I put a 3" model 36 from the late 60's on 24 hour hold today. I wasn't really looking for one, but it looked so cool and was in such great condition. Looked ALMOST new (not quite) and locked up better than any revolver I've ever held. I think "excellent" is a fair description, though I don't buy a lot of old guns. Grips looked perfect.

It's $449. What do you think of that price? Also, do you think that a 3" would be fun and accurate to target shoot with now and then? My 4" model 10 isn't a target revolver either, but I really like shooting with it. It's pretty accurate.

Jim

I used to own a 3 inch square butt #36, that I foolishly sold. Great balance, and accurate for what it was. I have not seen many around like it over the years, and the price seems right to me. The polished blue, steel frame J frames have a look and feel of quality lacking in modern versions.

Larry

I think you'll love it. It is much easier to shoot accurately than a 2" 36. I carry mine a lot around the farm in a flap holster Ray @ Lobogunleather made for me. It rides out of the way when I'm on the tractor or fooling with fence wire and such. I keep mine loaded with 146 grain wadcutters and a middlin' dose of Unique. Not a target load, but not a screamer either. It has been one of my favorites since I got it. I also picked up a 3" Model 37 this last week. I carry the same loads in it, and it is a sweet shooter, too. I love the three inch j-frames.

Finished challenged Model 37. Not bad for <$200.


Model 36-1 and Lobo holster.

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Georgia On My Mind

So you guys are encouraging me to go through with the deal...that's what I was afraid of It really is something to see an old S&W revolver in such nice condition.

WOW! $200 for that great old gun! That's really a find! I never come across stuff like that

I paid the same price for one in similar condition a year ago, and have never regretted it. I shoot a 3-inch noticeably better than a 2-inch, which is why I have a half-dozen 3-inchers and ONE snubby!

I prefer 3" j frames. They are well balanced IMO.

The 3" 36 is much easier to shoot than the 2". It's also a little better balanced. And, it looks better.

However, I carried one of those puppies as a main service revolver many years ago when I with the AFOSI. My experience with them, and AFSOIs experience overall, was not exactly something to write home about.

Don't plan on shooting them a lot if you're using anything over very light 38spl loads. You will shoot the gun out. And I mean OUT! AFOSI retired a lot of these guns over the short time that they used them. And, finally ditched 'em altogether. They simply didn't hold up for the type of use they were put to, and supposedly capable of withstanding.

Yep, they're nice to look at, nice to shoot, but they're really fairly fragile.

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SgtSam

I shoot mine - a lot. No fragility experienced here.

Expound upon this a little, please. What kind of use was AFSOI putting them to? I have a couple of 40 year-old 2" Chiefs Specials, each of which I have personally put a thousand-plus rounds through, probably half of it commercial +p, and they ain't showed no signs of "fragility" yet.

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Georgia On My Mind

Fragile?! Nuh-uh. My 36-1 shoots a lot of THE LOAD - ask St. Elmer how strong a steel J-frame .38 Special is.

I love my 3" 36. Light, carries super easy with the skinny cylinder but is much more shootable than a 1 7/8" gun due to the longer sighting plane. (It's still no target gun, though I have an easier time shooting it accurately when I put larger stocks on the thing - this has to do with the size of my hand and the distance between a J-frame's backstrap and trigger, not with the gun's inherent accuracy.) It also hits a heck of a lot harder - that extra 1"+ means something in a .38. Downsides are you can't pocket-carry it and you lose that extra round. Seriously, though, I put THE LOAD in it and carry it on hikes up Bear Canyon . . . which has been called that since the Spanish Colonial days for a reason.



Jim, in that condition, it sounds like a pretty fair buy. You won't be able to buy one for that price a year from now, I would predict (especially not with the way we're printing dollar bills). Those of us who have these 3" J-frames really like them - I remember the old grizzled guys snatching these 3" Js up when I managed a gun store more than 20 years ago. As a whippersnapper at the time, I didn't get it, but I caught on . . . .

