rintinglen
03-14-2014, 02:47 PM
About a month ago, I came across a used S&W 99 for sale in LGS. At 350 dollars, it was much cheaper than the other Plastic Pistols for sale, and since it came with a spare magazine, I thought worth the gamble to purchase it. I don't have a full-sized plastic pistol, and I don't like Glocks, so I was open for something different. And it is different.
First off, the magazine release is different from anything I've ever seen. The Release Switch, not button, is ambidextrous, but located at the bottom rear of the trigger guard. It works by pushing down with the trigger finger. It is easy to drop an empty magazine, but noticeably harder to drop a loaded or partially loaded one. Mine was very hard to operate at first, but after shooting a couple hundred rounds, half FMJ, the rest cast, it loosened up some. If you cut your teeth on a 1911 and practice speed reloads long hours into the night, this is not for you. However, I am more concerned that the magazine stays put than I am with how fast I can reload, so for me, it's not a deal breaker. In fact, I think I kind of like it. I had a experience with a 1911 losing the mag due to a worn magazine catch and a light spring under the magazine button. A very light touch was all it took to drop the magazine. I don't see that happening here. Still, if you are a push button kind of guy, this might not be for you.
Another oddity was the square head on the windage screw of the rear sight. It works fine, but does look odd. My gun was shooting about 3 inches low and 4 inches right with 115 grain Remington-UMC ammo at 15 yards. 2 1/2 turns of the windage screw put me centered, though still low. My 123.5 grain (though Lee says 120 grain) TC boolits loaded over 4,1 grains of WW-231 were just about dead on, perhaps an inch or so low, but perfectly centered. The manual says that S&W offered 4 different height sights, but given that this gun was discontinued several years back, I wonder how much support is still available. Be that as it may, the sights are clearly visible 3 dot patridge style, and the dots match up with the sights. Align the dots and you align the sights. In the poorly lit indoor range that was a bonus when aligning black sights on a black target.
The trigger is a little weird also. When you cycle the slide, the striker stays to the rear with a red tip protruding from the rear of the slide. Mine has a decocker button on top that converts the trigger pull into a long, heavy one, somewheres in the vicinity of 10 pounds. If you leave the gun cocked, the trigger pull is still pretty long, about 3/8" before finally releasing.
It stacks markedly just before firing and breaks at right around 6 pounds. (Trigger pulls are estimated not measured--I can't find my trigger scale). I couldn't find a web site that I trust that gave specs, so these are my best guess.
The last item of peculiarity is that the gun has replaceable back straps--mine doesn't have the small or large, and fits me well enough that I feel no need to alter it. If you've got gorilla mitts or dainty digits, then you might want to make a change. Most of us will find that the middle of the road is the best place to travel.
I have previously mentioned that the lighting on the indoor range where I shoot was poor, so take these groups with a grain of salt. They represent the best 5 shot, 15 yard group I managed off-hand with each of the 3 loads tried. I fired four groups with each of the first two loads, but only two of the 358-242 load. Except for the titewad load, there were no malfunctions of any kind in firing just over 200 rounds.
115 Rem-UMC FMJ 3 1/4 inches.
Lee 356-120 TC, 4.1 grains WW-231 3 3/8" (but three were under an inch!)
Lyman 358-242 122 grain RN, 3.4 g. Titewad, 3 3/4 note only two groups were fired this load did not reliably function the gun, the other group was pretty bad.
I shot a 30 round Qualification Course with it and scored a 292, with it. Starting with the gun in my right hand, low ready (no holster work on this range!) I shot 6 rounds right handed at 7 yards one hand, 6 rounds left hand only, then 6 rounds both hands followed by a reload, then 6 more rounds. Then 6 rounds at 15 yards,,Standing and kneeling. These are supposed to be shot with time limits from the holster , but the range has a "one shot per second" rule along with the aforementioned ban on holsters.
Height= 5 5/16th's inches
Length= 7 1/8th inches
width = 1 3/16th's inches
weight = 25 1/2 ounces, empty. 30 ounces loaded with 11 rounds 125 grain HP (this is California, after all).
