1973 Gun Digest prices:
S&W Model 29---$194

That $194 in 1973 is equal to $956.03 in today's dollars, so there's not much real change.

Except that around that time, unless you had an "in" with someone and were able to buy via LEO credentials, you couldn't touch a model 29 for that after the first "Dirty Harry" movie hit the theaters.

I recall trying to find one around 1975-76 and ones that had been drug behind a truck on a logging chain were being sold for $500 + . . . . LOTS of money in those days, still lots of money to some of us.