Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire S&W 4586

I have an opportunity to buy one in pristine condition .What's the general opinion of them ?

If I was going to buy another single stack .45 pistol, it would be a good 1911.

But I think the 4586 is a solid gun.

The Third Gen S&W autos are generally excellent handguns. They have a good reputation as reliable, accurate, bomb-proof pistols. The DAO guns like the 4586 have a long trigger reset and that can take some getting used to. They are heavy compared to a plastic frame pistol.

I carried a 4586 as a duty gun when I was state police.

While I love 3rd Gen .45s, I despised that gun. very hard to shoot fast and accurately due to the DAO trigger, as compared to a gun like a 4506 which is very easy to shoot well. We had a BUNCH of people struggle to qualify with those guns, or who scored low. When we switched to .45 ACP Glocks, the scored went up substantially. It is to the point that people who we mediocre shooters with the DAO Smith and shooting in the low 70% range were shooting in the high 80s and low 90% range.

They are well built guns, but the double action only trigger on them makes them a poor choice for fast and accurate marksmanship as compared to other designs. I will take a 4506, or a 4563 every time over a 4586.



The 4563 is the best of breed. An aluminum frame DA/SA with a 4& 1/4" barrel. Think of it as a DA/SA lightweight Commander that is an absolute tack driving machine!