Smith & Wesson 37 Chiefs Special Airweight Complete Specs and Full Gun Specifications

The Airweight model 37 is the younger brother to the Model 36 “Chief’s Special”, an identical gun but with a steel frame instead of aluminum. The 37 came out in ’51 and went largely unchanged until Smith & Wesson finally dropped them all together in 2006. In the mid-1950s, the Air Force ordered a specialized version of the Airweight for military police use. This version implemented not only an aluminum frame, but also an aluminum cylinder and barrel. Testing proved that the cylinder and barrel failed pretty quickly due to heat warping, and the model was discontinued. There have been a few variations of both the Model 36 and 37 throughout the years, such as the Model 36 Gold, which, as you can probably guess, had gold accents throughout the pistol. In later years, Smith & Wesson began offering the tiny pistol with thicker grips, understandably.