Talk:Smith & Wesson Model 36 / 38

Other variants of the Model 36 / 38

File:S&W '3 inch.jpg

Smith & Wesson Model 36 with a 3-inch barrel - .38 Special. This is not a common variant of this revolver.

Gold plated Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolvers with pearl grips and erroneous sound suppressors as seen in Austin Powers in Goldmember - .38 Special.

Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver with square butt - .38 Special.

Smith & Wesson Model 36 (nickel) - .38 Special. This revolver was used by Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in the film Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Nickel vs. Stainless

There seems to be some confusion in this article, since two of the images of nickel-plated variants are actually stainless variants. Aside from the significant difference in the appearance of the finishes, you can look at the trigger and hammer, both of which are of a stainless appearance on older Smith stainless handguns.

Model 36 vs. CDS

How does this weapon match up against the Colt Detective Special? The most obvious difference is the Detective Special's 6 shot capacity as opposed to the 36's 5, but are their other advantages the Colt has or does the S&W have benefits that outweigh the Detective Special's capacity advantage? -Anonymous

- I'm a bit Smith & Wesson biased myself. Still, objectively speaking, I myself (I had to choose between the two) would have chosen the 36 over the earlier DS because of Smith's ejector-rod socket (I never like fully-exposed ejector rods myself, they look goofy and are a very wee bit of a snag and damage hazard). However, later DS's have shrouds, so that problem is solved. Other than that, I'd have to say that the 5-shot J-frame Smith is probably slightly smaller (and therefore easier to conceal) than the 6-shot DS. Performance-wise, I'd say they'd have to be about even, but I'm not sure. As for the capacity difference, well, I don't think it means that much - As I alluded to somewhere else, if whatever the problem is can't be solved with five shots, I doubt the sixth will help that much. StanTheMan 02:29, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

The CDS is slightly larger, wouldn't that help control recoil better? Anytime I fire a .38 special only snub-nose I feel like each shot breaks my hand. -Anonymous

- Maybe you're just weak. :b Seriously, that might be a consideration. But again, I don't know - I've never fired a snub-nose myself (in fact, I've only ever personally shot one revolver thus far). StanTheMan 03:00, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

The problem is so many of the .38 snub-noses are built ultra-light for convenient carry which means the gun itself absorbs virtually no recoil. I find it far more enjoyable to shoot standard pressure .38 loads out of .357 snub-nose revolvers. And as for me being a pussy, possibly a contributing factor, however, uncomfortable recoil is a very common complaint with snub-nose revolvers. -Anonymous