The Smith & Wesson Model 39 is an American-made semi-automatic pistol chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was originally developed for the United States Army service pistol trials of 1954, but after the Army abandoned its search for a new pistol the Model 39 went on the civilian market in 1955, becoming the first of Smith & Wesson's first generation semi-automatic pistols.
Overview[]
The Model 39 was designed as a potential replacement for the Colt M1911A1 in United States military service. It was the first American-designed double action pistol to be marketed in the United States, behind the German-made Walther P38. Although it never won any major military contracts, the pistol did see limited use with special forces units during the Vietnam War.
Notable Users[]
Private Vasquez carried a Model 39 with pearl grips as her backup sidearm during the mission to Hadley's Hope, as opposed to the standard-issue Heckler & Koch VP70. She notably used the pistol during her attempted escape through the colony's ventilation ducts.
Trivia[]
- Vasquez's sidearm returns as a "Legendary Weapon" in the video game Aliens: Colonial Marines, known as Vasquez's Pistol, despite the fact it was almost certainly destroyed by the grenade explosion in Aliens. Furthermore, the pistol in the game is erroneously based on a Colt M1911 instead of a Model 39 like it should be.
- It is somewhat ironic that Vasquez's Model 39 was replaced by a pistol based on the M1911, as in real life the Model 39 was designed to replace the M1911 in US military service (although it failed to do so).