S&W 629 versus Super Red Hawk Hunter

[osteodoc08]

I've got both. I enjoy both. Matter of fact, I even have a few SRHs.

For pure shooting pleasure, I tend to reach for my smith N frames in 4-6" varieties. If I'm at the range or hunting, my longer barreled Redhawk with scope gets the nod. The SRH is scoped and I use it for the book max loads and let my hands and wrists tell me when to stop.

Dad had a 57 no dash that's been rebuilt by smith and needs another rebuild. I can't even imagine the 10's of thousands of loads it's digested. It is still serviceable and has been put into semi retirement.

Don't be afraid of the smiths. If you shoot it until it's worn out, you've already spent more money on ammo than you did the gun.

[guywitha3006]

Thanks guys it seems like with a twill be a good choice i just have to see what fits my hand better and what I get a better deal on. I will probably buy used so it's a matter of finding the right deal now.

[DougGuy]

There is only one SURE way to solve the question, BUY BOTH!!

[6bg6ga]

It doesn't matter which one you use. Truly it doesn't matter at all. It may be nice and politically friendly to make much of the "strength" of the ruger revolvers versus every other company but the following needs to be considered.

1. Every body laments the neutering of magnum cartridges since the craze of light weight revolvers in the 1980s?. Always hear about how the 38 special/38 special +p/357 magnum/44 magnum have been neutered.

The partial laugh is that if the gun companies fully follow SAAMI standards in regards to pressure strength design requirements, that 38 special +p should be able to safely use current book loaded 357 magnum.

2. The redhawk gets is strength because it was designed for more powerful cartridges. IF you design a cylinder for .454 casull and simply re chamber in .44 magnum you get extremely high chamber strength.

3. The n frame underwent a small endurance package redesign a few years ago, they are better then before. And remember, they were DESIGNED for the original ELMER AMMO. That's the gun and ammo that BUILT THE .44 MAGNUM REPUTATION.

4. The 44 magnum did some wonderful things in standard bullet weights. MOST logical people will not buy a .44 magnum and procede to beat the **** out of it by trying to make it a .454 or .50 gi. They'll get the .454 and download it for times they don't need 350 grain bullets.

5. In the long term it still comes down to the same issues of picking ladies to dance with at parties. which make you wanna move, and which ones make you reach for bleach?

I like to inject a little humor and mention that the Ruger also doubles as a hammer.

I was impressed yesterday at the gun show when I picked up the Super Red Hawk 44 mag. The trigger was actually decent on this one and I could have easily purchased it and walked away happy. Unfortunately they wanted to offer me peanuts on the never shot gun I wanted to trade in on it. After several hours of walking around I went to the guy with the new S&W 629 and purchased it.

Thinking back on it I really want both of them. Something will have to go so that I can afford to part with some more money today.

[guywitha3006]

Dougguy...advice like this is dangerous to my health...lol my wife is a pretty good shot and currently 5 months pregnant with little me 2, so at least in the immediate future I have to show some restraint...keyword is try lol.

There is only one SURE way to solve the question, BUY BOTH!!

[osteodoc08]

I like to inject a little humor and mention that the Ruger also doubles as a hammer.

I was impressed yesterday at the gun show when I picked up the Super Red Hawk 44 mag. The trigger was actually decent on this one and I could have easily purchased it and walked away happy. Unfortunately they wanted to offer me peanuts on the never shot gun I wanted to trade in on it. After several hours of walking around I went to the guy with the new S&W 629 and purchased it.

Thinking back on it I really want both of them. Something will have to go so that I can afford to part with some more money today.

You'll enjoy the 629. I have one of the Talo 6.5" guns with the full underlug and it's a shooter!

[murf205]

Attachment 203780Attachment 203778

Dougguy...advice like this is dangerous to my health...lol my wife is a pretty good shot and currently 5 months pregnant with little me 2, so at least in the immediate future I have to show some restraint...keyword is try lol.

Are you thoroughly confused yet? It;s starting to sound like the Ford vs Chevy debate, LOL. If....you decide to buy a Redhawk and have a "trigger job" done on it, make sure that the person doing the job doesn't replace the spring in the gun. Only smooth the surfaces if the trigger and hammer notches and that requires someone who knows his spit about "tuning" a revolver. I thought I needed a lighter trigger in my 1st Redhawk so I bought some lighter springs and the gun wouldn't set off a primer reliably. The same spring that powers the trigger powers the hammer so light spring=light hammer strike. My 2nd Redhawk had a good enough trigger to live with so I left it alone. I sold that one because I wanted a scoped revolver and bought a SRH 9 1/12". It has a pretty good trigger, better than Redhawk triggers in my experience anyway. I can shoot a 6" steel swinger target from the bags @ 100 yds with a 2x Leupold scope with boring repeatability. It is my go to hunting gun for yrs and is scary accurate. Above is my 629 and SRH w/out the scope. I'd hate to be without either one, BUT....my wife is not expecting a baby!!!
Now with all that said, I own a doz or so S&W's and I love 'em. Triggers are smoooooth as silk and all are very accurate. Even the 629 and 24 with the Hillary Hole in them shoot great. Do not worry about shooting "loose" with any reasonable load. In the early 90's, I believe, S&W engineers added what is called the Endurance Package which is supposed to double the life of a gun WITH ANY REASONABLE LOADS. It sounds like you are not planning to load any bazooka loads, so the S&W will work as well as the Ruger. BTW, Elmer was right. All you need is 1200fps. A 429421 at that speed will shoot through a critter a lot larger than a WI whitetail. As some others here have stated before, I have been through the bazooka stage in my life and all I got for my troubles was a sore hand. These cast boolits issue a knockout punch that has to be seen to believe at sane speeds. Good luck and keep us posted on your decision. Pics are always welcome.

