The Smith & Wesson 6906: Old School, Overrated, But Still Awesome

I think the Smith & Wesson’s 3rd Generation pistols are overrated. They don’t have the same staying power as contemporaries like the Beretta 92 series or the CZ-75. After owning and shooting several 3rd Gen guns and a single 1st Gen gun, I’ve come to understand why S&W didn’t win the Army contract.

Still, every time I see one behind the glass for a reasonable price, I can’t help but buy it. Since Florida is in the midst of a Second Amendment tax holiday, I snapped up a S&W 6906 that’s been haunting my local pawn shop.

For less than $500, the little compact came home with me. The 6906 is part of the 69 series, which are double-stack compact 9mm pistols. The “06” part of the name translates to a DA/SA gun that’s stainless steel. The 6906 utilizes a 12-round double-stack magazine and is a history lesson in how compact guns have radically changed.

Comparing it to a SIG P365, the S&W Shield Plus, or any other micro-compact 9mm tells an interesting tale. These guns are designed for the same task—concealed carry—but the modern micro nines are much smaller, thinner, and lighter. The 6906 is essentially a 59-series gun trimmed here and there to be shorter, but it’s certainly not thinner. Guns have come a long way in the last few decades

A Family Affair

S&W’s duty-sized semi-auto guns come in three generations. Interestingly enough, Smith’s first semi-auto, the M1913, isn’t part of the 1st generation. The 1st Generation started in 1954 with the Model 39 and extended through the end of the 3rd Generation in 1999, with complete support ending in 2006.

The 6906 features a 3.5-inch barrel and weighs a hefty 26 ounces. For reference, the P365 weighs 17.8 ounces. If you like ’em thick, the 6906 won’t disappoint at 1.33 inches wide. It’s a chunky, heavy gun disguised as a carry piece. Although, to be completely fair, the new Davidson’s exclusive S&W 940 weighs 23 ounces and change and only holds five rounds of 9mm.

In terms of length and height, it’s not bad at all. The grip is just long enough to fill your hand and give you a nice, full purchase on the gun without a dangling pinky. The width could probably be trimmed by removing the thick, cheap-feeling wrap-around grips. I found some fantastic-looking wood grips online, but at around $150, I’ll keep the plastic ones.

The sights are fairly standard three-dot sights. They’re metal and look and feel rugged enough for duty use, an important consideration since the entire 3rd Gen series were popular duty guns. The entire design of the 6906 feels tank-like. It’s beefy, heavy steel and was likely one of the reasons why so many police departments liked these guns.

The 3rd Gen guns were popular as police were largely transitioning from revolvers to semi-autos. Going from a steel revolver to a steel pistol felt a little more natural, and the addition of a double-action trigger made for an easy transition from double-action revolvers.

Inside the S&W 6906

Like all 3rd Gen guns, the S&W 6906 features a Browning short-recoil style action. These guns are primarily DA/SA designs, but S&W also made DAO (double action only) models. The DAO variants of the 69 series would be either the 6944 or 6946.

The 6906 is a DA/SA gun, but the hammer lacks a spur. When de-cocked, the hammer sits flush with the slide. The idea was to create a design that was less likely to snag and to enhance concealment. The slide-mounted safety doubles as a de-cocker and when pressed to “safe,” the gun de-cocks.

Adding a manual safety with a double-action trigger seems a bit like overkill, but that was the attitude of the time. The slide-mounted safety/de-cocker will always take second place to the SIG-style frame de-cocker. It’s just less intuitive overall.

The S&W series of automatics were big fans of extra safeties, and this one also had a magazine safety. Thankfully, magazine safeties are largely a thing of the past, and hopefully, grip safeties will follow.

To The Range

A 26-ounce 9mm semi-auto shouldn’t kick much, but much like the entire 3rd Generation series, this gun is surprisingly snappy. The extra weight and width of the grip would seem to lead to low recoil, but there’s just something about the 3rd Gen guns that led to more recoil and muzzle rise than you’d expect.

It seems like these guns feature fairly light recoil springs. A heavier recoil spring would likely help a bit. I’m going to look into some Wolff springs for my 3rd Gen guns to see if that tames some of the snap. To measure it, I shot the gun side-by-side with a P365, and even though the P365 is considerably smaller, it feels more controllable.

Maybe it’s the weight of the slide, but it’s also measurable via a shot timer and a target. Double-taps with the P365 take less than half a second, and the two rounds are less than an inch apart. With the 6906, my double-taps exceeded a half-second, and the rounds were often several inches apart.

That’s not to say this gun is hard to control. The differences are noticeable, but still minor. In reality, if you’re in a defensive firearms situation, the 6906 isn’t going to be too difficult to handle. It’s still very competent and easy to control overall.

Can It Shoot Straight?

The sights are what you’d expect from the era. They’re large, easy to see, and capable of accurate shooting. Engaging an IPSC-sized steel target at 25 to 50 yards isn’t difficult. At 15 yards, I can put them all within four inches or less. Within ten yards, from a rested position, I can drive every round into a two-inch circle. Okay, one might be “breaking the line,” but that still counts.

The 6906 doesn’t have a great double-action pull. It’s spongy and long, but not all that heavy. The single action is lighter and shorter, but still not the crisp, 1911-like pull you want from a single action. In fact, it doesn’t feel as nice as Beretta or CZ-75 triggers. Still, like the recoil, it’s not bad enough to create any practical problems.

I haven’t done a full “burn down” of the gun and won’t. I shot 200 rounds of standard 115-grain ammo. These are long out of production and no longer supported, so it’ll be babied in my collection. Within those 200 rounds, there were no malfunctions, and it was all Monarch steel case stuff.

A Big Little Fella

The S&W 6906 isn’t the most compact, the easiest shooting, or the most accurate pistol, but it’s still awesome. I’m not sure why I have such an affinity for these pistols, but every time I see one, I have to snatch it up. These hefty, old-school steel-frame guns are a blast from the past, and I’ll continue to collect them for reasons completely beyond my control.