S&W semi pistol decocker question....

[sailor2000]

The S&W semi auto owners manual says, in part, "NOTE: Certain specially manufactured Law Enforcement pistols may have a decocking lever which will lower the hammer and then automatically return to the fire position."

Anyone know which pistols they mean? Or, put another way, can I modify my CS45 to have a spring loaded decocker??

[JLaw]

Hmmm, I don't know the answer. If nobody here knows you might try emailing S&W and ask them what it would take to convert your CS45 to decock only.

JLaw

[MoJo]

Just decock and turn the safety off. Thats what I do with my S&W 3913.

[Odin]

The S&W semi auto owners manual says, in part, "NOTE: Certain specially manufactured Law Enforcement pistols may have a decocking lever which will lower the hammer and then automatically return to the fire position."

Anyone know which pistols they mean? Or, put another way, can I modify my CS45 to have a spring loaded decocker??

Some police agencies wanted weapons with no manual safety so S&W made weapons for them with a decocker but no manual safety. I don't know if S&W will sell the parts ot convert a pistol or not.

[G.C.Montgomery]

The S&W semi auto owners manual says, in part, "NOTE: Certain specially manufactured Law Enforcement pistols may have a decocking lever which will lower the hammer and then automatically return to the fire position."

Anyone know which pistols they mean? Or, put another way, can I modify my CS45 to have a spring loaded decocker??

Basically they're talking about all the S&W pistols of the same design type as your CS45. So that's all the 39xx, 40xx, and 45xx pistols as well as their cheaper 3-digit counterparts such as the 410. It used to be that civilians could still buy these if the contacted the correct distributor/dealer. The technical answer to your second question is, 'yes.' However, such modifications are not endorsed by S&W and I do not know if they offer the parts or service to modify pistol that were no originally shipped in that configuration. I also cannot tell you if said modification will require additional machining of the frame or slide. If it does, you may be out of luck.

My recommendation...Buy another pistol that already has a decocker-only control lever unless you are just married to this particular gun or the "traditional" S&W format. Sig Sauer pistols have had decocker-only control levers for as long as they've been on the US market and the venerable P220 (.45ACP) is offered in a number of different flavors including a redubbed/redesigned P245 that they now call the P220 Compact. The P220 Compact is of similar size to your CS45. I make this suggestion just as an alternative to taking a working gun out of service and waiting for it to be modified. I certainly understand the desire to "fix" a gun that otherwise is perfect. However, with so many choices available it's hard for me to justify making a substantial investment in any firearm that subsequently has to be "fixed" with potentially major modifications to it's basic mechanical systems.

[sailor2000]

As someone said, the first 'rule' of a gunfight is to bring a gun... (often repeated by a friend of mine who pocket carries a .32 all the time, to which I reply, "Yes... and that .32 doesn't qualify " )... which to me equates to as small a format as possible so it is more convenient to carry and therefor will be carried.... The second 'rule' is to carry an effective cartridge... the .45ACP appears to be the correct answer to that... bullet expansion or not.. the .45 has a long history of being reliably effective (and no, I am not trying to start another debate on that subject... it is the conclusion I have reached)... so... the above started my search for the smallest, lightest, most reliable .45ACP pistol I could find... as stated above, I had considered going back to the Star PD, but have decided that DA/SA is the correct answer for me... and the AMT backup was not the answer for a plethora of reasons... so all that brought me to the CS45... and, unlike many, I actually like the pistol... my size XXL hands seem to grip it well and comfortably, it hits where I aim it and from all reports is a reliably functioning pistol...

I need to look into just carrying with the safety off as MoJo suggested... can anyone suggest a site for information on the passive safeties on the S&W 3rd gen pistols?

Thanks

[G.C.Montgomery]

..I need to look into just carrying with the safety off as MoJo suggested... can anyone suggest a site for information on the passive safeties on the S&W 3rd gen pistols?...

Best of luck to you dude. All the cliche's quoted above are generally held as true. If the CS45 works for you, that's what matters most. MoJo's suggestion is a fine one and that's actually the recommended method for carrying pistols with simiilar safeties. The disadvantage of the system is that YOU have to "turn the gun on" each time those levers are moved to the decock/safe position. If you haven't already done so, check out http://smith-wessonforum.com or the somewhat smaller http://smithandwessonforums.com. When I was looking for more info on S&W revolvers, these were the biggest resources I found on S&W firearms in general.