Revolver Question?

A

Ala Dan

Member in memoriam
This question is for the purpose of gaining information on
two particular firearm's; the old original Colt Detective
Special and Smith N' Wesson's Chief's Special, model 36.
The question is, which one of these two fine firearm's
was introduced to the American public first; and it what
year did that occurr, for each? As always, any and all
replies or comment's are certainly welcome.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
The Blue Book says on the Colt patent date on barrel is Oct. 5, 1926. Mfg. 1927-1946. Made in both round and square butt but it seems the round butt was mfg. 1934-36.

No listing for the 36 but the Model 50 (.38 Chiefs Special Target) started in 1955. Someone must have better info then that.
 
Good topic Dan. I dont know about the dates on the Colt but let me pass on some imfo on the J-frame. In 1949, C.R. Hellstrom(of Smith & Wesson) requested the engineering department to begin designing a new small frame revolver that could fire the more powerful .38 special cartridge. The new revolver would incorporate a slightly larger frame than the I frame that was currently in production. The new frame size was to be called the J frame. The J-frame revolver was designed as a five shot .38 special with primary emphasis on size and weight. In a effort to trim the cost of the model, the new design featured a coil mainspring rather than the traditional flat mainspring.The first J frame was completed on October 24,1950 with a new serial number series specifically for J-frame revolvers beginning at 1.-from the History of Smith & Wesson by Roy G. Jinks.
 
In addition, the Chief's Special, what later continued as the Model 36, was first offered for sale in 1951.

The Chief's Special Airweight, later continued as the Model 37, was first offered for sale in 1952.

The Bodyguard Airweight (Model 38), was first offered in 1955.

The Centennial (Model 40), 1952 to 1974.

The Centennial Airweight (Model 42), 1952 to 1974.

Interestingly, there was never a pre-model number version of the Bodyguard with a steel frame. It was only introduced as the Model 49 Bodygard in 1959.

That may be the only time in S&W's history that an airweight preceeded the steel-framed version.
 
A special thanks is in order to all who replied. I knew that
I would get quality information, from our panel of expert's.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, Life Member N.R.A.
 
Just to add a bit to the history. The first Chiefs Specials looked almost exactly like the old Terrier, except for the slightly larger frame and longer cylinder. Only a few reached the market before S&W switched to a ramp signt, different latch and Magna stocks.

When S&W decided to get into stainless steel, they picked the Chiefs Special for the obvious reason that such a gun was more likely to be carried close to the body and be subject to rust. The first production ran into a slew of problems. One was that the hammer and trigger did not harden properly. Another was that stainless ate machine tools at an alarming rate, some reports saying ten times the rate of wear of tools employed on carbon steel. To sell at a profit, the retail price would have had to be far above the competition. S&W had to suspend production for some months (I forget how long) and rumor had it that the stainless steel gun was DOA. The few guns available became instant collectors' items and prices went ballistic. Then S&W solved the problems, the market was awash in stainless steel guns, and the inflated prices collapsed, although those early guns still bring a bit of a premium.

Later, S&W, for some unknown reason, denied that they had ever had problems with producing stainless steel guns, but S&W people admitted it at the time and gave out the 10-1 figure mentioned above.

Jim
 
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