How long does a S&W 629 last? Let's find out! 13K+ now

[dirtybarry]

How long does a S&W 629 last? Let's find out! 16K+ now

The story so far, the 7 month old S&W 29-10 that I bought brand new managed to survive less than 6000 rounds of less than SAMMI maximum ammunition. Warranty? Sorry, you used live ammo, no warranty for you.
While I was waiting to be told to pound sand, Geoff the Bad Man hooked me up with a S&W 629 Classic. Knowing what I now know about Smith and Wesson's totally bogus warranty and lifetime service policy, I would not have bought another S&W product ever. But since I was young and naive, I ordered this thing before being told to find a nice quiet place to obtain carnal knowledge of myself.

So, now my plan is to see if this fine piece will last any longer under the same conditions of use. I shoot. I shoot a lot. How much is too much? Well, we are going to find out. And since Smith and Wesson denies any responsibility for anything that happens as a result of using not just reloaded but any ammunition. The first shot taken voids any warranty coverage. So Smith and Wesson loser poseur wannabee's, I'm going to document the slow and painful death of one of your "halo" products. This gun will never see a factory load, every single round will one of my reloads. And when it falls apart, I'll post up a list of every single load. How much and how many in the interests of allowing potential purchasers of your fine junk, I mean "quality" products, to make an informed decision.

Cant find the original pic but the gun looks like this:





Cleaning and oiling went a long ways to make it smoother. Some patches down the bore came out clean but the cylinder was ridiculous.
The fun starts on Sunday with 200 rounds of 21.5 grains of IMR4227 with a 240gr Campro TMJ bullet in a 7 time fired Federal case and a CC! 300 primer.
This load is below the starting load as listed by Hodgdon Powder and super mild. Will it survive, or will the inferior metal fail?

(on a side note, the auto-save function on this board is pretty darn handy!)


Round count table (thanks to sleeper for the idea): work in progress, might have it figured out

