photo #6238401

This is my S&W Model 36. When I was a new cop in 1980, I put it on layaway at Reloader’s Corner, a local gun shop in Rapid City. My new wife, Kristi surprised me by paying off the balance and presenting it to me for Christmas. It was a very memorable gift. I later had the hammer bobbed and had it hard chrome plated. The rubber bands are an old school trick so you could carry it tucked inside your belt with no holster. The rubber bands kept the revolver from slipping out of position. I carried it every day on the job as a second gun. Second guns were officially allowed by regulation back then, upon approval by an officer, Lieutenant or higher. Unofficially, however, no officer ever signed off to my knowledge because the Chief of Police did not believe in guns, so I was in violation of policy. I didn’t care, because my life is important to me, and I viewed a second gun as a necessary precaution. For those interested I recommend an old book by Joseph Wambaugh, called ‘The Onion Field” based on a real life occurrence where several cops were disarmed. I won’t spoil the ending, but that book was a big part of my decision to carry a second gun. I also had to supply my own ammo for it, also a policy violation, because the department only issued 20 rounds of ammunition, 6 for your duty revolver and six for each dump pouch with one extra for each dump pouch if you asked nicely for them, because 1) More ammo is good 2) The dump pouches would actually hold 7 rounds and 3) In a gunfight it was highly likely you would drop rounds loading out of a dump pouch. I carried either the same type as issued or my handloaded cast semi-wadcutters because every one know hollowpoints wouldn’t actually expand when fired from a 2” barreled revolver. (Today I would carry HoneyBadgers!) - Jeff Hoffman