The story of the S&W 908, a compact 9mm pistol, begins in the early 1950's with the introduction of the Smith & Wesson Model 39 semi-automatic pistol. In 1949, the US Army was looking to replace the Model 1911A1 service pistol in .45 caliber with a pistol that shot the 9mm Parabellum (also know as 9mm Luger) cartridge. Smith & Wesson created the Model 39 pistol for these tests. It incorporated the classic slide mounted safety and double-action, first shot functionality of the highly regarded pre-World War II  Walther series of pistols from Germany. Gone was the frame mounted safety of the 1911A1, as well as the ability to carry the weapon cocked and locked. It featured an 8-round, single stack magazine.
Although the US Army did not choose the new weapon as it's new service pistol, Smith & Wesson took the design and introduced it to the general public in 1955. The pistol did not sell well until 1967 when the Illinois State Police switched to this new design. Back then, revolvers were the standard in police departments and even after this ground-breaking move, no other major police department joined this switch to a semi automatic pistol until 1980. Prior to the 1980's, the .357 magnum revolver was the police weapon of choice.

The Model 39 pistol suffered from many problems including jamming and sudden malfunctions. Many of the troopers in the Illinois State Police considered the extra 2 rounds offered by the Model 39 to be a poor tradeoff for the absolute reliability of their revolvers. Fortunately, the Illinois State Police and Smith & Wesson figured out some of these issues and Smith & Wesson released the Model 39-2 pistol which had much better, if not perfect, reliability.

The Model 39 is the great grandfather of the Model 908 which we are reviewing in this article. However, many changes were in store for this line of pistols before we coming to today's variation of a dying breed of pistols. Today, we have several brands of polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols that no longer have a hammer or a safety. Pistols such as the Glock and Smith & Wesson's own Sigma line carry these features. Many believe that the long, double-action trigger pull of these pistols and the long, sweeping thumb safety are things best left in the past. We tend to differ and will explain why in a minute. First, some more history...

The next pistol Smith and Wesson introduced in this series was a design commissioned by the US Navy in 1965. The Navy wanted a large capacity pistol that could hold fourteen rounds, like the Browning Hi Power. The Model 59 was born from this contract. It was introduced to the general public in 1970 and was standardized with a fifteen round magazine. With the reliability enhancements of the Model 39-2, the Model 59 became a serious player in the police market. While some questioned the advantage of 2 extra rounds from the Model 39 over the ultimate reliability of a standard six shot revolver, many were willing to trade this off for the Model 59's ten round advantage over the revolver. As the 80's progressed, police departments all over the country adopted the Model 59 and it's replacements -- the new generation 439 and 459 series pistols. This new generation of pistols brought excellent reliability to the line and all of the pistol variations based on this generation were excellent and reliable weapons.

Next in this this line of pistols was the Model 3904. This was the latest refinement of the original Model 39 pistol. As an offshoot to this pistol, Smith and Wesson introduced the model 3913 in the early 90's. The Model 3913 was a compact version of the original Model 39 and was also offered as the Model 3913LS as the "Lady Smith" model. These pistols have a short 3.5 inch barrel but retain the original 8+1 capacity of the Model 39. Extremely reliable, these pistols became popular with civilians who needed an easily concealable package and didn't need 15 rounds of firepower. Smith and Wesson then released a lower cost version of these pistols as the Model 908 and 908S. The difference being blued steel versus stainless steel. These pistols retail for about 30% less than the higher priced 3913 pistols.

With all the talk these days about the polymer pistols such as the Glock, these all metal frame pistols based on an early 20th century, Walther design seem outdated and inferior. However, for the average civilian user, they may actually be the better choice. Striker fired pistols like the Glock are superior in the hands of well trained users. The light and constant trigger pull makes them easy to get on target and the lack of any safety lock makes them simple to use. But perhaps they are too simple? A fully loaded Glock or similar pistol will fire when you touch the trigger. Imagine a fully loaded Glock in your night stand drawer and reaching for it in the middle of the night while half asleep. What are the odds of touching that trigger?  Think about having to draw that Glock in a stressful situation. The adrenalin rush and the anxiety of a person who does not have the correct instincts burned into them by significant training will cause the user to automatically place the finger on the trigger -- a disaster waiting to happen. However, in the hands of a highly trained person, weapons like the Glock are highly effective and wonderful examples of state-of-the-art firearms.

Now let's look at the Model 908. The 908 is the economy version of the 3913 series of pistols. It has the long, double action trigger pull that requires at least 10 pounds of pull to make it fire. With the safety on, you can draw the gun or fumble in he dark in your nightstand for it and be completely confident it won't go off. The 908 is an extremely reliable weapon. We have put over 2500 rounds through ours and have never had a malfunction. Accuracy is also excellent -- better than many self defense pistols. The gun carries well and the thin grip, coupled with the short barrel, make it extremely comfortable to keep on you all day. We find that this old technology is highly effective and, for the person who will not or cannot devote the time to become a gun master, it is a logical and safe choice.