Smith & Wesson Model 36 (Chief's Special)

posted on September 30, 2010
201093091429-img_3704_2_f.jpg

Even with the recent advent of ultra-compact handguns, the Smith & Wesson Model 36 remains an extremely popular pocket revolver. For years its only competition was the Colt Detective Special. Indeed, the slightly larger six-shot “Dick Special” was the impetus for S&W’s snubby.

In 1948, S&W President C.R. Hellstrom realized his company was losing ground to the Detective Special. The only thing S&W had that even came close was its five-shot Terrier, which was built on a .32-cal. frame and fired the anemic .38 S&W, a cartridge that dated from 1877 and the days of the top-breaks. Hellstrom instructed his engineers to turn the Terrier into something that could handle the more potent .38 Spl.

The result was a gun that retained its compactness, thanks to a stubby 17⁄8-inch barrel and a five-shot cylinder. With a sturdier coil mainspring instead of the Terrier’s flat mainspring, and with a slightly beefier frame and cylinder to handle the .38 Spl., it weighed less than 20 ounces. This was the first of S&W’s “J”-frame series. In a stroke of marketing genius, it was decided to let some of the potential purchasers name the new revolver.

Smith’s newest creation was unveiled in October 1950 at the Int’l Ass’n of Chiefs of Police conference in Colorado Springs, Colo., where—not surprisingly—attendees christened it the Chief’s Special. In 1957, when S&W switched to numerical designations, it became the Model 36. The guns were blued, with case-hardened hammers and triggers, or nickeled. In 1952, at serial number 21,342, a square-butt option was offered. Numerous minor changes were made through the years, including the switch from a flat to a contoured cylinder-release in 1966. Adjustable sights and 3-inch barrels are occasionally encountered. Most dramatically, in 1965 a variation of the Model 36 became the Model 60, the world’s first stainless steel revolver. Although the Model 36 was discontinued in 1999, in 2008 it became part of S&W’s Classic Series.

This 98 percent revolver was purchased in the 1980s for $85 and was carried briefly, then spent the next decades in a bedside drawer, where its 98 percent condition remained intact while its value rose. It is currently worth approximately $460 while still providing the protection for which it was designed.

Gun: Smith & Wesson Model 36 (Chief’s Special)
Caliber: 38 Spl.
Condition: 98 percent(NRA Modern – Excellent)
Manufactured: 1978
Value: $460

Latest

 American Revolution painting
 American Revolution painting

The Shot Heard Round The World: The Arms & Events Of April 19, 1775

April 2025 marks 250 years since the momentous events at Lexington and Concord—the opening salvos of the American Revolution. Today, exhaustive research of primary accounts and surviving firearms and artifacts give us a clearer picture of what really happened.

Gun Of The Week: Browning Citori 825 Field

Learn about Browning's latest version of the famed Citori shotgun, the Citori 825 Field, in this week’s range video.

The Armed Citizen® April 18, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

"The Shot Heard Round The World:" 250 Years Later

On April 19, 1775, simmering tensions between Great Britain and her colonists erupted into warfare with the engagements at the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord.

Watchtower Firearms Re-Organizing

Watchtower Firearms, a veteran-owned firm based in Texas filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in late February 2025 to restructure and re-organize its financial structure.

The Road To Revolution: 250 Years Later

The militiamen who stood in defiance on Lexington Green are the first who fired upon the British regulars, but the road to revolution was paved long before gunfire erupted on that cold April morning in Massachusetts.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.