In the early days of the Smith & Wesson Performance Center, all the emphasis was on performance. Guns like the 845 and the PPC9 were not all that flashy, but performed about as well as a centerfire pistol is capable of. This pistol was was test fired in 1998, which is years before some of the later Performance Center pistols were introduced. In fact, its a full five years before the 952 first hit the market.
I have made no secret over the years about how highly I think of Smith & Wesson's Performance Center autos. I own a number of them and plan to own even more before I’m done. The PPC9 has a stellar reputation for being a standout even among Performance Center pistols and is known for being one of the most accurate and precise pistols ever built in the states.. They came in a few different configurations, including a 6“ model. The PPC9 was also offered in different calibers, in which case the name changed, but the gun was basically the same.
As the name would suggest, this was Smith & Wesson’s PPC pistol and was only available to law enforcement during its years of production. Its based on the 5906 service gun, but meticulously tightened and accurized. The Aristocrat sights are fully adjustable and have a few preset positions as well. The tall front sight is easy to pick up on target. The trigger is extremely light and crisp. Its better than the 952's trigger by a slight margin and even slightly lighter than the 845's trigger, making it the nicest of any of the Performance Center autos. The ugly standard black plastic wraparound grips were changed to even uglier Hogue rubber grips by a previous owner. In addition to that, the safety was changed to a Smith & Wesson ambi safety. Included with the sale were the single sided safety and the original grips, but I see no reason to change back to either. If the grips get changed, it will only be to a nice set of Nills. Other PPC9 features include checkering on the front strap, an extended mag release, and a two tone stainless finish. Like all the vintage PC autos, the PPC has the Briley bushing doing a great job holding things together on the business end.
Despite all these accolades, the PPC9 was never a pistol that I felt that I needed to have. The 952 always satisfied my desire for the Performance Center 9mm. However, the more I heard about it, the more I figured I’d pick one up if the right deal came along. I also shot Yuns’ PC3566 a few times, which is the same basic pistol, and I felt it was incredible. :thumbsup:
Speaking of the deal, that might be the best part of all. I got the gun with the box and all papers and a total of 10 mags for $1550 on GB. I was notified of the auction via a saved search on the morning of the fall GT shoot. After looking it over for a short time, I clicked on the “BIN” button. I did not think it would last until the shoot was over at that price and I wasn’t taking any chances.
The gun itself is in good overall condition. It shows some holster wear, especially on the right side, but certainly not bad. Being stainless, I can buff most of it out if I want. Internally, the gun looks like new. The seller said he fired a total of 50 rounds through it since buying it from the original owner, who supposedly shot less than 1000 rounds. If all that is true, the gun may have less than 1000 rounds through it. After field stripping the pistol, I can say that's most likely the case. One other note is that this particular PPC9 has the shorter underlug that doesn’t run the entire slide length. I actually prefer the more common full underlug from an appearance standpoint, but I do like that it gives my pistol a style that distinguishes it from my 952's.
I did get it to the range yesterday, along with one of my 952's and a few others. I’ll give a full report on that soon, but the PPC9 did not disappoint. Its definitely on par with my most accurate handguns.
Does anyone here own a PPC9? If so, what do you think? :dunno:
As always, please enjoy the pics and share your thoughts.
Thanks! :supergrin:
Here you can see the old Performance Center packaging. Its just a plain box with a sticker on it...
The test target is hand written, which is pretty funny.
I have made no secret over the years about how highly I think of Smith & Wesson's Performance Center autos. I own a number of them and plan to own even more before I’m done. The PPC9 has a stellar reputation for being a standout even among Performance Center pistols and is known for being one of the most accurate and precise pistols ever built in the states.. They came in a few different configurations, including a 6“ model. The PPC9 was also offered in different calibers, in which case the name changed, but the gun was basically the same.
As the name would suggest, this was Smith & Wesson’s PPC pistol and was only available to law enforcement during its years of production. Its based on the 5906 service gun, but meticulously tightened and accurized. The Aristocrat sights are fully adjustable and have a few preset positions as well. The tall front sight is easy to pick up on target. The trigger is extremely light and crisp. Its better than the 952's trigger by a slight margin and even slightly lighter than the 845's trigger, making it the nicest of any of the Performance Center autos. The ugly standard black plastic wraparound grips were changed to even uglier Hogue rubber grips by a previous owner. In addition to that, the safety was changed to a Smith & Wesson ambi safety. Included with the sale were the single sided safety and the original grips, but I see no reason to change back to either. If the grips get changed, it will only be to a nice set of Nills. Other PPC9 features include checkering on the front strap, an extended mag release, and a two tone stainless finish. Like all the vintage PC autos, the PPC has the Briley bushing doing a great job holding things together on the business end.
Despite all these accolades, the PPC9 was never a pistol that I felt that I needed to have. The 952 always satisfied my desire for the Performance Center 9mm. However, the more I heard about it, the more I figured I’d pick one up if the right deal came along. I also shot Yuns’ PC3566 a few times, which is the same basic pistol, and I felt it was incredible. :thumbsup:
Speaking of the deal, that might be the best part of all. I got the gun with the box and all papers and a total of 10 mags for $1550 on GB. I was notified of the auction via a saved search on the morning of the fall GT shoot. After looking it over for a short time, I clicked on the “BIN” button. I did not think it would last until the shoot was over at that price and I wasn’t taking any chances.
The gun itself is in good overall condition. It shows some holster wear, especially on the right side, but certainly not bad. Being stainless, I can buff most of it out if I want. Internally, the gun looks like new. The seller said he fired a total of 50 rounds through it since buying it from the original owner, who supposedly shot less than 1000 rounds. If all that is true, the gun may have less than 1000 rounds through it. After field stripping the pistol, I can say that's most likely the case. One other note is that this particular PPC9 has the shorter underlug that doesn’t run the entire slide length. I actually prefer the more common full underlug from an appearance standpoint, but I do like that it gives my pistol a style that distinguishes it from my 952's.
I did get it to the range yesterday, along with one of my 952's and a few others. I’ll give a full report on that soon, but the PPC9 did not disappoint. Its definitely on par with my most accurate handguns.
Does anyone here own a PPC9? If so, what do you think? :dunno:
As always, please enjoy the pics and share your thoughts.
Thanks! :supergrin:
Here you can see the old Performance Center packaging. Its just a plain box with a sticker on it...
The test target is hand written, which is pretty funny.
