IAW the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson "Chiefs Special Target versions were produced and marked 36-1 and as Model 50 in ramdon and limited production from 1955 - 1974" Now some more confusion. Engineering and Production changes 36-1 shows 5 changes, 1967 Indicates 3" heavy barrell,1968 Delete diamond insert in the grip, 1969 Begin J serial prefix at J1, 1975 Heavy barrel standard. 1982 Eliminate pinned barrel. So what we have so far is the Model 36-1 which is the Special Target with ramp front and adjustable rear, and /or a Model 36-1 which simply shows that one to 5 engineering changes have been made. So, if your 36-1 doesn't have a ramped front sight and adjusable rear sights. also being that it is nickled, then I would guess you have the 36-1 that has one to five enginerring changes. A S&W letter costs 35 dollars and will tell in what configuration it left the factory and where it was shiped to. The serial number of your gun shows it was made in 1969-1970. If I had to make a guess and that is all it is, I would say that in 1969-1970 they dropped the designation of 36-1 for the Target model and went with the Model 50 instead. After1969-1970 the 36-1 was a standard Chiefs Special.
