Just received a model 59 9mm smith and wesson pistol. Can anyone tell me if this is a good pistol, reliable?

What type of ammo should I shoot for defense. 124 or 115 grain?

NEED OPINIONS!!!! HELP

Good pistol if a bit bulky in the handle for me, I would use the 115's for SD. They are a bit faster and usually open up well.

I owned a couple and they were reliable with ammo that was somewhere near the length of a ball round. Mine didn't like short 95 grain HP ammo. I would expect the 59 to work fine with any 115 gr. or heavier bullet. Most any modern JHP would be OK. Sources I respect say the CorBon DPX 115 gr. +P is the best defensive round in 9mm, but there are lots of other good loads.. However, the 59 was made prior to +P and +P+ ammo availability and if it was mine, I would use a standard pressure 115 gr. load like the new Hornady Critical Defense load or the Speer Gold Dot.

They are nice pistols but a bit more finicky about ammo than later guns.

that's a dang good old 9mm

I have a 59 and a 39. I think the 39 S&W 9MM was S&Ws first modern auto. The 59 was made for the Navy as I recall. I like the 39 better. Its smaller. They both will shoot anything I put in them. I prefer the 115.

I had a Model 59 back in the 70's - it shot OK. As noted previously, most of S&W's 1st Generation centerfire pistols could be a bit ammo sensitive. If you stay with standard weight loadings between 115-125 grains they were pretty reliable. Most 1st Gen pistols performed best if well lubricated, as well.

I knew several rather well. Their owners found them very nice but they would not take much really hot NATO class ammo. By today's standards that would be the +P+ stuff.
Ditto with the 90 gr. ammo such as the Super-Vel stuff of that era. Some of them, anyway, wouldn't feed it reliably. If your's won't, it will show up in 20-50 rds.
All this doesn't mean it's not a good gun, it just needs to have some testing. Even the modern designs sometimes are flawed. E

Thanks for the input! VERY helpful. Took her to the range today . The gun was already very dirty, so I left it that way just to see how it would perform. I picked up some Winchester 115gr fmj 100 pack from walmart. (white box) Out of 100, three had a very low report and failed to eject the case. When I extracted the fired case I got a handful of green powder looking stuff in my hand. I also picked up some Federal 115gr JHP's all the FMJ (except for the 3) and all the 115 gr JHP's feed flawless and I was surprized at how accurite and easy to handle this little pistol was. I was plinking at 6" steel popers and had no problems. Some of you mentioned the fat handle. I does feel alittle big in my hands until I shoot it, then it is quite comfertable.

Over all I think it will be a great little gun.