All things considered I feel OK with my new purchase--for the money, it's good deal. 99524
First off, the magazine release is different from anything I've ever seen. The Release Switch, not button, is ambidextrous, but located at the bottom rear of the trigger guard. It works by pushing down with the trigger finger. It is easy to drop an empty magazine, but noticeably harder to drop a loaded or partially loaded one. Mine was very hard to operate at first, but after shooting a couple hundred rounds, half FMJ, the rest cast, it loosened up some. If you cut your teeth on a 1911 and practice speed reloads long hours into the night, this is not for you. However, I am more concerned that the magazine stays put than I am with how fast I can reload, so for me, it's not a deal breaker. In fact, I think I kind of like it. I had a experience with a 1911 losing the mag due to a worn magazine catch and a light spring under the magazine button. A very light touch was all it took to drop the magazine. I don't see that happening here. Still, if you are a push button kind of guy, this might not be for you.
Another oddity was the square head on the windage screw of the rear sight. It works fine, but does look odd. My gun was shooting about 3 inches low and 4 inches right with 115 grain Remington-UMC ammo at 15 yards. 2 1/2 turns of the windage screw put me centered, though still low. My 123.5 grain (though Lee says 120 grain) TC boolits loaded over 4,1 grains of WW-231 were just about dead on, perhaps an inch or so low, but perfectly centered. The manual says that S&W offered 4 different height sights, but given that this gun was discontinued several years back, I wonder how much support is still available. Be that as it may, the sights are clearly visible 3 dot patridge style, and the dots match up with the sights. Align the dots and you align the sights. In the poorly lit indoor range that was a bonus when aligning black sights on a black target.
The trigger is a little weird also. When you cycle the slide, the striker stays to the rear with a red tip protruding from the rear of the slide. Mine has a decocker button on top that converts the trigger pull into a long, heavy one, somewheres in the vicinity of 10 pounds. If you leave the gun cocked, the trigger pull is still pretty long, about 3/8" before finally releasing.
It stacks markedly just before firing and breaks at right around 6 pounds. (Trigger pulls are estimated not measured--I can't find my trigger scale). I couldn't find a web site that I trust that gave specs, so these are my best guess.
The last item of peculiarity is that the gun has replaceable back straps--mine doesn't have the small or large, and fits me well enough that I feel no need to alter it. If you've got gorilla mitts or dainty digits, then you might want to make a change. Most of us will find that the middle of the road is the best place to travel.
I have previously mentioned that the lighting on the indoor range where I shoot was poor, so take these groups with a grain of salt. They represent the best 5 shot, 15 yard group I managed off-hand with each of the 3 loads tried. I fired four groups with each of the first two loads, but only two of the 358-242 load. Except for the titewad load, there were no malfunctions of any kind in firing just over 200 rounds.
115 Rem-UMC FMJ 3 1/4 inches.
Lee 356-120 TC, 4.1 grains WW-231 3 3/8" (but three were under an inch!)
Lyman 358-242 122 grain RN, 3.4 g. Titewad, 3 3/4 note only two groups were fired this load did not reliably function the gun, the other group was pretty bad.
I shot a 30 round Qualification Course with it and scored a 292, with it. Starting with the gun in my right hand, low ready (no holster work on this range!) I shot 6 rounds right handed at 7 yards one hand, 6 rounds left hand only, then 6 rounds both hands followed by a reload, then 6 more rounds. Then 6 rounds at 15 yards,,Standing and kneeling. These are supposed to be shot with time limits from the holster , but the range has a "one shot per second" rule along with the aforementioned ban on holsters.
Height= 5 5/16th's inches
Length= 7 1/8th inches
width = 1 3/16th's inches
weight = 25 1/2 ounces, empty. 30 ounces loaded with 11 rounds 125 grain HP (this is California, after all).
All things considered I feel OK with my new purchase--for the money, it's good deal. 99524