Offered here is an experimental, and possibly one off, pistol created by the Smith & Wesson performance Center around what would become the Model 3566. It is chambered in the ill-fated .356 TSW cartridge. The .356 TSW was designed to bridge the gap between major and minor power factors in IPSC competitive shooting while still having lower recoil than .45ACP, the standard for major power factor. Smith & Wesson met all the requirements for their new pistol to be able to be used, however the governing body for competitive shooting made a change to the rules the following year to set the minimum bore diameter for major power factor to .40. Due to the poor marketing outside of the competitive world, this rule change effectively killed the new powerhouse cartridge. The pistol itself is merely marked with the serial number on the left side of the frame. It is fitted with a muzzlebrake, custom lightened slide with the rear sight milled off and safety hole plugged, special frame mounted safety, custom beavertail, and a small "gas pedal" style thumb rest behind the slide release. The frame is checkered on the front and backstraps with an integral magazine well, and side mounted optics mount holding a Tasco ProPoint red dot sight. Provenance: The Jon M. Maxwell Collection

Excellent, retaining 95% plus original blue finish with some minor handling marks and general wear from use. Grips are very fine with a cutout in the left grip and crisp checkering. Mechanically excellent. Sight operational. Don't pass up this opportunity to own this nearly forgotten piece of competition shooting history!