Birthday Present 36 Flat Latch No Dash

[Sal Picante]

... with box and papers (and original receipt. Bought in Chicago!)

p/BWd-A8KgVDg
http://instagram.com/p/BWd-A8KgVDg/

[JHC]

Very cool. I've got a later production (no latch) 36-something? that I really like. True classics.

[Dagga Boy]

Those old flat latch guns harken back to another era. I just re live all those Dragnet episodes. It was "The" off duty/back up gun of that era (although Friday carried a 2" Model 10). They were hugely popular cop guns.

[ralph]

I see these quite often on old reruns of Perry Mason, and on Peter Gunn... Ahh, yes, the late 50's early 60's when guns were cash and carry, and 50- $75 could buy a nice pistol...

[willie]

$75 in the late 60s is today's $575.

The op's revolver is most definitely not +p rated. No +p developed then. The flat latch makes it early. Keep this one in the safe. During the middle to late 60s, the Vietnam War and law enforcement demand for products made any quality handgun extremely difficult to purchase. Law enforcement demand was fueled by unlimited federal grant money in addition to spiraling crime and race riots in major cities. Google the riots. I was in L.A in the summer of 1965 during the Watts Riot.

[dolphin62]

What year was it bought?

[willie]

I recognize the blue box and paper work as belonging to S&W when it was owned by the Bangor Punta Company, a conglomerate holding several other companies. B.P. bought S&W from the Wesson family in 65. The flat latch changed to the other one in 1966. This gun has diamond grips which were dropped in 1968. So this revolver was made from either in 1965 or 1966--that's my guess. B.P. was the beginning of lesser quality in S&W handguns. They sold the S&W to Lear Siegler who later sold it to....and so.

Roy Jinks was the S&W historian who wrote a book on the company's history. It's available. At one time I had an original typed copy of his notes giving this information. I sold it to a collector. I wrote the above from memory so I might be off a year on the dates.

[Stephanie B]

$75 in the late 60s is today's $575.

The op's revolver is most definitely not +p rated. No +p developed then.

Yes, but SAAMI apparently downrated the .38 Special in the early `70s.

[willie]

Stephanie, to the best of my knowledge, the industry has never downgraded .38 Special specifications. In the earlly 1970s +p ammo with higher pressures was developed, and in the late 1970s +p+ ammo was introduced. Specs for standard pessure loads have remained unchanged. The specs increased for +p and +p+.