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

5768rds Super fun time today! Lotsa rounds, lotsa fun. In addition to the update there wll be a few comments regarding some other current threads just because. To begin, 161 rds of the usual IMR & Federal load but this batch checked in at 22.0gr, 100 of the Starline & H-110 at 23.7gr both with Campr 240gr TMJ's and WLP's and 50rds of Starline & 28.3gr H-100 with 200gr Nosler JHC's and WLP's. Still mega-fun but for some reason I ended up all by myself again.:evil:

But before that happened, relative to the threads about letting others try your guns and what kind of 9mm to buy and probably a few others, I let a fellow try my 629 and SR9 which he really enjoyed and I in turn got to shoot his CZ-75 Canadian Edition. OMFG!! Now I know why these things get the love that they do. The trigger is simply amazing. Silky smooth and so consistent. Compared to my Ruger, it's like driving a brand new Beemer after driving pounded out old pickups. Simply a magnificent gun.

The ejector rod keeps coming loose so part of today's cleaning and service will be pulling everything apart, degreasing and some thread locker. Since everything else seems to be working fine, I'm going to leave the internals alone except for washing them out with some brake cleaner followed by compressed air. And I tweaked the windage adjustment on the rear sight a bit and it really did make a difference. Growing suspicion that I have or am developing astigmatism. Either that or I just suck at aiming. And 278rds of reloaded 9mm for filler.
 
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Been fun following your testing. My conclusion is that there really is nothing wrong with the basic gun design but if something is wrong with quality control during production you are on you own. That is certainly better than a basic flaw in the design but still not exactly comforting as everyone will have production problems from time to time.

Blast on.
 
6068rds 'Nother 300 today, 200 of the light IMR4227 load at 22.0gr with some very well used Federal brass, 100 more with Starline brass and 23.7gr of H-110. Both with Campro 240gr TMJ's and WLP's. Acquired 200 more Sierra 210gr JHC's, so now I can make up some more really annoying rounds and might even break down and buy some Hornady 180gr XTP's (%@$@#!&*!!) to make some of the really really annoying rounds. And for a change of pace, took the brand new Ruger SR45 for filler and ran 200rds through it. Well I did 190 and a young man that was there did 10 and 12 of the .44mag rounds. He said it made his day.
 
I tip my hat to you sir.

I fired exactly 1 box of 44Mag through my 29 and came to the conclusion it was destined to a life of 44Spl.
Love the gun. Shoots like a laser beam. A keeper for sure.

44Mag is just plain stupid IMHO! Why someone subjects them selves to that is beyond me?

Maybe I'm recoil sensitive? A recent trip to Vegas convinced me that full auto FN's aren't fun either.

M
 
OldFrankHog said:
Nice. How'd you like the .45?
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I liked it quite a bit. Had some problems with it not going into battery with some of the reman ammo unless I smacked the slide forward with the palm of my support hand. Then when I was cleaning it, I noticed a big divot inside the slide on the front edge of the ejection port that gouged the top of the barrel.:( It appears to have been there before it was coated as it was uniformly black. So I attacked it with a dremel and a small stone and made it go away. We'll see what it's like next time out. Oddly it worked every single time with factory CCI Blazer aluminium.
 
gnmontey said:
I tip my hat to you sir.

I fired exactly 1 box of 44Mag through my 29 and came to the conclusion it was destined to a life of 44Spl.
Love the gun. Shoots like a laser beam. A keeper for sure.

44Mag is just plain stupid IMHO! Why someone subjects them selves to that is beyond me?

Maybe I'm recoil sensitive? A recent trip to Vegas convinced me that full auto FN's aren't fun either.

M
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'Cause the more I do it, the more I likes it! I think Chrissy Amphlett (RIP dear lady) summed it up nicely here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH8hcfhG1Jo
 
Check the AOL on the remanuf. stuff compared to the Blazer. It's a big nose to tip up so reliability is very lenght dependent. Somewhere between 1.2 and 1.27 ? I'll have to check mine but 230gr I think 1.25something.
 
OldFrankHog said:
Check the AOL on the remanuf. stuff compared to the Blazer. It's a big nose to tip up so reliability is very lenght dependent. Somewhere between 1.2 and 1.27 ? I'll have to check mine but 230gr I think 1.25something.
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Thanks for the tip. I did eyeball some reman against the CCI when it happened and it looked to be exactly the same length. But I'll measure some with actual tools and see how it compares to new AE and UMC.
 
dirtybarry said:
The ejector rod and the ejector managed to unscrew themselves and it became very difficult to swing the cylinder out. I was about to pack it in when I noticed that the ejector rod would turn without turning the cylinder. Tightened it with my fingers and it worked fine for the last 12 rounds.
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Had this happen on my 686. I knocked it open with a piece of wood, a drop of blue locktite, finger tight, and it has been good ever since.

