’s? The only steel guns coming to mind at the moment are Kahr MK9’s and the P239.. thanks all!

"Is it still a superior handgun compared to modern single stack nine’s?"
My opinion - Yes. It will feed any ammo, even empty cases. The down side is parts (if you ever need some) are drying up. Magazines can still be found sometimes at reasonable prices.

Bought used one many years ago (blued one). Carried well and small profile.
The original rubber grips were too grippy for me. There is a person on the Smith & Wesson forum that makes replacement ones out of Delrin® (I think that is the correct spelling). Vast improvement (similar to the 3919 grips).
TDA with slide mounted safety/decocker.
It always shot low for me so traded it off. Wish I still had it.
One of the hidden jems of the Smith line.
I think they were also made in Stainless satin finish (CS9S) and one was DAO (CS9D).

PC

I appreciate that ^^ I wonder if S&W can/would still service them if needed?

I would contact S&W and ask. They sometimes will but will mostly say that no more parts are available.

PC

One of our members here 18DAI is very knowledgeable on S&Ws. I hope he chimes in. They might own one and they certainly have experience with one.

The CS9 is a viable defensive pistol, but I would not call it superior to the current crop. IIRC it was in some ways a simplified 3913, less slide milling, one sided safety (on some pistols). It was also slightly smaller. I've shot the CS9 a number of years ago but found I like the 3913 better, but I liked the SIG 239 even better then the 3913. Especially with Hogue G10 grips.

Modern single stacks are smaller and in some cases like the P365, higher capacity than the CS9. Weight can also be lighter on a case by case basis as well.

The real advantages in the CS9 are the slide mounted safety (if you are into those), the larger grip size (case by case) and shootability. I found that I liked shooting the 3913 and 239 more than I like shooting a P365 (YMMV).

Lack of parts and accessories are a major disadvantage and if you wear it out (it's possible, but most folks don't shoot enough to) it might be hard to get it back into service.

I'd defer to 18DAI as I said he has more hands on experience with them then I do.

Personally, I think the whole line up of steel S&W semi autos from back in the day still hold up very well.
The 39ish series was especially dear to me because I trained with one enough to be lightning with it, and aced my shooting qual back in '89.

Thanks y’all for the replies. I currently have a PPS, should’ve noted that... my attraction to the CS9 is the size and steel. A quick look around yielded pretty good results for parts... even on eBay. Not a ton, but I certainly think enough for maintenance issues. Anyway... we’ll see.

I carried an early manufactured one concealed under my service jacket and off duty for my last 3 years at the PD and it was the gun presented to me at retirement. I had to have one after seeing it at the S&W booth at an IACP conference. The uniform duty gun at the time was the 6906. I qualified with the CS9 several times a year and found it to be very accurate and functional. They came standard with a magazine disconnect which I like but some do not. It was the first pistol I carried that had tritium night sights and what a great innovation. There was also a CS40 and CS45 which were a handful to shoot. My CS9 now occupies a position of honor on my wall. I think I will get it out and shoot it this week. It is a really solid and dependable pistol but for practical purposes if I wanted a micro pistol to carry I would opt for the P365.

I’d put the CS9/3913 in the same league as the P239. All the same pros and cons generally apply.

All in all great guns generally surpassed by current tactical Tupperware. That DOES NOT make them any less effective just that being out of print if the person asking me was looking for their first/only gun for primarily defensive reasons then I would steer them away.

Since you, like most of us, are FAR beyond that dude I say go for it. They are great guns, old school metal is cool and if it breaks (most guns are hell for stout and it probably won’t) you have plenty of others to fall back on.

My two cents.

I do like the 3913 better for some reason yet I am not a smith semi auto guy.

I do have to wonder, between this gun and a 9mm Shield, which would both carry and shoot better? Since you can just go out and buy a Shield (and at a good price), and get any parts you might need easily, is it worth going for a long discontinued gun as a carry piece.

And getting out of Smith-land, you can throw any number of single stack (and with the P365 even double stack) 9mms in the comparison.

