The Mighty J-Frame
Right column, top to bottom: Model 36 blued steel, Model 442 Centennial
Airweight brushed nickel, Model 38 Bodyguard Airweight brushed nickel.
Left column, top to bottom: (All stainless) Model 60, Model 640 Centennial
.357 Magnum with laser sight and Model 649 Bodyguard.
In 1939, S&W was in dire trouble and turned to an outsider, engineer Carl R. Hellstrom, making him plant superintendent. When he took over, the British government was demanding the return of a $1 million down payment it had made for a failed light rifle project. Hellstrom persuaded the Brits to credit the funds toward the production of revolvers, badly needed for the war against Germany that started in 1939. He had the foresight to begin preparing for a postwar market and was elected S&W company president in 1946. S&W began aggressively pursuing law enforcement sales with its Military and Police revolvers with considerable success.
Steel frame Detective Special (top) introduced in 1927 and alloy
frame Cobra (bottom) introduced in 1950. Both have six-shot
cylinders. I admire these Colt revolvers though I find them just
a wee bit large for pants-pocket carry.
Birth Of The J-Frame
The S&W M&P was certainly competitive with the Colt Official Police as a duty sidearm for open carry. Hellstrom knew S&W had nothing to compete with the Colt Detective Special, the 2″ barreled model popular with plainclothes officers, police administrative staff and private citizens. The small I-Frame .32 and .38 S&W were fine revolvers, but police wanted the .38 Special, which was too long for the I-Frame cylinder. Hellstrom assigned his engineering staff the task of adapting small-frame revolvers to accept the .38.
The I-Frame’s cylinder had to be lengthened from 1.25″ to 1.52″, requiring a frame with a lengthened window. The engineers also changed the mainspring from leaf to coil. It was called the J-Frame, with the first one completed on October 24, 1950. S&W first showed the 2″-barreled model to the public at the 1950 International Association of Chiefs of Police conference. S&W asked for votes on a name for the new model, and to no one’s amazement, the chiefs voted to call it the Chief’s Special. The I-Frame was dropped in 1960, with the J-Frame taking over its cartridges and model numbers.
By any name, the Chief’s Special was a sensational success. Not only was it adopted by administrative and plainclothes officers, but it was also widely used by uniformed officers (often purchased at their own expense) as an off-duty and backup gun, carried in a pocket or stuffed in a boot top
Dave’s favorite handgun for pocket carry, S&W 442 Centennial
Airweight .38 Spc. with brushed nickel finish, Eagle Grips
(Secret Service style).
Variants
The 2″-barrel round butt version was the most popular though there was a variation with a 3″ barrel and square butt.
The popularity of the Chief’s Special led to the adoption of several variations. One was a very light version called the Chief’s Special Airweight (initially with an alloy cylinder and frame, later with a steel cylinder/alloy frame). Two models were made to reduce the risk of snagging. The Bodyguard or “humpback” model had only a small checkered button for cocking. The Centennial was a true DA-only with a concealed hammer.
S&W I-Frame (with upgraded coil spring lockwork)
in .38 S&W made circa 1956.
Clockwise from top left: Blued steel Model 36; nickel plated
Model 36; stainless steel Model 60. All are chambered to .38 Special.
Stainless Steel Era
When S&W began assigning model numbers in 1957, the Chief’s Special became the Model 36. After C.R. Hellstrom died in 1963, the new company president, William G. Gunn, had the S&W engineering and design team begin work on making revolvers from stainless steel. The Chief’s Special, often pocket- or ankle-holster carried, was the logical first model. It was designated the Model 60 and first shown in October 1965, again at the Conference of International Chiefs of Police. To quote Roy Jinks (History of S&W), “The response was overwhelming, and orders far exceeded the factory’s ability to produce.”
Today, stainless-steel handguns are so routine they hardly merit comment. It was not so in 1965. Stainless steel rifle barrels were considerably more expensive than standard barrels. The Model 60 did cost a bit more than the Model 36, but the advantage of rust resistance was so obvious buyers gladly paid the premium.
You had to be there to appreciate how sensational the Model 60 was. Gun writers swooned with joy in magazine articles. Even the non-gun press took note. In the Matt Helm novel The Betrayers (1966), the protagonist, in reporting to his boss, says, “Incidentally, how does it happen these Pacific people are getting the new stainless-steel model while we’ve got to make do with the old blue job that rusts on sight?”
The stainless revolver also seemed ideal for the humid conditions of Vietnam. I suspect many Model 60s were mailed to soldiers serving in Vietnam by concerned relatives. Most likely, when soldiers returned home, the revolvers went to new arrivals. Demand was such private citizens had to search diligently to find one for sale. I remember an ad showing a Model 60 in a fisherman’s tackle box, which seemed an incentive to take up fishing.
Currently, the S&W website lists no fewer than 38 models of J-Frame revolvers, including both the Model 36 and the Model 60. Now approaching its 75th anniversary, the J-Frame S&W is one of the all-time great handguns.