[osteodoc08]

The endurance package started with the 29-3E and continues to this day.

At one point I had a 29-1 that would counter rotate with moderate and up recoil. I never sent it off to be fixed and never even gave it a chance before it went down the road as trading fodder. Wish I had known better.

[murf205]

As I was told by a fitter at S&W, they found out why it did that via slow motion camera. What a surprise to have the next chamber be empty if you really needed it!
I am in the same boat with regards to wishing I had some of those trades back in my safe. I had 3 29-2's and 2 27's that fell victim to the trading bug.

[6bg6ga]

You'll enjoy the 629. I have one of the Talo 6.5" guns with the full underlug and it's a shooter!

Today I bought the Ruger Super Red Hawk. Now I'm broke for a while well almost.

[murf205]

Funny thing is even with the counter rotation issue on some models, NO ONE ever seemed willing to trade them off for pennies on the dollar just to get rid of the problem.

As I understand it was only a problem with really hot loads. I loaded my 3 29-2 S&W's with some barn burner loads and none of them ever counter rotated.

[6bg6ga]

As I understand it was only a problem with really hot loads. I loaded my 3 29-2 S&W's with some barn burner loads and none of them ever counter rotated.

The run of the mill price as I saw them this weekend was around 1K for a good used model 29 S&W.

[Kestrel4k]

As I understand it was only a problem with really hot loads. I loaded my 3 29-2 S&W's with some barn burner loads and none of them ever counter rotated.

My older 629 occasionally did it w/ Speer 300gr's & starting loads of H110 (Speer # 12, ~20gr). Disconcerting to say the least, traded it off a long time ago for less than its value - I wish I had known that it was reliably correctible.

[murf205]

I think you are right, Kestrel4k. IIRC the fitter did mention heavy boolits as part of the problem. I know that 300 gr boolits in my 4" 629 have a lot of torque and recoil when you get 'em going full speed.

[osteodoc08]

My older 629 occasionally did it w/ Speer 300gr's & starting loads of H110 (Speer # 12, ~20gr). Disconcerting to say the least, traded it off a long time ago for less than its value - I wish I had known that it was reliably correctible.

Same here. Ignorance is bliss.....until you realize otherwise!

[DougGuy]

And does this not prove that trying to make a 44 magnum or any caliber into something its NOT is rather stupid?

That depends on which way you go!

I took a medium framed New Vaquero and rechambered a 45 ACP cylinder to 45 Schofield, loaded it up with 250gr WFN to 1200fps, still stayed under (barely) the 23,000psi 45 ACP+P pressure the gun is rated for.

45 Schofield doesn't get any grace, but in the right gun it certainly can step right up and knock on the back door of 44 magnum performance with 357 magnum recoil!

[murf205]

Same here. Ignorance is bliss.....until you realize otherwise!

And it is not just guns we trade off. I wish I had my 63 split window coupe Vette back in the worst way.

[guywitha3006]

Well I made my decision and came across a nice tight S&W 629-5 Classic 6.5" barrel (ported in front of the front sight). Double action trigger is heavy but crisp and the single stage is nice and crisp. It will probably be a bit before I shoot it unfortunately.



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[osteodoc08]

Very nice. Make sure you double up on plugs and muffs.

[Three44s]

Great choice and no zit!

I have no bone in the argument about Ruger vs. Smith. I own both and like them equally but for slightly different jobs.

There is no doubt that the SRH is no beauty queen but it always intruiges me how much vitriol some carry for it!

I am cognizant of the trigger issue and my 629-4 MG has a very nicely stock but well broken in trigger but raising the ante, it will never eclipse the almost unfired (by comparison) Dan Wesson (Monson) blued 41mag in single action that I fell into. The double on that Dan is different to me because they are different (Colt like I suppose) and I cut my teeth doing DA on that Smith MG.

The Rugers can be bettered on their triggers but if you get them bubba'ed, you will be looking for softer primers until you get it corrected. This is because standard primers won't light off reliably due to light hammer fall!

I know, been there, done that. An experienced gunsmith did it, just not a super revolver mechanic though.

Like my Dan Wesson, the RedHawks and Super RedHawks have longer cylinders than the Smiths. Besides their inherent added strength advantage, they can have more boiler room in the casing if you acquire bullets with the right crimping groove location. This really does not make a lot of difference until you are edging up towards 300 grain slugs and above. The bullets with dual grooves fit this category as well.

But to the OP, there is no way on your present course that you will ever feel undergunned with your chosen firearm. It will handle your chosen chores with ease.

You have done well!

Three44s