"New" Model 36 cylinder from MidwayUSA

[tguil]

I need/want a new old stock blued cylinder for my Model 36. (Bulged cylinder chamber.) My local smith and I decided that it is really too nice of a gun to "pinto-ize" it with a stainless Model 60 cylinder. OK, MidwayUSA supposedly has them. I have e-mailed them twice. They assure me that they are available but seem to avoid answering if they truly are new cylinders from the factory. I know the factory does not have these cylinders in stock nor do do they sell them to smiths or individuals...to anyone.

Cylinder Assembly S&W J-Frame Model 36 37 38 42 Blue

So what is up? Is MidwayUSA a reputable dealer? You will note that there is at least 60 day wait to receive the cylinder.

[jepp2]

My experience with Midway has been outstanding.

Numrich shows them as available in both blue and nickel, so why wait the 60 days that might be longer? link

[tguil]

I thought about Numerich. I want to be sure to get one that is like new...excellent blue, no rust, pits, etc. I'm not sure of what I'd get from Numerich. Thanks for the response.

[chief38]

Well it definitely states on their website that they are specially ordered from the FACTORY. I would take that as a yes.

[AZretired]

Either way you go Numerich or Midway, they are both reputable dealer and you can't go wrong.

[adowns]

You may want to consider a "parts kit" listed on GunBroker. They usually have every part except the frame which was probably cut up and thrown away. I repaired a Colt Agent with one of these kits. It looked like it came from a nearly new revolver and cost $70. I used the trigger, hammer, hand, and some side plate screws. I still have the rest of the parts including cylinder, crane, springs, side plate, etc.

Here is one for a Model 36 that has a decent looking cylinder plus all the rest of the non-frame parts. $50. Less than half the Midway price plus all the other parts for future use. I have ordered from this seller 2 or 3 times and always got more than my money's worth.

12-2281 Smith & Wesson 36 38spl gun parts kit : Gun Parts Kits at GunBroker.com

If you are not in a hurry to fix this revolver do a GunBroker search on "parts kit Smith" every week. He puts up batches of parts kits every now and then. Every parts kit is indivdually photographed. Look at the side plate. It it is mint looking, then the donor gun was probably never used much at all. A parts kit from a mint Model 36 will eventually show up.

This kit is already sold. It came from a very nice donor gun.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=286627021

[W.E.G.]

You can just return it if it turns out to be other than what you need/want.

I wouldn't count on the Midway email-answerer-person going into the warehouse and closely examining the exact cylinder that the picker-boxer-shipper-person will send you when you punch in your credit card on the web site.

[tguil]

Thanks for the suggestions. When it comes to guns, I have always bought new and have never had to have a gun "fixed"....until now. Been lucky I guess.

[hotrod150]

Did you end up buying the cyl from Midway? I just bought a blue 38 j-frame "parts kit" off ebay. I wanted the hammer & trigger to modify & put on a fairly pristine M60 I have, didn't want to chop on the original parts. I'll probably end up putting the cylinder /crane assembly & barrel up for sale here later.
I'm kinda curious how these parts kits come into existence. Being an eternal pessimist, it occured to me that if you had a stolen gun, you could dispose of the part with the serial number (the frame) & what was left over would be untraceable & sellable. Just saying...

[Hondo44]

Originally Posted by hotrod150

Did you end up buying the cyl from Midway? I just bought a blue 38 j-frame "parts kit" off ebay. I wanted the hammer & trigger to modify & put on a fairly pristine M60 I have, didn't want to chop on the original parts. I'll probably end up putting the cylinder /crane assembly & barrel up for sale here later.
I'm kinda curious how these parts kits come into existence. Being an eternal pessimist, it occured to me that if you had a stolen gun, you could dispose of the part with the serial number (the frame) & what was left over would be untraceable & sellable. Just saying...

Most commonly the kits come from police agencies that sell to and/or contract with a dealer to dispose of guns destroyed by the agency that were confiscated or crime guns after the cases are closed. The money helps offset department budgetary shortfalls.

[hotrod150]

They could offset their budgetary shortfalls even more if they sold the complete guns, after suitably notating their computerized LE records.
But I guess that would not be PC to those who think that guns (not criminals) commit crimes.