A little Smith & Wesson Third Gen compact appreciation. My 3913 in 9mm, 4013TSW in .40 S&W, and 4516 in .45 ACP. I’ve always found the bobbed hammers on these pistols interesting. They’re a small design detail, but they give these guns a distinctive look, and there’s something appealing about the combination of traditional double-action mechanics and a hammer that’s been trimmed down to minimize snagging. Three different calibers, three slightly different approaches, and a lot of classic S&W engineering.

One thing I’ve always appreciated about the Third Gen lineup is how much variety S&W managed to offer within the same basic design family. The compact models weren’t simply shortened full-size pistols. They each had their own proportions, handling characteristics, and personalities. These three are great examples of that, and a reminder of just how much thought went into S&W’s metal-framed semiautomatics.

I went to the range with my 411 for the first time, and I noticed it was consistently shooting low. Made it very hard to be accurate with because I was trying to figure out how much I needed to compensate for it. There could be a few reasons, for one thing the previous owner replaced the original sights with Tru-Dot glow sights, and I was using PMC bronze ammunition, but it's very weird that it kept shooting low. Only other gun that I've had this problem with was my Zastava M57.