I know if I happened across that same deal it would be on layaway about as long as it took to do the paperwork. I would love to have a three inch J frame round or sqaure.

I wouldn't want to be without a 3" J frame in 38 special. I have a 337 airweight that is my constant companion and a 60 that I take when I plan on doing any amount of shooting. Great guns and I am sure you will enjoy yours as well.

Ward

Just for a little balance, I bought a 3" HB RB 36 about 40 years ago, 'cause I couldn't find a 2" at a reasonable price. Model 60's were selling at twice MSRP when you could find one, so I bought the 3" 'til I could come up with a "real" snub. I gotta' tell you, I hated it. Barrel was too long for pocket carry, couldn't find a holster to fit, may as well have carried my 4" Model 15. I didn't care for the balance at all, & if it shot any better than a 2", I couldn't tell it. JMO, your's may be different.

3" J frames are very pleasant to shoot, even with full power loads (not necessarily +P). The one favorite I have is the 36-6 with the full lug barrel and adjustable sights. It is extremely accurate, in the 2" at 25 yds. category. The only thing negative about the 36-6 is the matte finish is not very tough, it will show wear quickly. It's stainless counterpart the 60-4, is just about the perfect all around .38.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I was fortunate to find a 3" RB model 36 NIB but made in 1970 a few years ago. I put the firestones on it. Theresa shot it and proclaimed it hers! I have been borrowing it. For compareson, I have two exspendsive 357s, a snub 2 1/2" nickle python and a 3" s&w 66-3 lew horton special. It dawned on me that most of the time when I packed them I was useing .38 special amyway. I started packing the 36 when I ride the quad on the trails. It seems to weigh a lot less, easier to pack, same ammo must give same ballistic`s, and I am packing a $300 gun instead of a $1,000 one in the dust. I really havent shot it much yet. Edit: Just to keep myself straight on these storys, I seldom carry the same gun twice in a row when I boondock. I am adding two more pictures of a old M&P and a converted heavy duty to .44 special I carry the most. I also like to take a winchester 92 clone in .357 or .44 mag too. Rideing the trails here is our biggest activity that we like to do, hence the long post.

I have a 3" M37 with hip grips that I pocket carry regularly wearing jeans. I use the clip to hook it to my front pocket.

My wife took this glamouris heroic picture of me the other day on a quad ride of me wearing our 3" model 36.

Riding in your dust? You should be ashamed of yourself. I only hope my 4 wheeler is faster than yours so I don't have to eat your dust. Your friend, Big Larry

The Buffalo Bore website lists their .38 swchp 158 grain +p at 1040fps/379 ft. lbs in a 2" Model 60. They list the same load at 1143fps/458 ft. lbs in a three inch Ruger SP101. Interestingly, there is very little difference in velocity from 2" to 2.5". The jump is from 2.5" to 3".

The BB +p ammo shoots to point of aim at 12 feet from both my 2" and 3" j-frames. For some reason, the load is more comfortable for me in j-frames than in k-frames.

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Georgia On My Mind

bottom to top mod. 36-1, mod. 37, mod. 43

/c

Larry and I soon will be rideing together. I seen a post here and noticed we are in the same town. We hooked up and larry showed me a collection of guns next to none! I cant carry his water!

Hey you guys, I BOUGHT IT!! Thanks for the encouragement and experience. I got it for about $425 after the discounts and stuff. I brought it home and I'm not disappointed at all...it's just as appealing when it's not in a lit guncase. I wish I was better with cameras and computers so I could show you a picture...I'll keep trying.

I LOVE old Smith and Wesson revolvers. I feel very fortunate to have found it when I wasn't looking for one. Now I can go back out and prowl around for what I WAS looking for...a model 14

"Hey you guys, I BOUGHT IT!! "

Man...how often have I shouted that.
36-1 & 60-10


We're gonna' need pictures of that revolver ASAP.

GF

You are definitely going to like it!

