[pap1105]

i have a s&w m36 with lots of holster wear . i cant part with it . how many others love the old m36 . do you still carry it .

[Harry Paget Flashman]

I bought one in '74 and sold it in '77. Got a new 36-1 in '84 and have hung on to it.

[wuluf]

i inherited a mid '70's model 36 with a 3" barrel. fun to shoot and damn accurate.

[Croyance]

Bluing is too nice to wear out. Maybe on special occasions, as I have an odd thing about carrying nice looking guns when after all, nobody is supposed to see it.
I'd feel damned bad about it being banged around in an evidence room.

[Johnny Guest]

In 1967, shortly after I became a deputy sheriff in Fort Worth, an old guy retired and wanted to sell his off duty gun. It was a like-new, blue Chief's Special, complete with a very neat little flower carved holster and a five-loop belt slide. I carried an S&W Highway Patrolman on duty and thought it'd be nice to have a small revolver that would shoot the same practice .38 handloads. I paid the asking price, $50, for the Chief and accessories.

I used a load from a then-current Lyman manual - - 158 gr lead bullets over Unique. CAUTION: The following loading data exceeds currently published maximums for this cartridge. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The High Road, nor the staff of THR assume any liability for any damage resulting from its use. The low end load was 4.0 gr. Unique, and maximum 6.0 gr. I felt that 5.0 would be a good medium. :eek: (Yeah, this is ABOVE max in the current manuals. :rolleyes: )

I cast my bullets from scrounged wheel weights. Back then, Unique was $3.00 a pound and primers under a penny apiece. Even on a new-hire deputy's salary, this was pretty cheap entertainment. The lady I married a few months later liked to shoot, too. I shot many thousands of that load through the little Chief's. As well as point shooting, I regularly practiced at 100 and 200 yards with my handguns, including the snub. It wasn't as easy to hit with as the N- and later K-frame holster guns, but I could do it. After a sufficient number of practice sessions, I found I could regularly win Cokes or beer bets by popping a five gallon can with the Chief at 100 yards. It's a wonder the lil' piece held together through all that.

Alas, my wife and I parted ways after a time. Happily, we did so on pretty cordial terms. In the property division, she took her 20 gauge 1100, a .45 automatic, and the old Chief. I still see it from time to time, when I clean it and replace the ammo with fresh loads. I've no idea the last time it was fired.

Some years ago, I adopted the Model 37 Airweight Chief's for pocket carry. The alloy frame won't take so much abuse as the M36, and my practice load is with a moderate charge of 231 powder.

Best,
Johnny

[longboard]

My ex-wife got mine in the divorce.:fire: One of the best guns I've ever owned.
A very sad Longboard

[Sundles]

The Chiefs Special is a true classic. It was my first snub. Got my first one when I was about 15 years old. ( early 70's) Shot hot loaded wad cutters out of it, amoung other things. Carried it a lot. Something teenagers were not supposed to do, but no one seemed to care back then. There were no gangs then.

Used it defensively one time. I didnt shoot, but I was ready and willing. Backed off three very large and drunk college (the college will remain nameless) football players that threatened to rape my girl friend and kill me as we hiked in a large remote coastal park in Oregon, when I was 17. She was an eye catching blonde that was too pretty to believe. The little model 36 did back them off. Ive often wondered since that day, if 5 wad cutters loaded to +P levels, would have been enough for three 250lb+ men. I'm guessing it would have worked out ok as I shot the darn thing all the time and my nerves were not failing at that moment.

[loplop]

Glad it worked out, Tim, and you didn't have to fire a shot.

I love the J frames, the model 36 especially. I have been looking for the "right" 36 for awhile now, and I came upon an unfired 1969/70 vintage blued model in a dealers case, with original box, cleaning rod, etc. It was a honey of a gun, only marred by a tad bit of rust at the tip of the muzzle, and a pinprick of rust on the cylinder. The gun looked to have sat on its side for the last 38 years.

When I brought it home, I excitedly showed it to my wife, who promptly claimed it "hers." She loves that little thing! I have been buying 38spl handloads from a local dealer, real powder puff 38 target loads. She loves those.

I've shot it a few times, and it really is a great gun. There's something about the J-Frame that just feels (and works) right in my hands.

I'm on the lookout for one of the new Mod. 36's. I might just buy mine in Nickel, and make it my Barbeque Gun :neener:

[Sistema1927]

The Dad of one of my High School buddies had the nicest 36 I have ever seen. It was high polish nickle with beautiful blond wood magna grips. The nickel made it look so much better than the stainless of the 60.

I have looked high and low for a pistol just like that one, but no luck to date. Instead I have a Square Butt 1980 vintage 37 and a recent 642.

[loplop]

Speaking of M.36, I saw a "two tone" 36 at a local gunshop this weekend. 3" barrel, the cylinder and barrel were blued, the rest was Nickel. Does anyone know anything about this revo? I've never seen anything like it before.

Sistema: I agree, the Nickel 36's are so cool. Even the new one:
http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/images/firearms/150197_large.jpg

[M2 Carbine]

The model 36 is one of my favorite guns. I've got five and I'm always looking for bargains on them.
I've had my model 60 so long I don't remember when I bought it.

I get a lot of practice with the two and three inch barrel J Frames, especially in low light using the Crimson Trace laser grips.

One thing that bugs me is when people say the little gun is inaccurate and only good as a "belly" gun.
I shoot my J Frames out to 100 yards. Since the gun will stay on a silouette target at 100 yards, shooting at the close distances of 15-25 yards is well within the little gun's accurate range.:)

The model 36 is fun to shoot and a challange, especially doing somewhat unusual shooting.

I just bought a timer. It's interesting putting a little pressure on yourself trying to maintain decent accuracy while shooting as fast as you can.:)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/Bell406_206B/38timedlaser.jpg


Weak hand point shooting using the laser is just plain fun.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/Bell406_206B/THRtarget38laser.jpg

Then there's just nothing like just blasting away in the dark at 25 yards as fast as you can reload.
(the target is lighted just for the picture, while shooting there's just enough light to identify the target)
Dang, the gun missed the BG twice. Darn inaccurate model 36. Guess I'll have to trade it in.:D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/Bell406_206B/LaserdarkJFrame.jpg

[Sistema1927]

loglop,

Two tone, or "Pinto" revolvers are sometimes made that way by S&W, and at other times are cobbled together by gunsmiths. True Pintos that letter out from S&W are considered quite collectable.

I wonder what the going price for one of those re-introduced nickle Model 36s is? I bet that it is quite hefty.

[loplop]

Pinto like the Pinto bean? ;)

How do I tell if it came from the factory like that?

The new M36's are going for around $550-600, IIRC. I'd pay that. The new Nickel 25 I saw was *really* well done.

[Sistema1927]

Pinto as in Pinto pony (a multi-color horse). You can tell that it is the real deal by sending the $30 to S&W for a Roy Jinks letter on the gun.

[loplop]

The Pinto bean was also named after the horse.

Neato.

I'll have to go back and take a look at it. Can't decide whether to add it to the collection or not. Is the factory Pinto finish usually blue on the cylinder & barrel (like the one I saw) or the other way around (cyl and barrel nickel)?

[Sistema1927]

S&W Pintos can come in just about any configuration. I think that they are the result of boredom in the shop.

[loplop]

:)

Thanks.