#Smith and wesson 915 reliability series#

The 39-2 is slimmer but you give up a LOT for that thinner profile. I think the 39-2 has it ALL over the 915 here.Д¬oncealed carry, home defense, personal protection? With higher capacity, more feed reliability, better safety features and a fairly thin grip for an otherwise fat double-stack, I think the 915 is the clear winner here as long as your hands fit it and you can handle the carry weight. The 39-2 is a classic icon in American semi-auto pistol history. The 915 is a low-buck, economy version of a workingman's service or duty pistol. Both are well built but the edge has to go to the 915 here.Д¬urb appeal, 'cool factor' ? We'll have to agree that this one will be assessed differently by each person. Fix-it parts aren't hard to find for either pistol if you do break something. The 3rd Gens are often referred to as 'tanks' and the 915 fits right in with that description. Which is more likely to run and run and not stop and not BREAK? Well, even the 'newest' 39-2 is going to be at least 10 years older than the 915 and built on older equipment. But as a blanket statement - the 915 will certainly have any edge here if there is an edge.Д«uild quality/longevity. Myself - I use all my S&W pistols for -FUN- and not for carry, so I never feed them anything but FMJ/RN so I have never explored the ability of my older ones to feed odd stuff. By the era of the 3rd Gen, that had pretty much been solved. Many of the oldest S&W pistols did not have the world's finest reputation for feed reliability in days past. Win for 915.ДЄmmo, feeding, operational reliability: the 39-2 was originally designed in an era where JHP ammo was either very new to market or suspect.

#Smith and wesson 915 reliability series#

The 915 uses the familiar 5906 series double stack magazine which are even easier to find and also made by Mec-Gar (the 39-2 is not) which gives you more capacity and are easier and less expensive to buy. The 39-2 is a single stack that originally held 8 in the mag, new production replacement mags are 9-rds now. On the good side, new old stock one-piece delrin grips are not hard to find.

They look good but they are slippery and grip options are not much. I think the grip is one of the true weaknesses in the 3rd Gen design. The 915 uses the very typical 3rd Gen delrin (plastic) grip. Grips: the 39-2 wears classic wood stocks and options are available. The 915 came new with a very dull, workmanlike finish that I found pretty attractive! But that finish isn't much for durability. The 39-2 seems to have varied over the years with some having very nice bluing and anodizing and some with plum coloring and quickly fading anodizing. I understand why the 915 has such a cheap/cheesy sight, but it is a slight deficiency. The 915 has dovetails so you can change sights if you were to choose, but the 39-2 offers a windage adjustable rear sight, and (IMO of course) a better sight picture. The single action trigger break is finer on the older 39-2 pistols, but it's certainly acceptable on the 915. The double action trigger pull on either is basically lost on me since I don't use either. I'm not exactly sure WHAT it is you'd like to compare about them, but I'll take a few swings anyway.