Originally Posted by
Geezer
For a long time, I had thought that the nicer 36 stock was part of the 1986 upgrade to take the no-frills 34 upmarket. But I am sure I saw a reference somewhere to a 36 with short tube, simple trigger, etc. So even though the 36 was not announced in March 1984 with the 24, 26, and 34, it appears that it first saw the light of day in 1985.
I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure, but the changes between 1984 and 1986 suggest that M&G had a quick rethink or two about what the market wanted.
I also wonder, given how long it takes to implement such changes, whether M&G realised before the 34 came out that the HW80 in particular had screwed it, but brought it out anyway as planned from a few years before to claw back some market interest while rushing to change the design to the definitive post-86 one. That would also explain the alleged 1985 D36, as it’s easier to improve a stock than re-engineer the metalwork.