Total rounds - 17656

Date	Quantity	#times fired	Brass	Primer	Powder	Powder qty	Bullet	Bullet wt	notes
11/08/15	150	7	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240Gr
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
	50	7	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
11/17/15	100	7	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	23.6gr	"	"
	100	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
11/22/15	90	7	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	23.6gr	"	"
	8	7	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	23.6gr	"	"	ran out of cci
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
	40	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.6gr	"	"	different lot #
11/25/15	192	8	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	8	8	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"	Ran out of cci again
	28	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.6gr	"	"	ran out of time
11/29/15	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	31.3gr	Hornady XTP	180gr	gets attention
	34	7	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr	last of the CCI
	146	7	Federal	S&B 5,3	IMR4227	21,5gr	"	"	new primer brand
12/06/15	22	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	28	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.5gr	"	"	different lot #
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	30.5gr	Sierra JHC	180Gr	still spectacular
	200	9	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
12/10/15	200	9	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	100	2	Starline	WLP	H-100	23.5gr	"	"
12/13/15	178	9	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	30.5gr	Sierra JHC	180gr
12/20/15	200	9	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	35	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
	15	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	23.5gr	"	"	new combo
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	30.5gr	Sierra JHC	180gr
12/27/15	100	9	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	78	10	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"	10 uses so far!
	100	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
01/03/16	200	10	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.5gr	"	"	work fine
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	30.5gr	Sierra JHC	180gr
01/10/16	178	10	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	CamproTMJ	240gr
	50	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	23.5gr	"	"	same as H-110
01/17/16	177	10	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"	scrapped 1 cracked piece
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
	89	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	23.5gr	"	"	1 primer not seated deep enough
01/31/16	200	11	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.5gr	"	"	includes the repaired round from above
	50	2	Starline	S&B	H-110	30.5gr	Sierra JHC	180gr	yeehaw!
	50	??	Winchester	WLP	H-110	26.5gr	Win STHP	210gr	$$$
02/07/16	100	12	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.0gr	Campro TMJ	240gr	no noticeable difference
	100	12	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	23.3gr	"	"	very nice
	50	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	23.5gr	"	"	still nice
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	28.0gr	Nosler JHP	200gr	turns heads
02/21/16	177	11	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	50	2	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
	47	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	23.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	30.5gr	Sierra JHC	180gr
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	30.7gr	Hornady XTP	180gr
02/28/16	100	11	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	74	13	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	21.7gr	"	"	new 8lb jug
	50	2	Starline	S&B	W-296	23.5gr	"	"
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	28.0gr	Nosler JHC	200gr
	50	2	Starline	WLP	H-110	30.7gr	Hornady XTP	180gr	still a PITA
03/06/16	100	13	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	21.7gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.7gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	28.3gr	Nosler JHC	200gr
	13	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	26.7gr	Speer GDHP	210gr	includes #5000!
03/27/16	100	13	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.7gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	13	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	21.7gr	"	"
	100	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.7gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	28.3gr	Nosler JHC	200gr
04/03/16	161	11&13	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	22.0gr	Campro TMJ	240Gr	lost track of use #
	100	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.7gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	28.3gr	Nosler	200gr
04/10/16	200	14	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	22.0gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.7gr	"	"
04/17/16	200	12&14	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	22.0gr	"	"
	100	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	26.6gr	Sierra JHC	210gr
05/08/16	100	12,14,15	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	22.0gr	Campro	240gr
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	100	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	26.6gr	Nosler	210gr
05/15/16	100	15	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	22.0gr	Campro	240gr
	47	15	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	22.0gr	"	"
	1	15	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.0gr	"	"
	96	15	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	24.0gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	1	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
05/22/16	100	15	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	24.0gr	"	"
	100	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	26.6gr	Nosler JHC	210gr
06/12/16	147	16	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	7	3	Starline	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	43	3	Starline	WLP	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	30.5gr	Hornady XTP	180gr	very hot load
06/21/16	100	13,15,16	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr	ol'reliable
	100	16	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	22.0gr	"	"	new lot#
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	30.8gr	Sierra JHC	180gr	bwhahaha
06/28/16	146	17	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	22.6gr	Campro TMJ	240gr	lotsa unburned powder
	100	17	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	22.6gr	"	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
07/18/16	129	18	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.6gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	3	Starline	CCI300	IMR4227	22.0gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	IMR4227	21.2gr	"	"	lighter load
	100	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.3gr	"	"
07/27/16	100	14,16,17	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.6gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	116	18	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.6gr	"	"
	34	3	Starline	CCI300	IMR4227	21.6gr	"	"	top up
	100	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.9gr	"	"	hotter load
08/18/16	100	15,17,18	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.6gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	19	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.6gr	"	"
	100	19	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	35	19	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.2gr	"	"	trying a lighter load
	15	19	Federal	WLP	IMR4227	21.2gr	"	"	leftover primers
	16	19	Federal	CCI300	H-110	21.4gr	"	"	stress test
	34	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	21.4gr	"	"
	50	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
11/03/16	129	17,18,20	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	70	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
11/06/16	170	17,18,20	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	30	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.8gr	"	"
	50	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
11/07/16	100	19	Federal	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	4	Starline	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.9gr	"	"
02/05/17	100	18,19,21	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	90	18,19,21	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.1gr	"	"
	7	5	Starline	S&B	IMR4227	22.1gr	"	"
	100	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
02/12/17	100	18,19,21	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	4	Starline	CCI300	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.4gr	"	"
02/19/17	100	20	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.1gr	"	"
	50	5	Starline	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	50	4	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.4gr	"	"
	50	3	Starline	CCI300	H-110	30.8gr	Hornady XTP	180gr
02/26/17	200	5	Starline	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	Campro TMJ	240gr
	100	5	Starline	CCI300	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
03/08/17	200	5	Starline	S&B	IMR4227	21.5gr	"	"
	100	5	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
05/01/17	100	5	Starline	S&B	IMR4227	21.6gr	"	"
	100	19/20/21	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.5gr	"	"
	100	6	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.0gr	"	"
05/29/17	200	19,20,21	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.5gr	"	"
	37	5	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.0gr	"	"
	13	6	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
	50	6	Starline	S&B	H-110	23.6gr	"	"
	22	6	Starline	Rem2-1/2	H-110	23.5gr	"	"
06/26/17	78	20,21,22	Federal	S&B	IMR4227	22.5gr	"	"
	46	6	Starline	Rem2-1/2	IMR4227	22.5gr	"	"
	100	20,21,22	Federal	CCI350	IMR4227	22.5gr	"	"
	50	6	Starline	CCI350	H-110	23.6gr	"	"

