Thank for clearing that up for me. I'm a little disappointed that the gun is not from the film noir era of the hard-boiled detective, but it's still a super clean little revolver that I won't mind shooting at least once.

The seller had a few more small frame S&W revolvers, some with boxes, and a flat latch in similar condition to the one I bought, but I liked the later latch look better. I paid $380, which seems like a good price. All his small-frame guns were priced about the same.

What got me interested in this particular model was one that my uncle showed me in the late 50's - early 60's. He had plenty of guns, but told me that he "just had to have it" (the Model 36) when he saw it in a local gun store in Daytona Beach. It really appealed to me as a small kid looking and holding a kid-sized "real gun". I had seen a few recently in top-notch condition, but the prices in my area (south central PA) were always above $500, which struck me as too much. So, on an impulse it's now my turn to say that I "just had to have it".