Smith and Wesson 36-1 question

S

Soclosenotnear

New member
I'm eyeing one of these for sale for $399 but it is not a perfect gun. It has aftermarket cracked grips. Some slight surface rust here and there. But the most debatable thing in my mind(though it may not matter?), Is that two of the chambers in the cylinder have some pitting inside. The bore is nice and shiny and rifling looks nice. Is that a big concern? The bluing is decent and action is nice. This one was made in 1969. What says you guys about this purchase?
 
Pitted chambers would be a deal breaker for me. It is likely to cause fired cases to stick and that slows down reload time. It also points to the fact that the gun was likely not properly maintained. Have you removed the side plate to inspect the internals? There might be rust and pitting in there too.
 
I guess it all depends on what a 36 is going for in your area but for th condition you describe, I'd probably walk away and look elsewhere. You don't say if it is a snub or a 3". I paid $350 for my snub which is a plain no dash - i put Pachmeyer (sp?) combat grips and it is one of my favorite CCW. It was a pristine"shock drawer gun" when I bought it. I paid $300 for my 3" Model 36 which had very light wear on the blue from carry but it had been shot ver little - it had been an "off duty" carry for a former LEO and his widow had sold it to the LGS.

Tshe pitted chambers would also give me cause to ponder on it as it could give a problem on spent casing ejection as already mentioned. It sounds like the previous owner just didn't take that good of care of it. If you walk away, keep looking as 36s are out there

I reload and cast as well. Both of mine shoot very well and both are easy cCCWguns. The 3" I have makes a great woods gun. Besides 38 special, I also load 38 Colt Short and Long. I shoot a lot of 38 Colt Short out of the 3" using a Starline Colt Short, a cast 120 ish grain round nose slug over 11.8 grains of Red Dot. A heap round and lots of fun for plinking and varmints.

Good luck in your search. Any chance the owner would let you shoot some rounds to try it out - that wy you could check on how th pitted chambers work - there is always a chance they might be just fine. Then you could decide if it's worth making a counter offer, etc.
 
Sorry, I was under the impression all the 36-1's had the 3" "heavy" barrel. I run a pawn shop and it is for sale at my shop. I wouldn't be able to test fire it, although if it had any major issues, it would be warrantied.

I've only recently been into the older Smith and Wesson world and just got my first; a 15-4. I may just wait for the next one to catch my eye, which has been most things pinned barrel era.
 
Not having original grips that are serial # matched decreases value.
I have a 2" 36 and a 3" pencil barrel 36. Fine guns. I paid $219 for the 2" (17/8") a while back and $325 for the 3". Both had original grips. I liked and shot the 2" model so much I bought an Airwight 637 and put laser grips on it. Its my daily carry. You are i the right direction, just wrong deal unless you really want it.

I passed on a 36-1 a few years ago for $450 with some rust on the cylinder and barrel. I soon after found the 3" model I have now.

Good luck

Sent from my SM-T900 using Tapatalk
 
3 inch 36,

BUY IT!!!!.... at that price JMO but it's a great find.

While I would not call it rare, it's a great gun to carry. Unless you want it strictly for collectors value maybe some rusting and faux stag grips are boogers, but for protecting yourself you cant do much better. While the available stock of aftermarket stuff is getting smaller, there is a lot still available for this gun.
 
I appreciate everyone's opinions. I think I'm going to most likely pass on this one. I've just developed a desire to pick up old Smiths but I'll wait for something nicer/less expensive.
 
It's for sale at the pawn shop I run. Once a gun sits in the case for 60 days, it gets marked down slightly about once a month. I doubt this gun will last that long, but if it sits for a while, I could make a better offer. For $399, like you, I'll wait.
 
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