Post is at maximum allowed sized, table to be continued later but total will be updated as necessary

 

[Melnibonean]

That sucks to hear about the warranty. Was this the center in Canada or the US?

Another option is to post it on the S&W forum as well.

 

[Reeferman]

Let er rip.

 

[emerson]

I will be following this. Most large caliber, powerful guns of any type are never tested with lots of rounds downrange.

 

[fdc]

Clearly you have a bone to pick with S&W, that's unfortunate I wish that your experience had been better. But as I pointed out in your other thread S&W did do warranty work above and beyond on my pistol even after being informed that I had used handloads and had over 15000 rounds through the gun, hell I even included the ruptured brass case that damaged my gun with my gun when I sent it back for service. So my experience is that S&W do indeed stand behind their products.

I often think that a consumer's approach to a situation has a lot to do with the outcome. Is this right? Not really but it is a fact in this scenario. I am not saying that you represented your case poorly but I have certainly dealt with folks in warranty situations in other industries where I saw different resolutions for similar failures of a product. My point is that there's a human factor to consider.

I hope that you enjoy your new gun but I do think that you need to take a moment to think about what exactly it is that you propose to do. You were fortunate that you were not injured in the last failure, why you think that you won't be injured in a potential new failure is not very clever especially because you intend to do exactly the same thing as you have in the past and you experienced a catastrophic failure.

Be safe!

 

[propliner]

What failed on the first gun? Was it just the forcing cone?

 

[gdawg]

This will be interesting but I'd be more curious to see how long it lasts with standard factory magnum loads (240r at 1200-1300 ft/sec). Everything I've read from experienced folks opining on the topic has been pretty consistent - Smiths aren't meant for a steady diet of full power loads. Every gun will fail if you are intent on making it happen (heck even Redhawk used as range rentals get retired). Hope no one gets hurt in the process.

 

[09outlander]

This will be interesting but I'd be more curious to see how long it lasts with standard factory magnum loads (240r at 1200-1300 ft/sec). Everything I've read from experienced folks opining on the topic has been pretty consistent - Smiths aren't meant for a steady diet of full power loads. Every gun will fail if you are intent on making it happen (heck even Redhawk used as range rentals get retired). Hope no one gets hurt in the process.

This seems to be the general consensus, even from manufacturers like Underwood and Buffalo Bore. If you want a revolver that'll handle a steady dose of hot magnum loads stick with a Raging Bull or Super Redhawk.

 

[bollox]

I have a smith that had a worn out hand, sent to MD, sent back fully repaired under warranty- zero cost to me.

The kicker- the gun was from 1978, and this was last year. They even paid freight both ways.

Same experience I have had with the infrequent issues I have had on modern S&W's, excellent warranty.

Pick away at your bone..

 

[Reeferman]

I have a smith that had a worn out hand, sent to MD, sent back fully repaired under warranty- zero cost to me.

The kicker- the gun was from 1978, and this was last year. They even paid freight both ways.

Same experience I have had with the infrequent issues I have had on modern S&W's, excellent warranty.

Pick away at your bone..

Where did you send it and how long did it take?

 

[bollox]

MD charleton. One took 2 months but others, under 1 mo.

