What is really the length of Model 36?

[jamesallen]

What is the real length of the Model 36 Classic?

The S&W website said the length of the original Model 36 in the 90s before it was discontinued was 6.3" , and it's what all the old S&W catalogs say.
Then, in 2007, when the Classic came out, it listed the length as 6 15/16".
The current website says that the classic Model 36 is 6.94" in length, which is 6 15/16 converted to decimal.

Did the Classic model 36 gain more than half an inch when it was issued as a Classic model? I find that hard to believe, since all the other .38 special J frames are 6.3". Or is this a mistake that has never been corrected since 2007?
My theory is that someone accidentally put a 1 in there, changing 5 to 15, hence 15/16, and no one ever bothered to check it or correct it.

1998:
Smith & Wesson .38 Special Revolvers
2008:
Product: Model 36 - S&W; Classics - 1 7/8" - Blue, Color Case or Nickel

 

[murphydog]

The Classic is built on the longer J Magnum frame. Don't own one so I can't say if it is really .64" longer than an older J frame.

 

[Alk8944]

The listed length of any revolver depends on many factors, one of the major ones being whether it is round-butt or square butt. The Model 36 is available in both butt shapes. Why is the exact described length important to you?

 

[two-bit cowboy]

What is the real length of the Model 36 Classic?

My theory is that someone accidentally put a 1 in there, changing 5 to 15, hence 15/16, and no one ever bothered to check it or correct it.

Your conspiracy theory is not correct.

Smith & Wesson changed the J-frame to the J-Magnum frame in
1996. Both the cylinder and the frame grew to accept the .357
Magnum. It was not called the Classic until at least 2001 when
the company added the internal lock.

In addition to the added length the frame lug went from a
riveted-in part to a beefy milled part of the frame. Another
change in 1996 was using metal injection molded (MIM)
triggers, frame-mounted firing pins struck by flat-faced
hammers, and beveled thumbpieces

The 2" model changed from the J-frame Model 36-7 to the
J-Magnum frame Model 36-9 in 1996. The 2001 J-Magnum
frame with the internal lock became the Model 36-10--that's
when my interest in the model faded off into the sunset.

Here are Models 36-7 & 36-9.