In 1952, at serial number 21,342, a square-butt option was offered. The guns were blued, with case-hardened hammers and triggers, or nickeled. In 1957, when S&W switched to numerical designations, it became the Model 36. 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 a stroke of marketing genius, it was decided to let some of the potential purchasers name the new revolver. This was the first of S&W’s “J”-frame series. With a sturdier coil mainspring instead of the Terrier’s flat mainspring, and with a slightly beefier frame and cylinder to handle the. The result was a gun that retained its compactness, thanks to a stubby 17⁄8-inch barrel and a five-shot cylinder. Hellstrom instructed his engineers to turn the Terrier into something that could handle the more potent. 38 S&W, a cartridge that dated from 1877 and the days of the top-breaks. The only thing S&W had that even came close was its five-shot Terrier, which was built on a. Hellstrom realized his company was losing ground to the Detective Special. Indeed, the slightly larger six-shot “Dick Special” was the impetus for S&W’s snubby. For years its only competition was the Colt Detective Special. Even with the recent advent of ultra-compact handguns, the Smith & Wesson Model 36 remains an extremely popular pocket revolver.
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