S&W Model 629

[lathesmith]

I went to a gun show over the weekend. I usually don't buy too much at these, most of the time the dealers take new-item price and add about 25%. Every now and then, though, you really find a deal, and that's when you better have the cash in the pocket.
I was actually kinda serious about keeping my eyes open for a good stainless 357, say, in a Ruger BH. There are plenty of these floating around, and prices are generally reasonable. However...
Near the end of looking at stuff, this guy had a beautiful S&W 629, and the price was very reasonable, ALMOST a bargain. Yea, I know, it ain't no 357, but I'm a sucker for these N frames that are priced right. So, after a bit of haggling, the paperwork was taken care of and this thing ended up following me home. It seems to be shot very little, is nice and tight, and has a typically very smooth and crisp S&W action. It's a 629-5, and I now have a new friend!
lathesmith

[Sprue]

Congrats on the new family member. I use one in our annual silhouette match. My normal (light) load is is 8gr Unique under my cast 240g SWC. Luv dem 44's.

Enjoy !

[leadeye]

Nice looking Smith. Eight grains of Unique on a 240 swc is my standard 44 load for my 29 Smiths as well.

[LAcaster]

Thats pretty I have a 29-5 thats its twin except its blued a great shooter is your a classic magnum II

[kingstrider]

I have a similar model with the 6-1/2" ported barrel. I used it for deer last year and it is my favorite handgun by far. This year I've cooked up some extra nasty Lyman Devastator loads which should really do the trick.

[lathesmith]

kingstrider, that's a purty 'Smith too! I see it has the ported barrel. I have mixed feelings about porting; it does have its place, I guess. LAcaster, mine is non-ported, and has "Classic DX" etched on the barrel. I was kinda wondering when S&W went to the frame-mounted firing pin. I think this gun is from the '90's, it doesn't have the lock. I actually prefer this, though.

Looks like Unique and 240gr SWC is a popular combo. I don't have any Unique on hand, but I use Red Dot with a similar slug and get similar results. I don't really care for the big blaster loads very often, and I usually reserve most of these for my Ruger SBH Hunter.
lathesmith

[mtgrs737]

I have always like the action of the S&W guns, even perfering them to the Python action. There is a lot of joy in shooting a 44 smith with midrange loads! Nice find!

[MtGun44]

Look at the pic at the left - this one was a Mtn Gun but I swapped the barrel
for a 6.5" Power Ported one (just like the pic posted by kingstrider) due to
South Africa's law against 'self defense handguns'. Turns out it shot so well
that I had to leave it when I got back. I figured that by adding a long bbl and
scope I could claim it was only a hunting handgun. Worked, but I'll never
know if the std Mtn Gun configuration would have passed muster with their
national police at the airport.

Nice gun, you'll enjoy it. Mine LOVES Keith 429421 Square groove .430 wwt
as cast over 20.0 2400, CCI-300 (NOT MAGNUM) primer and starline brass.
1.5" at 50 yds with an occasional flier that I am trying to sort out. Magnum
primers tend to blow out the groups a good bit.

Congratulations.

Oh, and the usual 10.0 Unique with all else the same is one ragged hole at
25yds, too.

Bill

[lathesmith]

After doing a bit of thorough checking, I find that my 629 has .429" throats, and a barrel that is at least .431". In addition, it has one of those "tight spots" near the barrel threads. None of these problems are a big deal, I know just how to fix them. It does make me wonder, though, if I have discovered the reason this gun was priced fairly cheap? I would guess that it handles jacketed slugs OK, but I'll bet performance stinks with cast. Looks like I am going to have to take 'er to the range and check it out. Darn, this means I need to do some extra shootin'! Tough job, but someone's gotta do it...
lathesmith
lathesmith

[Heavy lead]

I had an 83/8" looks like about the same vintage, with the same problem. Mine oddley enough woundn't shoot jacketed very well. I only tried 2 in it the 300 Sierra and the Hornady. I got a 250 Keith style to shoot pretty good with a fairly mild load though. I wonder if Smith would fix it (new barrel). Or how about a hollow base boolit? Nice looker though, that long underlug barrel sure holds well doesn't it?

