It took nearly twenty five years for Smith and Wesson to answer Colt's entry into the snubnose revolver market with the capacity to handle the .38 Special cartridge. The Regulation Police revolvers that Smith and Wesson fielded previously were too low powered and too fragile to handle the 38 Special which was the growing standard in peace officer equipment. In 1950, Smith beefed up its I Frame Regulation Police revolver to use a .38 Special. And the Chief's Special was born. From then on, the reliable five shot J Frame would spawn many descendants just as popular today as it was then. I tested this gun and it exceeded my expectations.
Shooting the Smith and Wesson Chief's Special
Shooting the Model 36 Chief's Special was better than expected as I expected extreme recoil due a light gun like this one. The double action pull is crisp and rather short at eight pounds and a crisp break of two pounds in single action by cocking the hammer before firing. Ejection of spent rounds was clean and there were no stuck cases. Ammunition in the above video was a modest charge of Unique under a 150 grain homecast wadcutter projectile. Recoil is managable with these loads, but by no means light. Powderpuff factory loads would cause the gun to jump a bit less. +P ammunition is generally not recommended in these older guns despite the fact that in 1971, pressure for the 38 Specials were backed off in loading. In reality, the original 38 Special loading is very close to the warmer loads of today. Nonetheless, repeat hits on target at twenty five yards is guarenteed with a good grip and a fine bead on the target. Naturally such a gun would not be used at that range and seven yard combat groups are quite good. All in all, this package was created to save the life of the user and even today, it will get the job done. - Terril Hebert