 

[dirtybarry]

That sucks to hear about the warranty. Was this the center in Canada or the US?

Another option is to post it on the S&W forum as well.

There's a couple of other threads on here about it - http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1280861-S-amp-W-warranty-experiences and http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1297781-S-amp-W-29-10-failure-part2

 

[dirtybarry]

Clearly you have a bone to pick with S&W, that's unfortunate I wish that your experience had been better. But as I pointed out in your other thread S&W did do warranty work above and beyond on my pistol even after being informed that I had used handloads and had over 15000 rounds through the gun, hell I even included the ruptured brass case that damaged my gun with my gun when I sent it back for service. So my experience is that S&W do indeed stand behind their products.

I often think that a consumer's approach to a situation has a lot to do with the outcome. Is this right? Not really but it is a fact in this scenario. I am not saying that you represented your case poorly but I have certainly dealt with folks in warranty situations in other industries where I saw different resolutions for similar failures of a product. My point is that there's a human factor to consider.

I hope that you enjoy your new gun but I do think that you need to take a moment to think about what exactly it is that you propose to do. You were fortunate that you were not injured in the last failure, why you think that you won't be injured in a potential new failure is not very clever especially because you intend to do exactly the same thing as you have in the past and you experienced a catastrophic failure.

Be safe!

I thought that I had approached the matter in a reasonable way but whatever warranty centre the dealer contacted, S&W themselves and Murray Charlton flat out refused to consider any warranty claim because of the honestly admitted use of reloaded ammunition. No inspection, no maybe we should consider the possibility of a defect, just nope.

However the dealer did offer to buy the remains but we never made it to the how much part and MC offered to sell me another one "at cost" for only $53 more than I paid for it in the first place or $113 less than a different dealer.

I'll be examining and documenting all of the usage but will stop using it at the first sign of impending failure. Losing fingers to prove a point is not part of my plan.

 

[dirtybarry]

What failed on the first gun? Was it just the forcing cone?

Yes, which blew the frame apart. The cylinder looks and measures fine.

 

[dirtybarry]

This will be interesting but I'd be more curious to see how long it lasts with standard factory magnum loads (240r at 1200-1300 ft/sec). Everything I've read from experienced folks opining on the topic has been pretty consistent - Smiths aren't meant for a steady diet of full power loads. Every gun will fail if you are intent on making it happen (heck even Redhawk used as range rentals get retired). Hope no one gets hurt in the process.

That's the issue. S&W says that their guns will handle any SAAMI load, everything I loaded was within SAAMI specs, so why did it fail?
If they aren't intended, designed or built strong enough to withstand severe usage then I want them to step up and admit it.

 

[dirtybarry]

This seems to be the general consensus, even from manufacturers like Underwood and Buffalo Bore. If you want a revolver that'll handle a steady dose of hot magnum loads stick with a Raging Bull or Super Redhawk.

That's all well and good, I want Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. to find the integrity to say that.

 

[dirtybarry]

I have a smith that had a worn out hand, sent to MD, sent back fully repaired under warranty- zero cost to me.

The kicker- the gun was from 1978, and this was last year. They even paid freight both ways.

Same experience I have had with the infrequent issues I have had on modern S&W's, excellent warranty.

Pick away at your bone..

No S&W warranty centre has actually touched this gun. Your experience is what I expected based on their reputation. I'm glad it worked out for you.

 

[Reeferman]

MD charleton. One took 2 months but others, under 1 mo.

Thanks

 

[plinker 777]

tagged. (this is going to be interesting) OP, be certain the revolver is well lubricated and cleaned for this...ahem, experiment. Gloves and glasses would be a good idea as well. Do you have a chronograph to identify hotter than average loads? (powder/projectile inconsistencies)

Do the folks here feel that at whatever point the gun fails, a conservative estimated round count would double if shooting only factory cartridges?

 

[JBD]

I am using a 629 for IPSC so have I worn out the hand the extractor and broke a trigger spring. Sent to MD charleton for repair under warranty.