[lathesmith]

HL, I can easily fix the throat problem with a little work in the shop; I'll just open the throats to about .431. I'll then do a little fire-lapping , that should get the tight spot in the barrel under control. At least the throat problem isn't the opposite--i.e., the throats are too big. That requires a more involved approach...
Great minds kinda think alike I guess. I also love that long underlug barrel--something about the way it hangs. In fact I like those underlugs on revolver barrels in general; I own ones of various lengths, and like them all.
lathesmith

[MtGun44]

Lathesmith,

You are right about 'fixable'. I bought a used Ruger BH convertible 45 a while back and
I measured the throats before I bought it. They were both tight as heck, but they
were not too bad to open up and now both cyls shoot much more consistently
compared to original.

I put a description of the work on gunsmithing or special projects, you can see
"A" way to do this, not necessarily the best, but worked well for me.
Good luck.

Bill

[MakeMineA10mm]

A pre-MIM parts, Endurance-package Smith 629 is the Holy Grail of double-action 44s IMO. I found a 5" (my preferred barrel length) 629-4 with the hammer-mounted firing pin to add to my older 629-1 x 6" bbl. that I received as a graduation present. (I also had a first-generation 629[-2 or -3] Mountain Gun, which I wish I hadn't traded off for a gun-safe, but lesson learned there, too...)

These are definitely the Cadillac of 44 Magnums. Rugers are more durable, but they are no where near the epitome of a 44, as the Smiths are. I shoot mine (even the Endurance-package one) with medium-power loads almost exclusively now, and reserve the heavy loads (which still aren't in the "Ruger-Heavy" level) for preparation for hunting and actual hunting.

[lathesmith]

I may end up eating some humble pie here, and admit my initial measurements of my 629 were a little off. The chamber throats are indeed .429, but after more extensive checking it appears the barrel is much closer to .429 also. These 'Smiths, with their off-set rifling are a little tricky to judge and measure sometimes, even with a good slug. Anyway, I'm going to try this gun with some "pet"loads before I do anything to it.
lathesmith

[9.3X62AL]

Lathesmith et al--

The S&W 29-series revolvers are the Cadillacs of the 44 Magnum genre, for sure. Endurance Package or not, I think these revos are at their best with load intensities of 240-250 grain bullets/boolits running 1100-1200 FPS. Such loads are sufficient for most hunting applications and remain reasonably comfortable in the N-frame platform originally designed around the 44 Special.

Will the 29s stand up to full-snort 240s at 1400 FPS? Absolutely. I'm the weak link in the firing chain in this case, not caring for that sort of recoil in the 4" versions for darn sure. The longer barrels tend to be a little more comfortable with these megafauna loadings, but a Redhawk might be a better idea if copious powder weights are on the agenda.

[Meatco1]

Ok, I give, what the heck is a "Endurance-package"?

Thanks,

Richard

[jawjaboy]

I picked this one up last year. Sure do like it too.

[lathesmith]

jawjaboy, that is a beautiful piece! And yet another barrel length...to me, they all look good. I'm still wondering when S&W went to the frame-mounted firing pin? Also, I have seen lots of guys slam the MIM made guns, but mine is as smooth as my older Model 25. I guess a few bad ones got out, and started something....

Al, I think your comments on the Rugers, S&W's and feeding them are spot-on. I really have no desire to hot-rod an N-frame, though the occasional deer load sure wouldn't hurt. They hurt me more than they hurt the N-frame, I think. And they are great shooters, and to me they are just easy on the eyes. So, if I just have to have the BIG blaster loads, out will come my SBH Bisley Hunter--it is more comfortable to fire with the hefty stuff to me than anything else I've tried. But it also handles the mild stuff very well--truly an all-around piece. But there is just something about an S&W, especially in stainless steel....
lathesmith

[crabo]

Here's mine, a little different take from the Performance Center. It has a front crain lock instead of locking up on the ejector rod. It's also got a good single action trigger and a pretty decent double action.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Ok, I give, what the heck is a "Endurance-package"?

Thanks,

Richard

Meatco1 - in the 1980s folks (especially silohuette shooters) starting blasting heavily loaded heavy-bullet loads out of 44 magnums. That's when the 300gr bullets came out. Due to the severe recoil and the fact that the S&W N-frame design dated back to pre-magnum days (even before the 357 Mag. to the early 1900s) and was never really designed to handle those kinds of bruising loads, several problems started happening. The pins that the hammer and trigger are mounted on would break off, the cylinder would jump the bolt and rotate backwards (so when you cocked the hammer for the next shot, you'd get a click, because the hammer fell on the round you just fired), and other problems occured. S&W engineers designed several changes to make the N-frame 44s more robust to handle the punishment of these heavy loads. Those changes are called the Endurance Package. You can read all about it at John Taffin's website:
http://www.sixguns.com/range/SmithWesson44Mag.htm