For most of the 20th century in the U.S. of A., good guy handguns came in three flavors. For uniformed military personnel, there was the Colt M1911A1 Government Model. For law enforcement officers, security guards, and others who carried their handguns openly in a holster on a basket weave leather belt, there was the Smith & Wesson Model 10 Military & Police revolver, based on S&W’s medium-size six-shot .38 Special “K-frame.”
Finally, there was the diminutive five-shot .38 Special S&W Model 36 Chiefs Special (note that there’s properly no apostrophe in “Chiefs”) on the smaller “J-frame” for detectives, plainclothes cops, and the rare private citizen who had a toter’s permit in those generally more-restrictive times.
Smith still makes plenty of Jframes, but they tend to be one of a host of specialized variants: Fully enclosed or shrouded hammers, exotic alloy frames, esoteric calibers … The plain blue-steel five-shot Model 36 .38 Special J-frame from S&W is still being made but
