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

dirtybarry said:
Nah, I just like shooting and still hoping that some day the bullets will go where I want.
Reloading has become a super easy routine with the only new expense being bullets and primers since I stocked up on powder in the beginning.
At 33 cents a round, sure it's still $660. But I know people that easily spend that much just on smokes for a month. Most fun stuff costs money and since the wife won't allow me hookers and blow.
No worries about selling this gun even though it's only a few months old and has only been taken out on Sundays. And a few Wednesdays. Maybe a couple of Thursdays, too.The odd Tuesday, occasional Monday.... ;)
I didn't think it would add up this fast either but maybe the claimed 5500+ rounds through the 29-10 might seem a bit more plausible?
Click to expand...
Like I said, I envy you dirtybarry!
Your enthusiasm is infectious! You really do enjoy this gun!
Just don't blow yourself up over this experiment, ok?
 
It's a wonder that your hands haven't been pounded into lumps of numb jelly lol.

Even the great Elmer Keith limited the number of full house 44mag that he shot to under 700 per year from what I've read.
 
Mark-II said:
It's a wonder that your hands haven't been pounded into lumps of numb jelly lol.

Even the great Elmer Keith limited the number of full house 44mag that he shot to under 700 per year from what I've read.
Click to expand...

That doesn't seem like a lot at all. Mind you, he was probably a better shot.
Learned where to apply tape to the places that used to get shredded and also have a new little callous on my palm so no more blood spraying all over the place.
The tape looks weird but it works way better than bandaids.
 
'Nother 300 rounds this morning and the first FAILURE!!! Started getting light strikes after about 70 nrounds. Pulled the grips to find that the mainspring tension screw had backed out and the mainspring was out of position.
Put everything back and it worked fine for the rest of the session, time for more Loctite. And I forgot the darn thermometer again!
Emptied the open jar of H-110 and ran low on WLP, so thought I'd start using up some Winchester 296 that's been kicking around.
Works just fine with the S&B primers. So one less thing to inventory.
 
Last edited:
^ Hmmm, not really a "failure". I want to say my tension screw backed out after a few hundred rounds, like you, I cleaned the threads and applied blue loctite, readjusted and it's been no problem since. Mine (629) wasn't thread locked at the factory, so it was only a matter of time before it began to back itself out...I don't see this as a "failure". Nothing broke or prematurely wore out. Grip stock screws will work loose with little effort as well, but I wouldn't equate the sudden lack of accuracy as a "failure" of the gun.
 
I was trying to be dramatic.:p

Because there really hasn't been anything else to complain about. The sight screws are staying tight, same with the cylinder release. Forcing cone looks fine...

Oh well, half wayish there...:cool:
 
Last edited:
Nope, as soon as I saw the Fiocchi ammo box I thought "there's another". Fiocchi has been blowing up everything from Webley's to [apparently] model 29's. Sh1t ammo producer, I'd trust the local chronic drunk to reload for me before resorting to buying that sh1t.

I'm not a gambling man, but I'd lay money on the ammo being the issue, not the gun.
 
plinker 777 said:
Nope, as soon as I saw the Fiocchi ammo box I thought "there's another". Fiocchi has been blowing up everything from Webley's to [apparently] model 29's. Sh1t ammo producer, I'd trust the local chronic drunk to reload for me before resorting to buying that sh1t.

I'm not a gambling man, but I'd lay money on the ammo being the issue, not the gun.
Click to expand...

I've contacted the other fellow and I'm predicting that his serial # isn't too far from mine. This promises to be interesting.
While I've never fired a single round of Fiocchi .44mag, the couple of hundred that I put through my 9mm worked just fine.
 
dirtybarry said:
I've contacted the other fellow and I'm predicting that his serial # isn't too far from mine. This promises to be interesting.
While I've never fired a single round of Fiocchi .44mag, the couple of hundred that I put through my 9mm worked just fine.
Click to expand...

I've shot a metric a$$-load of Fiocchi in 9, .357, .44 Mag and .45ACP and had no issues whatsoever but the .44 was all through a SBH which share a lot in common with a hockey puck as it relates to being free from breakage, nothing through my 29 though...
 
There's no way that Fiocchi ammo caused the damage to that 29. Cylinder looked perfect that you could see in those pictures. I haven't shot any in 44 mag but a ton in 22, 9mm 38/357 and have had no more issues than any of the other ammo makers.
There have been some far smarter people than me posting on that S&W post about what happened and its got nothing to do with the ammo. S&W has an issue and were able to toss Barry under the bus as he was honest in what he has been shooting in it.
It will be real interesting in what develops with that one.
 
And another 278 rounds today. 178 of 21.5gr of IMR4227 and 100 of 23.5gr of H-110 under Campro 240gr TMJ's.
Some of what I thought was the cheapest nastiest brass (Federal) has now been fired 10 times with only the occasional piece getting scrapped. It'll be fun finding out many times this stuff can be reloaded, too.
Also 300 of the on sale (you bastards!) BDX reloads through the SR9. That little gun has to be pushing 7000+ rounds by now with zero issues aside from the odd FTE.
And don't even ask about the stupid thermometer. (I just went out to the garage to get it and now it's with the rest of the range gear, OK? Next time for sure.)
 
Last edited:
Surprised the heck outta me, apparently these things don't work harden as fast as I was led to believe. As soon as cracking necks become more common (10ish so far), then the annealing experiment begins!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom