I’ve had exactly two accidental discharges with firearms. Both involved Smith and Wesson handguns, and the last one happened more than 35 years ago. It’s an interesting story.
My first firearm was a Winchester Model 250, a .22LR lever action with a tube feed. My first handgun was a Smith and Wesson Model 59. It had one dangerous flaw that I discovered once to my dismay- when you dropped it, it could go off. I dropped it once and shot a hole through my dresser and into my wall. That’s how it came to be that, when the Third Generation Smith and Wessons came out, I bought one. My first Third Gen Smith was a 4506. Without looking it up, it was, I think, the heaviest carry pistol I’ve owned. Made out of solid stainless, it was a giant boat anchor. Over the next few years, I accrued a couple of other Third Gen Smiths: a 5906, and a 4566. I ran into an issue with them.
I would take the pistol to the range, flick off the safety, and squeeze the trigger, and
nothing.
The hammer stayed back, the gun didn’t even go click. Each of my Smith and Wesson Third gens did that. I never did find out why. I just couldn’t trust them, and they stopped being carry pieces. I would have nightmares of drawing my handgun to defend my life, and my gun wouldn’t fire. I’m sure Freudians would have a filed day with it, but I think it was a fear instilled in me by three different non-functioning handguns. It was odd- they did it more often when new, they did it rarely, but it would happen every couple of hundred rounds.
Then came the day in 1991 when the 4506 didn’t fire, I pulled the trigger several times, nothing. I turned the pistol 90 degrees clockwise and attempted to see what was going on, and that is when it fired. Into the ceiling of the indoor range. My second ever AD with any firearm.
I bought a Sig Sauer 226, and eventually sold the Smith and Wessons. I didn’t buy or own another S&W for decades after that. In the interim, I owned Taurus, Beretta, Ruger, Glock, and other brands, but I was mainly a Sig Sauer guy for the next 20 years.
Looking back, the Third Gen Smiths were fun to shoot, but I just couldn’t get over the lack of reliability.
6 Comments
Big Daddy · August 27, 2026 at 6:25 am
I shot a guy in 2005 with a Smith 4506. It worked just fine! We never had any trouble with them other than they were huge and people with smaller hands had a hard time shooting them.
And if you ran out of ammo, you sure could beat the hell out of them with that thing!
AL · August 27, 2026 at 5:34 pm
I had a smith 22A that would spontaneously fire when racking the slide.
Had a 1006 that was a SWEET gun until I let myself be talked out of it “for the children.”
Doh!
Himself · August 27, 2026 at 8:07 am
I had a 5906. It was a fun range gun. Easy to shoot, accurate. Never had an issue with it, but wasn’t carrying back then. It was heavy. I have the same issue with my 1911. Cool to shoot at the range, but it’s like carrying a brick.
That risk of failing to shoot is why I generally carry a revolver. The SW bodyguard .38 +p is small and light and shoots well. Goes bang everytime you squeeze the trigger.
Big Daddy · August 27, 2026 at 7:21 pm
I was about 65 pounds fatter at the time, so that big rascal was pretty small as a percentage of body weight!
Now that I am in pretty good shape, it would certainly feel like carrying a brick!
For daily carry, I’m a Sig P226 man these days. 357 snubby on the rare times I wear shorts.
Vlad the non-Impaler · August 27, 2026 at 11:14 am
Family member has a 4506. He liked the accuracy of my 1911 and wanted a 45 for himself. (Why the f¥ck he didn’t get a 1911 is because he’s a cheap bastard)
He has a dead trigger more often than it shoots.
The Southern Nationalist · August 27, 2026 at 12:07 pm
I’ve never owned any of those S&W models but I do have a model 681 .357 that I think very highly of.
Being a “wheel gun” it’s never failed me yet. Second to that is my Springfield 1911 .45 semiauto.
Yeah, I’m old.
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