Just to clarify, a gun cannot be "refinished" to stainless. The designation "Stainless steel" indicates that the base metal that the part is made of is a steel that is highly resistant to rust. Your model 36 was made of carbon steel, that is prone to rust, and was plated with something to protect the steel from water getting to it and causing it to rust. Carbon steel cannot be changed into stainless steel.

(Well, I suppose it could be but, it would involve melting the entire gun down and changing its properties before being converted back into a gun again.)

Hard chrome is an exceptionally tough and durable finish that looks, for all the world, like stainless steel and, shares the same external properties. Actually, its MORE impervious to corrosion than stainless steel.