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Pure Energy said:
Had this happen on my 686. I knocked it open with a piece of wood, a drop of blue locktite, finger tight, and it has been good ever since.
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I had to wash everything with brake cleaner as there was oil and carbon everywhere, A little of blue as well with a wee bit of help from Mr. Pliers and his buddy Mr. Convenient Rag and everything is still tight after today. Including the frame screw that's under the grips at the back. If it weren't for the handgrips, it would have fallen out.
 
dirtybarry said:
'Cause the more I do it, the more I likes it! I think Chrissy Amphlett (RIP dear lady) summed it up nicely here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH8hcfhG1Jo
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More and more I'm reaching for the 308 rather than the 300WM come hunting season. Must be an age thing?

I do admit to shooting full house 357mag once in a while (the ones that rattle your filling). Full house 44Mag, no, can do without that nonsense!

M
 
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gnmontey said:
More and more I'm reaching for the 308 rather than the 300WM come hunting season. Must be an age thing?

I do admit to shooting full house 357mag once in a while (the ones that rattle your filling). Full house 44Mag, no, can do without that nonsense!

M
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Heck, I've still got 2 more higher levels of nonsense. They don't just rattle fillings, I think they rattle things on a sub-atomic level....:evil: :cheers:
 
dirtybarry said:
I had to wash everything with brake cleaner as there was oil and carbon everywhere, A little of blue as well with a wee bit of help from Mr. Pliers and his buddy Mr. Convenient Rag and everything is still tight after today. Including the frame screw that's under the grips at the back. If it weren't for the handgrips, it would have fallen out.
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Barry first off I need to say that I have NO interests in this company as I was accused of all kinds of crap of that on another thread for showing his tools. Now that's out of the way IF you want a tool that will tighten or loosen the extractor rod and leaves no marks then take a look. I have it as the rods on my S&W revolvers would come loose. It works exactly like he says it does. I tried one that Brownels sells that a friend has and it was not so good compared to this one.

http://www.gunsmithertools.com/vicesmith-sw-revolver-extra/index.html
 
Reeferman said:
Barry first off I need to say that I have NO interests in this company as I was accused of all kinds of crap of that on another thread for showing his tools. Now that's out of the way IF you want a tool that will tighten or loosen the extractor rod and leaves no marks then take a look. I have it as the rods on my S&W revolvers would come loose. It works exactly like he says it does. I tried one that Brownels sells that a friend has and it was not so good compared to this one.

http://www.gunsmithertools.com/vicesmith-sw-revolver-extra/index.html
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Thanks Reeferman, that is a sweet idea! And might come very handy some day due to the Loctite.
 
Reeferman said:
Barry first off I need to say that I have NO interests in this company as I was accused of all kinds of crap of that on another thread for showing his tools. Now that's out of the way IF you want a tool that will tighten or loosen the extractor rod and leaves no marks then take a look. I have it as the rods on my S&W revolvers would come loose. It works exactly like he says it does. I tried one that Brownels sells that a friend has and it was not so good compared to this one.

http://www.gunsmithertools.com/vicesmith-sw-revolver-extra/index.html
Click to expand...
Tagged
 
6148rds And the weirdness continues with 200rds of well used Federal brass loaded with the usual 22.0gr of IMR4227, 100 Starline with 23.8gr of H-110 both using Campro 240gr TMJ's and WLP's. And 50 uber-loud Starline loaded with 26.6gr of H-110, Sierra 210gr JHC and CCI300 primers. Managed to wear a hole through the tape on my thumb and got a small boo-boo. And broke the SR9. The lower camblock pin broke and part of it disappeared while the remains fell inside and jammed everything. Fortunately it was not a live round in the chamber and I was able to knock it apart and remove the broken bit. Tomorrow I'll find out what Ruger is like to deal with and see if i can talk them out of a set of all 3 pins.
 
I'm reminded just today at the level of sadism that resides in Barry. I fired 75 of my home rolled .44 Rem Mag (max. hot.) through my 629 today and my right hand (trigger) thumb is still numb. After the 75 .44 and another 25 .357 Rem Mag (GP 100), I became aware that the bones in my shooting hand were being displaced quite a bit and nerves were getting bashed. I switched to .38 sp, 9mm, .45acp for the rest of the day.

I'm certain that if I were to shoot 6,000 rds of hot .44 Mag like Barry has, I'd have to take a paid attendant into the washroom with me every time I had to urinate as I wouldn't be able to hold or feel anything in my RH. :p
 
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