Smith & Wesson Performance Center 4566 .45 ACP

This is the actual gun. The S&W Performance Center 4566 that Wiley Clapp wrote up in Combat Handguns under the headline "More Performance Center perfection, it's love at first shot." The included magazine pages document the evaluation, and the pistol in hand matches the one Clapp put through a Ransom Rest at his local club. That kind of paper trail is what separates a clean used Performance Center gun from one with a real place in print history.

The pistol itself is a full-size, all-steel .45 ACP built on the third-generation 4566 architecture, then handed to the Performance Center for the close work. Clapp's article spells out what that meant. Slide-to-frame fit so tight the rails feel like they ride on ball bearings. A Briley-type spherical bushing at the muzzle for precise lockup. A tuned double-action first pull running around eleven pounds with a single-action break near three and a half. The 4.25 inch barrel pairs with a heavy slide, and the gun tips the scales at roughly 38.8 ounces empty. It carries a 7-round magazine in the photographed configuration.

The controls reflect a deliberate change. That slide-mounted lever is a decocker only, not a safety, a Performance Center modification Clapp considered one of the most important on the gun. You also get a fully adjustable rear sight, a ramped front, coarse checkering on the steel front strap, and a section of Weaver rail molded into the dust cover for a light. The matte black finish is clean with light handling marks, and the Performance Center medallion sits proud on the right side of the frame.

Few of these left the shop, and fewer still come with the magazine that introduced them to the shooting public. For a third-generation S&W collector, this one carries documentation most never will.