Picked this little guy up yesterday at the local police supply house. They had a whole row of Model 37s. All in various conditions and ages with a mishmash of grips.

I picked this one, it is just about flawless, with a little scuff in the upper corner of the frame on the right side, the grips number to the gun:







I have not cleaned it yet, but at this point I can't see any evidence that it has been fired since it left the factory.



At this store you checkout with someone other than your salesman and when he looked at the gun his comment was "You know this has a Charter Arms cylinder release on it"?

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Dave

Vances?

Nice gun! They. Had several older smiths last time I was there

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Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Sweet looking little piece!

Here is my new to me Pre 36 Baby Chief.






Sits in a pocket holster by Ryan Grizzle

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The American dream is alive

Was that from Vance's? Man, I do miss my trips up there.

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M&P Pistol and Rifle Armorer

That's a real good-looking little J! Great deal too .

Yes it was Vances. It was a zoo. Had to be 100 people in that tiny store. they were just pumping out guns. We had been to the new Gander Mountain prototype "Gun Store" in Reynoldsburg right before Vances and there might have been 20 people in the 30,000 Sq Ft store. I also picked up a very nice condition Baby Russian from Vances. The "Charter Arms" comment just cracked me up.

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Dave

Now that is funny!!!

You did very well with this. That price was reasonable for that gun. Actually better than reasonable, given the gun's condition. I tried to buy one similar to this recently. It had a small amount of finish wear on the barrel and cylinder, but had one bad scratch through the finish on the fore strap. It was all the way across the front strap and into one of the stock panels. The guy had it on consignment at a local gun shop and I talked to him directly. He wanted $599. I offered him $400 and he told me I was nuts. Said he could put it on GB and get close to six. I don't think I'm the one who is nuts!

The store manager argued with the guy, telling him my offer was reasonable, but to no avail. He finally came down to $550. I passed!

I'd like to have an Airweight to go along with the 1964 vintage Chiefs Special that I carry all the time. But I'm not willing to pay 25% too much for one! I certainly would have bought the one you bought for $429. Good for you!

Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Todd. If you are now living in Jackson Hole, I can see why you might miss the gun shop, but I imagine you don't miss the flat lands of Ohio very much (no offense meant to Ohio, by the way). Your area is beautiful, in my opinion. If they told me I couldn't live in Alaska anymore, your part of Wyoming would be high on my list of alternative places to live. I hope you enjoy it there!

Jack

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

That Vance's sounds like a breath of fresh air! I go into gun shops around here & ask if they have any used Chief Specials, and they either give me a blank look --- or at one place, the guy handed me a CS-9 semi-auto. Not!
That looks like a very nice airweight Chief. I'd love to have one like that...but not as nice. I did buy a darned near pristine model 37 not long ago, but it was so nice I couldn't bring myself to hack off the hammer spur & polish down the trigger blade the way I like 'em so I ended up selling it off.

Dave,
That is the nicest early 37 I can remember seeing. And excellent price. A Charter Arms flat latch indeed! It truly does almost look unfired but the tell-tale on the alloy frame guns is the white circle around the firing pin plate (hammer nose bushing). It takes very few shots for the case rims to wear off the anodizing.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I love it here. Could never go back to "big city living". I do miss some of conveniences. We don't even have a Taco Bell here! I think this area is as close as it comes to Alaska while still being in the lower 48. Grizzlies, Moose, Wolves. I'm only an hour from Yellowstone. It's pretty awesome.

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M&P Pistol and Rifle Armorer

I looked at one of these at a gunshow Sat. Actually it was a pre-model 37. Looked like the OP's gun, asking price was 495.00. Probably could have got it for 450.00 OTD but that was still a little to much for me anyway. Great little guns, I'm going to get me one one day.

I have to agree. A few years ago, I spent a few days in Bozeman, attending some meetings. One day a couple friends and I took some horses and rode way up in the mountains just for a little R&R. We found a few places with great views of the Yellowstone Valley. It was a marvelous afternoon! I keep telling myself that I should find a way to get back down there for a hunt sometime. We don't have elk to hunt up here . . . But then, you don't have caribou, right?

Yeah. That's pretty funny. We lived up here for several years before there was a single Taco Bell in Alaska. Finally, one was built in Anchorage (which is almost Alaska). Now they are everywhere.

Jack

Sorry for the off-topic post, guys!

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318