Question for S&W Buffs

[T45Rex]

Ok folks....put ur thinkin caps on! :-) I recently aquired a S&W Mdl 36 (no dash) .38 Spc. snubby. The gun is nickel plated with a pinned barrel and appears virtually unfired or fired very little. It's really tight. I know the pinned barrel means made prior to '80. Here's the kicker....it has gold plated trigger/hammer which apparently is not too common and has definantely had a trigger job. Either by a competant gunsmith or from the factory like some of the current "super tuned" from Smith. Either way it is a really noticably smoother action and trigger than normal. Anybody know what this could be? Did S&W have some special editions like that? Oh, SN is 615xxx and it does have walnut square grips. I find no reference in the Blue Book to any editions with gold triggers/hammers. Hmmm...the cylinder release latch is also gold plated. I'm stumped. Thanks for any info you may have and have a great one!
Greg

[Nicolai]

T--
This info is from the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd edition. Model number stamping began in 1957 at serial number 125000 for the Model 36; in 1969, serial numbers started using a J prefix. So it sounds like yours was "born" sometime after 1957 and before 1969. Sorry, couldn't find any info on goldish features during those years.
I've had first-rate customer service from S&W, so you might want to e-mail them with your questions. They may try to sell you a factory letter giving history and those are pricey.
Congrats on your purchase.

[Oldgringo]

I don't know, but I got the birthdate, etc. on my pencil barrel (pinned) Model 64 from the folk on the S&W forum below:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/forum.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck.

[doc540]

Post this on the S&W forum.

They'd probably like to hear about it.

[joe817]

Greg when you solve the mystery, would you pass on your findings to us? Seems like you may have a really nice sleeper.
Congratulations!

[T45Rex]

Thank you very much for the efforts and replies. I will post on the S&W forum and email or call when I get a chance. I'll be sure to let you guys know what I find out and try to put a picture or two up! I was hoping I might have stumbled into the perverbial sleeper or rare edition model!
Thx again,
Greg