All handguns are individuals and have preferences. I don’t have a Model 59, but your feeding issues could be a slightly rough feed ramp. You might want to look up someone who works on old Smith autos and see what he says. Novak in West Virginia (304-485-9295) has worked on my 4506 and 1006 and might work on a 59.

My first handgun was a 6” Model 27-2 in 1974. It is the same as the Model 28, but with the deluxe finish. It is a pretty beefy .357. Mine hasn’t been picky about what it shoots well. For personal defense, 125 gr. loads seem to be the preferred answer. For inexpensive practice with factory ammo I like to use the 158 gr. CCI Blazer. It is a little milder than many factory loads and shoots well in all my .357s. I would stay away from the older style lead ammo loaded to full performance velocities. I can remember years ago leading my 27 pretty badly with that stuff. Cast bullets with mild loads shoot well in my guns and won’t lead things.

awesome advice, thanks for chiming in

DEMON-I collect mod 39&59s and have found that buffing the loading ramp and using almost any ammo except S&B solves almost any problem I have had with these models(I currently own 9 39s and 14 59s and have owned many more over the years). I am not trying to bad mouth S&B but this has been my experiance in the past.

nice, gotta set aside some time with a dremel and the auto, thanks for the advice

I've shot handloads and factory rounds, including hollow points in my 59's, 39's without problems. They never needed ramp work or additional gunsmithing. Try yours with some good, domestic ammo and it should work just fine. Just the obvoius, make sure you have field stripped and cleaned and lubed the 59 before judging how it functions. If it has been stored for a long time, there could be old oil gumming up the works. Good luck. You have an excellent pistol, the quality of which Smith and Wesson just wishes it could still make.

Awesome advice, i knew i was shooting cheap ammo so i wasnt all that surprised to witness the FTF's that it had. I was actually quite impressed with how the 59 operated since my father didnt shoot it that much and it could of been close to 20 years since he actually fired the gun. Keeping it oiled and in a cool and dry place definitley did wonders with preserving the finish. Truly a testament to what happens when you do things the right way.

My first handgun was a nickel plated model 59 bought it brand new. Wish I had that one still.