What does everyone think about the Smith Wesson M29-2 (.44 magnum) "dirty harry"

what about the quality of the gun will it begin to deterioarate or will i be able to keep it working for a lifetime?
 
speros said:
what about the quality of the gun will it begin to deterioarate or will i be able to keep it working for a lifetime?
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I've read quite a few reports from owners that after some number of thousands of rounds that they will shoot themselves loose. At that point the cylinder may require shimming, the hand replaced and the cylinder stop may need shimming or replacing. This restores the accuracy and tightness of the timing and you're good for a lot more thousands of rounds.

How often you use it in rapid DA fire plays a part in all this as well. During rapid fire the hand snaps the cylinder around pretty smartly and then it clunks to a stop against the cylinder stop. When you feel the mass of the cylinder and a half dozen rounds you'll appreciate that it's going to be hard on a gun that is built to be both strong and light where some compromise was made to keep the gun light enough to pack around as a possible duty gun.

But with slightly slower DA cycling and reloads that are tamed down a hair there's no reason that the gun should ever shoot itself out of time over the lifespan of any one shooter assuming that it's not their ONLY gun. But give it to Jerry Miculek to shoot in speed matches and I suspect that it would need servicing within just a few thousand rounds even with tame loads. Jerry is snapping that cylinder around rapidly and briskly. That's going to play hell with the hand and stop and the cylinder stop notches.
 
My four screw Model 29 (no dash number) is definitely one of my favourites.

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The serial number places the date of production to 1961, making it one of the last four screw guns made.

I actually bought the gun with the idea of having the barrel shortened to 5", but I didn't realize that it was a four screw until it arrived and I wouldn't feel right about cutting up a four screw gun. Maybe one day, I'll pick up a another more common 29 or 629 to make a 5" gun out of.
 
boxcoach said:
John777- It's just the aspect ratio from a TV screen. It looked different on the big screen. The original movie featured a 7.5 inch barrel.
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I see!

Anyway, I finally did it. Bought S&W 629 6.5" today. Dealer is guessing 2-3 weeks to xfer ! Oh well. No hurry I guess. I only have 50rds of factory to shoot. The rest will be my own reloads. H110 powder for now. Would I get 1 meter flames!? Planning to reload with my own cast with Lee TL430-240-SWC. I still need to buy the mold and Dillon parts.

Looking at my Lyman manual for H110 says min/max grains is 22.5/23.5. That's not alot to play with. Does H110 not burn good if I use less, say 19-20gr?

What is considered a hot load for this S&W 629 with H110? I don't want to loosen my new toy with a few thousand rounds of H110.

Thanks!
 
I think I would go to medium range loads, at least if you want your 629 to last. Back when silhouette shooting was all the rage, 29's shot loose fairly quick. The improved lock works helped with that, but it will never be as strong as a Redhawk or Dan Wesson. Get yourself some Universal or Tite Group or 231 powder, use cast bullets, and your gun will outlast you, your kids, and your grandkids. - dan
 
dan belisle said:
I think I would go to medium range loads, at least if you want your 629 to last. Back when silhouette shooting was all the rage, 29's shot loose fairly quick. The improved lock works helped with that, but it will never be as strong as a Redhawk or Dan Wesson. Get yourself some Universal or Tite Group or 231 powder, use cast bullets, and your gun will outlast you, your kids, and your grandkids. - dan
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I have tite group and 231. So constant feeding of H110 at 20+ grains not a very good idea, right? I don't think I'll shoot 20+ grains that much.. probably 25-50rds a month for kicks and the rest will be 44spl loads.

So If I follow the 44 spl loads in my manual, that is considered medium range, correct?

Thanks!
 
I've never shot a .44 magnum, but I hear the recoil energy is large - about two and one-half times that of a .357 magnum. Does that sound about right?

Someone said that most people don't shoot the .44 magnums much because of the recoil. . .
 
Most manuals list medium range loads for both the 44 Special and the 44 Magnum. Essentially, you're looking at a 240 gr cast bullet at somewhere between 700 fps and 950 fps, give or take. Find a place where it is accurate and stick to that. Hitting the target is your goal, not getting the most muzzle blast and recoil (well, not for most of us, but I know a guy.......). As to the recoil question, you get used to it. I wouldn't spend my time shooting a few hundred full house loads every day, I shoot for fun. But when we shot silhouette it was nothing to go through 100 high power rounds in a day of competing, occasionally more. FWIW - dan
 
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