Hello! New to this forum.

My father-in-law recently passed away and he left me his favorite handgun: a Model 36 Chief's Special revolver.

I am trying to find out what year it was manufactured and what the approx. value of it might be. It is in near perfect condition except that the hammer has been cut off. Apparently, he had this done years ago to prevent it from snagging when pulling it from a pocket or jacket.

Serial number is: 177xxx
The number stamped inside the cylinder pivot is: 38491

Below are a couple of pictures. The gun had two manuals with it like the one pictured. One of them was dated 1971 and the other dated 1973.

I believe they discontinued those diamond grips after 1967.

Welcome to the forum.

I don't think those manuals are original to the gun if they are dated in the 70's. The flat latch and the diamond grips indicate an earlier date of manufacture. Nice gun!

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Andy

Best guess would be a late 1950s ship date, the SN data on this model have large gaps.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Email S&W with the serial # & model. They will get back to you in a few days w/the DOB.

Nice Chiefs Special,
I have one close in serial with square butt grip ...Well actually the GF has it now.
Probably made in the late 50's or very early 60's.
You can replace the hammer if you would like the option of firing it single action.
Something about the diamond grips with flat latch that looks so unique.
thanks for sharing it with us.

Beautiful little Chief you got there.

You asked about the value of it?

I would guess in the $300 - $350 range. But since it was your father-in-law's, I would rate it as...

PRICELESS!

But that's just me.

I know my dad's Victory model is probably only worth a coupla hundred bucks (if that much) but I wouldn't take a zillion dollars for it.

Hello
Nice Model 36 with attractive diamond PC grips and a flat latch. Everything about this gun yells "late 1950s." But as a previous poster said, the family history makes the gun.
Keep it, shoot it, love it.
Thanks for posting the picture.
JP

Great gun, nice grips. I have one with a 3" barrel from around 1976 - 1977. it shoots great. You will love it.

Thanks everyone for the responses. Funny that I didn't even notice the differences of the diamond grip and the latch compared to the picture on the manual.

I agree that the gun is priceless to my wife and I and we will be keeping it and probably passing it down eventually as well. I was just curious as to what the market value is for a gun like this. He also left us a brand new SW40VE that has never been fired.

I took the .38 to a firing range this past Saturday and shot 50 rounds through it. It shot beautifully but I didn't like the hard wooden grip. I would like to put a different grip on it, something that would be more comfortable and absorb some of the recoil. Anyone have any recommendations? Obviously, it sounds like I should keep the original grip to maintain the original value of the gun.

I would also love to be able to shoot the gun single-action and wonder what it would cost to replace the hammer?

Try the J-Frame Pachmayr grips - I've found them to be quite comfortable with small round butt S&W revolvers.

You should definitely put the original grips and the screw in a safe place and hang onto them.
JP

Nice gun, i have a 1976 3" heavy barrel. love how concealable it is and how well it shoots. you'll love it!

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.38 Chiefs Special Model 36-1

I believe that this gun has a square butt. Someone correct me if I'm wrong? I have been looking at the Pachmayr grips and it seems their square-butt choices are much more limited than their round-butt options.

I took the grip off the Chief and I am pretty sure this would be considered a square butt?

def a square butt

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.38 Chiefs Special Model 36-1

I did e-mail S&W and they got back to me and said the revolver was manufactured in 1962. Pretty amazing that it will be 50 years old next year! I guess I did post this thread in the right forum section after all!

Thank you for the suggestion, Old Cop!

There are many choices of grips out there even for your Sq butt. Look at Uncle Mikes and Hogue also for excellent rubber grips.
Hammer replacement is usually a drop in. They are easy to find for your model 36 for under $50, check out Gunbroker. A local gunsmith will probably have one and install it for you. You'll get much more enjoyment from shooting it with a single action option.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

The 36s as I've tracked them are going for a bit over $400.

Here's my, albeit short, track taken from finished auctions, local gunshops, and internet classifieds.

Smith & Wesson Model 36 1-7/8 in Bbl Revolver in .38 Spl. Bluebook of Gun Values (32nd Edition) indicates between $380 in 95% condition and $590 in 100% condition for this gun. I have 62 recorded prices for this model gun from $250 to $600 over a period of 3 Yrs 5 Mos ending May 16, 2011. The average price as of that date was $394. No refurbs, no refinishes, regular sights. All represented as 95% or better. No distinction for import location or engineering revision, if any, no special editions, no distinctions for box, papers, tools. Current or last MSRP is $822.

Here's a chart that's five months and eight prices behind the data. You can see the Average Price Trend is about $440 five months ago. Better than average examples would command higher prices, especially with box, tools, papers to go along with the gun itself.



The Bluebook of Gun Values adds:

Add $158 for case colored frame (mfg. 2008-2009).
Add 25% for early small trigger guard and grips (below ser. no. 2,500).
Note: 1st models with high polish blue and diamond grips will bring premiums when mint in original box.

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Bob

I have seen others post on here about rating guns by percentage. Where can I find out more information about how that works? How can I rate my gun?

Also, I didn't mention it before, but this gun did come with the original box. Obviously the manuals (from 1971 & 1973) are not originals. It also came with a couple of cleaning brushes but I don't know if those were original to the gun or not.

Buy or borrow a copy of the Bluebook of Gun Values to read their methodology. Visit the NRA sight to learn theirs, some of which can be picked up at the Auction Arms site.

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Bob