Smith & Wesson Innovations Through the Years

In this week’s No Lowballers podcast presented by GunBroker, we’re talking Smith & Wesson innovations through the years with Mike Helms and Vince Perreault. We dive right into it with Mike giving us a rundown of the .357 and .44 magnums that came from Smith & Wesson early on. We talk the history of the .357, how it was created, and how every other cartridge today is still measured up to it, especially in the law enforcement world. Smith & Wesson get a lot of their inspiration from ammunition partners who approach them with a cool new round looking for a firearm to match it, with the 30 Super Carry being a recent example of this. Next up Mike shows us a Smith & Wesson Model 39. After a failed attempt with the Model 1913, Smith & Wesson pivoted and came out the gate strong with the Model 39. The Model 39 was the first 9mm pistol built in America. The Model 39 was the single stack variant with Smith & Wesson quickly producing a double stack variant in the Model 59. Although never officially adopted, the Model 39 does have some military history in a suppressed version dubbed “The Hushpuppy.” With a suppressor and a slide lock, it completely took the innovation of a double stack semiauto away turning it into a single shot but it was almost one of the quietest handguns ever made. While not as popular in the collecting world as revolvers from Smith & Wesson, Model 39’s have slowly started to build a collectible following with prices rising on the market on GunBroker. Vince has noticed a trend in the “nostalgia bump” with many people requesting these style guns remanufactured in today’s market as new. Closing out, we cover a really exciting topic for Smith & Wesson. After almost 160 years in Springfield, Massachusetts, Smith & Wesson has relocated to Maryville, TN. While an extremely tough decision, Smith & Wesson did their research to make sure the new location ticked all their boxes for just where exactly they wanted to be. With the grand opening party coming up this Saturday, October 7th, 2023, they sold out all their tickets in less than a day. Distribution, plastics, assembly, and front office are all moving to Maryville with some manufacturing processes remaining in Springfield, where there is generational talent at the revolver and 1911 level for Smith & Wesson. The maiden guns coming out of Maryville should start rolling off the line at the end of October. With over 600,000 square feet of state of the art space that is laid out for maximum efficiency, Smith & Wesson absolutely cannot wait to start their engines in their new space. The show launches every Thursday morning. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.