M36 J rat

[sappyg]

Lately I've had a bug for S&W revolvers. 38s mostly and I'm still looking for a 642 w/o a frame lock. Anyway, I ran across a ratty 3" square butt 36 and couldn't resist that J frame charm. In this case, J rat charm.
It has seen better days. Surface rust was taking a toll. I don't think its been cleaned since Hoffa went missing. Chambers were just dirty. The bore was worse. A little CLP and Hoppe's 9 took care of that. Most all of the surface rust is now gone thanks to some 0000 steel wool and CLP. It cleaned up real good though some of the bluing is gone forever.
The grips are original to the numbers on the frame and have little wear. There is a lost outline on the left panel. Must have chipped off back in the day but who cares. The numbers on the butt looks like someone tried to file them off at some point. The finish is totally gone and the numbers are not true to the frame and stocks.
Lock up is crisp and tight. Beneath that crud and rust is an absolute diamond. the DA trigger is not that heavy and the pull is straight through. SA trigger is flat out drop dead sexy.
Looking forward to some range time this weekend but, in mean time, let's hear some J rat stories. The rattier the better. Hers a pic of my J rat

 

[rcmodel]

Must be the picture, but that doesn't look too ratty to me!

Looks very nice in fact!

Amazing what super-fine steel wool & oil will do isn't it!

rc

 

[PapaG]

If that's a rat I'll trade you ten pounds of cheese.

 

[sappyg]

Cell phone pics don't do this rat any justice and I swore off photo bucket a good while ago.
A little clean up and this little rat is the queen of the ball. Still want a 642 but am now 'quietly' looking for any Unwanted J rat I can find. Cheese and all.

 

[bannockburn]

Looks okay to me too. Always have had a soft spot for 3" barreled J frames.

 

[Lucky Derby]

Very nice Chief's Special.

 

[aarondhgraham]

I have your guns twin sister,,,

Meet Libby,,,



I wish I had a before picture of her,,,
I picked her up for a song at The Evil Pawn Shop.

She was wearing an ugly set of fake mother of pearl grips,,,
Inside they were marked "Made in Israel" of all places.

She had been dropped on concrete at one time,,,
Very distinctive dents on the top strap,,,
I took a fine stone to the high places.

A lot of finish wear but her action was tight,,,
I scrubbed her down real good,,,
And applied some cold blue.

Even I was surprised at how well she looks now,,,
You would have had to see her before.

My cost out the door was $275.00
I bought these grips at handgungrips.com for $30.00.

She shoots very well indeed,,,
There's nothing mechanically wrong,,,
She was just rode very hard and put up wet.

I named her after Libby Thompson,,,
AKA Squirrel Tooth Alice.

Aarond

.

 

[sappyg]

^^^ Those evil pawn shops are the best place to look for rats. Who else would be so bold to proudly display such a a thing and at those prices?

I'll hit that one again. It needs about a month to ripin up. Made mentle notes on the inventory.

 

[Twiki357]

I got a two inch no dash 36 about a year ago for $200. Good bore and tight lock-up and only light wear on the finish. It hadn’t been fired much, but the grips (Numbered to the gun) looked like they had been used as a hockey puck. Kind of the earmarks of a lot of carry in an ankle holster.

 

[Waveski]

Your 3" J-rat is just great. Nice topic , too.

I seem to remember an obscure band from the 60's named "Good Rats" ... a catchy song named "Joey Ferrari" is coming back to me .....

Sorry , I digress. Good Rat!!!

 

[Panzerschwein]

That rat is pretty! It's more like a hamster, which is a fairly attractive rodent by most estimates.