Thinking hard about getting a few drinks in me and ordering some 3rd gen Smith autos this weekend from the comfort of my living room.

I've got a decent selection of blued PnR'd wheelguns. Nothing fantastic or extotic but a faithful represntation of the breed. I have NO semis.

Always kept an eye out for a blued 39 but never bit. Now my nostaglias for the good things we have lost bring me back toward the chunky Smiths that seemed so old-fashioned and inelegant to me in the 90's and 00's.

Say you had to pick three guns for sale out now with a budget around $1500 for all of them. No cherries or NIB but not beater police guns either. Should I check out AIMs deals? Sellers or specific pistols on Gunbroker? All in 9mm. Actually .45 OK too. No DOA. I like blue but I guess they were all stainless or coated, right? Guess I'd prefer the coated finish but may like a stainless.

Actual purchase will be contingent on my wife sufficiently irritating me to activate my need to exact intramarital retribution through spending money on toys (investments!) that'll spend their whole lives in the crowded bowels of my gun safes until they're yanked out into the sun for a couple hours once a year. If they're lucky. She nags me again about getting a colonoscopy would do it for at least one pistol.

What is best?

I just got my C&R license and a 39 is on my short list. I always liked the feel of that curved grip…

$1500 for three decent selections is doable but not easy.  The 39 in particular has gone up in recent years and non-police trade in Smith nines have always tended to be on the high side.

I have a 39-2, 439, 5906, 6946, SW99, SD9, a couple of M&Ps and a Shield.  The 39-2 and the 439 are probably my favorites.  The SD  and one of the M&P and the Shield all have Apex triggers, a useful addition.  The SW99 is kind of quirky but I like it.

Its slim pickings. Aimsurplus only seems to have some 5946’s. Atlantic has a few different ones. I
Got my 5906 from gb for 455. I chose gb for the simple fact that I could see what I was buying.

I don't have any advice to offer, but I like the way you think. I finally added a 1911 to the safe a few weeks ago, after searching for a while; a really clean JRD serial'd billboard. It kind of got me interested in other non-wheel Smiths. Thanks for sending me down the rabbit hole again.