Thanks for the points cslinger... all good points.

BBMW... valid points as well, except that I have plenty of plastic guns and the CS9 is somewhat nostalgic for me. If I bought one, it would likely go into rotation with others I carry. It would not be a primary or “sole” carry piece.
Thanks guys.

I have two CS9s. A late production stainless, with Novak night sights and ambi safety (I'm a lefty) and an early production black version with plastic sights and single sided decocker/safety.

The CS9 is the direct descendant of the ASP pistol, made by Paris Theodore and cousin to the Devel guns made by Charlie Kelsey. Those pistols were the ancestors of all the small single stack 9mms we have available today. S&W stole heavily from both designs in producing first, the 469 "Mini gun" and later the excellent 39XX series, followed by the CS series guns.

Initially, I was not a fan of the CS9. Back when I was still in Investigations, I didn't really have a need to deep conceal a gun. And the black CS9 I purchased back then, was nice, but didn't really do anything "better" than my 3913 and 3914 already did. So I sold it to amother guy who wanted it for his daughter.

When I retired, I found I DID have a need for a "gun to carry when I can't have a gun". Amd the little CS9 9mm fit the bill, perfectly. It is accurate, especially with my carry round, 147 grain RA9T. It will routinely put 8 rounds into a sub 3 inch group at 15 yards. My stainless CS9 is the same. Very good accuracy. And both are bet your life reliable.

I did modify both my CS9s. I purchased two sets of the cut down Delrin grips from member TercGen over on the blue forum. These really make the pistol more concealeable and no more difficult to shoot. I put a thin "Gripper" rubber grip sleeve over the Delrin grip and aquired some 7-roumd magswith the rounded flat baseplates, made for the early 3913TSW. With these mods,I can carry the black CS9 in a DeSantis Nemesis holster. Either IWB or in my pocket if circumstances dictate. Pocket carry is not a method I prefer though.

As far as how the CS9 compares to the "modern crop" -of conceal carry single stack 9mms, I prefer it to ALL of them. It is smaller than many of them (its about the size of a PPK, but lighter) and in my experience more reliable than all of them. More accurate than all but a few too.

The CS9s are currently my only 9mm carry guns. The rest are all in the safe, retired. I have no need of anything else, in 9mm, as they perfectly cover my needs.

They are everything the ASP pistol aspired to be - with better sights. I advise the OP to buy it, shoot it, love it. You will be glad you did! Regards 18DAI

Very good 18DAI, most appreciated!

I had one a few years ago. It was compact and shot perfectly. Accuracy was good for a small gun and it was quality built. Like another poster commented on was the grips. In my opinion they are way too big for the pistol and I agree about the comment of them being very grippy, in that they would snag/grip onto my shirts when I carried it as my ccw. The grips are comfortable to shoot but I could not find any other types to swap them out of. I have seen some people convert other S&W 3rd gen. plastic grips to fit the CS9, but it takes a bit of work/finesse. Mags can also be very pricey now-$40-50.00. I wound up selling mine later on.

Thanks 18DAI.

My pleasure! Great little pistols!

One thing I forgot to mention. I notice, on various gunboards, people worrying about parts. Let me share this, as a long time user, who still shoots and carry these guns.

In almost 28 years of using these guns, daily, I have broken 4 parts. 3 of those on 1 gun, my 457. Several years back, I had a MIM mag catch snap, like the cheap pot metal it was. I replaced it with a steel catch I got from the local S&W LE rep. Not one problem since.

My 457, I qualified with and carried during the last year I worked investigations. Then I used it at my job as an instructor at the local indoor range. After 18 months of that it had a high round count. I broke a sideplate. And a mag catch wore to the point it was dropping mags during firing. BOTH PARTS were readily available off Gunbroker. In fact, I routinely look at Fleabay and GB and I see almost every part you would need to fix any model.

These guns are well made. Well built. The TSW series and Value line guns were designed with extended service lives. Shoot the guns and enjoy them. In the unlikely event something breaks, it can be fixed. Regards 18DAI