Bought mine off a local towns Chief of Police for $225. Had the oversize J-frame target grips on it. Sold them and bought the Hogues. The like new 3in Bianchi 5BHL came from a shops bargain box for $15.

To those that wanted me to expound a little on the use that AFOSI put their M36s to, here is a little more info.

All AFOSI Agents were, at the time I was in the organization, required to qualify twice a year. The qualifying was virtually an all day affair. I don't remember exactly how many rounds we put through them each time, but it was a considerable number.

If you were on one of the specialty teams, or some other type of special ops, you were required to qualify four times a year. Same courses of fire, plus additional. We fired both double and single action courses. I was a four timer.

Now, these guns should have held up with no problem. S&W guaranteed them to do so when the Air Force bought them. They were bought to replace the M15 to enable AFOSI Agents to have a more concealable weapon under our suit and sports coats. The ammo that was used exclusively was the military .38spl hard ball. I don't know from whom this ammo was purchased. I do remember, however, that the quality control surrounding its manufacture didn't seem to be the best. Most of the rounds felt like maximum .38spl loadings without being +P, a loading which we didn't really have back then. Some felt like a .22lr and if we couldn't positively determine that we had hit the target, we would check the barrel to ensure that the bullet had exited. And sometimes, it felt like a damn fullhouse .357.

The final result was that a number of these revolvers experienced problem such as, bulged cylinders, cracked forcing cones, extremely excessive end shake, and binding when trying to fire them. It got so bad that AFOSI started to look for a new gun, just 3 to 4 years after the M36s had been put into service.

It might have been the ammo? It might have been a number of guns in which the steel just had been made correctly? It might have been a number of things. Of course, not all of the guns purchased experienced these problems. But enough of them did that it caused a logistic problem keeping serviceable guns in the field. Periodically, all of the guns had to be cycled through the Air Force Armory at Lackland AFB for complete checkouts and necessary repairs.

That's about all I can tell you as I was not personally involved with the decisions surrounding the gun.

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SgtSam

Go ahead and buy it! I've had one for decades and rely on it. It's from S&W's golden age of quality and hand fitting. It works every time.

Shot mine today as a matter of fact. No target pistol but accurate enough.

The only gun fight I was ever involved in (Brownsville Texas 1980) my weapon was my trusty 36 Chief's 3". I felt fully armed and survived to tell the tale.

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Jim

I think a 3 inch model 36 is about as good as it gets. I have seen them in my area for $499 in 98%.

I have my little M36 3" nickle in a hollowed out book on my night stand. I found it in a pawn shop with the original box and papers.
Mine was born in the late seventies. The quality for this little jewel is outstanding. BUT don't let those good looks fool you, this is a deadly piece of hardware and will serve you well. I practice drawing and firing from IWB and it is the fastest pistol I own to draw and fire. I don't shoot +Ps in it but but the bad guy will not notice.

I would need 500 or better for this one, as it's not for sale. That is what I think I would need to find an older Smith in like condition. My two cents. John I.

Attached Images

Model 36 No Dash 3 incher. 002.jpg (81.3 KB, 39 views)

My new woods running gun is a #36-1 HB RB. it shoots great with my 158gr. swc cast bullet at medium velocity. I also carry two rounds of snakeshot. we have a lot of snakes in Ga.

Yep, and the 36-1 is an excellent choice as a snake gun, especially in Georgia.

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Georgia On My Mind

I (once again!) outsmarted myself on Gunbroker, and I have TWO 3" Model 36 SBs on the way to my local dealer. One is a no-dash, the other a -1. Both look great in the pix. Just shy of $400 each with shipping, another $10 each once I do the transfer. So, if you got a great condition one in person for $449, you did pretty well. I'm looking forward to mine!

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LEO since 1981.

What part of Ga. are you in. I live in Dallas, but hike in the Cohutta WMA

Great gun, whether NIB or everyday carry piece.

NIB 1970
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