M37 Questions from a newbie

[coldmcrider]

Greetings - first post
I've been looking for a light carry gun for sometime now to have with me always. Based on info gathered from lurking on this forum for the past several weeks, I think I've found something. A S&W Model 37. It looks brand new to me, no visible signs of wear, and just a very faint drag mark on the cylinder. I checked it out using Jim March's excellent post as a guide and it looks perfect. The inside of the crane has M-37 and no dash. The number on the bottom of the grip is 93j8xx. Can anyone tell me aproximately how old this gun is? It was $289 and I put it on layaway today - didn't want it to get away. Is this a fair price? Will it handle +p ammo for practice or should I stay with factory target loads? Thanks.

 

[ruger357]

Very nice guns. I have owned the 637 (stainless version) for a while now and love it. Some people will differ but the drag mark is normal and if you checked it out using Jim's great examples you should be golden. I believe the no dash indicates the first issue of this model by S&W. Call them up with the serial # and they will give you the born on date.1-800-331-0852. Welcome.

 

[tbeb]

Sounds like it's in excellent condition so $289 is a fair price. I regret selling mine. Anyhow, practice with standard pressure ammunition like 148 gr. lead wadcutters. For self defense, use the heaviest bullet you can shoot fast and straight. (The new .38 special+P Speer Gold Dot 135 gr. looks awfully good on paper, but note, it will recoil about 25% more than the above wadcutters from the 2" barrel.) For self defense, I used standard pressure 158 gr. lead semi-wadcutters and recoil was quite noticeable in this lightweight gun.

 

[coldmcrider]

Thanks for the S&W phone number. I just got a call back from the Smith & Wesson Historian. Looks like my gun was manufactured back in 1972. Amazing how new a gun can look after after 33 years. The gun shop also had a 442 in the same used gun display as the 37. After holding both of them, looking them over quite closely, and dry firing them I chose the 37. I preferred the look of the blue gun with the walnut stocks and the 37 also had a much smoother trigger than the newer 442. Plus I won't have to look at the lock the newer gun had. Both guns were the same price. Now I just need to find a nice pocket holster and eat p-nut butter sandwiches for the next couple weeks so I can afford to bring it home.