I just made my first purchase from Underwood after being a loyal Buffalo Bore fan for all my "Woods-Loads" for years in .45Super and .38Special. I have a new dedicated .629 Deluxe 3" that I've been carrying/practicing with quite a bit over the last 6 months. I'm a fan of full house Prvi-Partisan's 300grain SJFP loads for the woods and 200grain Gold Dot's in .44Special for street carry. Recent events transpired at our shared family vacation home in Highlands NC have me thinking a Heavy Hard Cast, truncated cone "Keith Style" bullet, with some real *** behind it is what I really need though. This revo has handled all of the heavy PRVI and Federal loads well and is damned accurate at 10-12 yards... of which is what distance I train with for defense. I've yet to put anything hotter than the aforementioned 300 grain PRVI though of which are pretty stout. Brass tacks... will my new favorite revolver stand up to these hot n' heavy Underwood loads without shooting loose? I run multiple cylinders of my woods loads every range visit to stay sharp followed up with Specials. The hottest rounds I just ordered were the 255gr Keith style pills rated at 1350fps and 1032ft/lbs. The two hundred or so 300gr PRVI's are rated over 1100ft/lbs and I've seen no ill effects as of yet but that's a low round count. Bottom line, I've become attached to this 629 and we depend on it for our hikes, kayak fishing, exploring the Nantahala National Forrest while at the mountain home; once I become proficient with a handgun I always go with what I know and so I want this revo around... forever so to speak! Am I hurting it with hot 255 and 300grain loads? Should I beef anything up, cylinder stop, hammer, firing pin, etc? I'm proficient working on my Smith "N" and "J" frames and Colt "D" frame... so modding it isn't a problem. I appreciate and respect this forum's member's advice very much and I've enjoyed my time here. This is my first "Magnum" although I've been shooting/carrying converting 1911's to run .45Super and in a 625-8 for years. Thanks fellas!

Six or eight years ago I found myself without .44 ammo, but far too busy to get to work on the loading bench, so I purchased a case (500) of Underwood's .44 Special 240 JHP ammo. One of my .44 revolvers is a 3" 629 Deluxe, just like yours. I was favorably impressed by the Underwood product, accurate and just as powerful as I want to deal with in a short-barreled revolver (shoots right through a cedar 4X4 post, if that is any indication).

I don't know how much additional "oomph" you might be able to get out of a 3" revolver, even with magnum loads. I doubt that another 100FPS would be worth the added recoil, muzzle blast, and muzzle flash with the short barrel.

It also shoots very well in my 6.5" Model 29, 4" Model 29, 6.5" 1950 Target S&W, and 5.5" Colt Single Action Army.

I too have a 3 inch 44 like yours. And like the previous poster I don't think you really need the oomph than you have been using. The 300 gr bullet just can't be fun to shoot unless you are numb from the neck up. In NC as a woods gun a good hardcast bullet of 240-250 gr at a 1000 fps is truly 'nuff. In my opinion of course. My carry gun for woods use since I lived in Alaska is a M-57 with a 250 gr WFNGC at about 1050 out of a 4 inch bbl. It will shoot clear through a normal sized grizzly from head to tail. And it is a kinda easy to shoot load. That 300 gr mag load is probably a bit hard on the gun too. A good hard cast 250 gr GC bullet at a 1000fps will be a good load in that 3 inch gun. I know it is old tech but ol' Elmer did an awful lot of experimenting and really did know what worked back then.. What he found out still does

Skeet... that is exactly what I needed to know! People laugh when I say "aggressive Black Bear!" But this damned thing has been s#!tting on/by my Rubicon, prying at the garage door (where we keep the trash cans locked up), using the cedar planks as his/her own back scratcher, & digging up our flex drain down spouts, etc... all while we are there! And I have a large and nearly fearless German Shepherd and an equally fearless Australian Shepherd/Chow-Chow mix. The bear I feel is trying to show dominance upon this 5 acre property/house at the base of "Scaly Mountain".

I have been shooting 3 cylinders full of the 300grain PRVI Mags every range session for practice and can dump 6 pills in a basketball sized group in 3 seconds @ 10 yards. Is it fun, no... but it's far from torturous and it's all in the name of becoming antiquated with this revolver/round if & when I ever need it. I enjoy the 200 grain Gold Dot's loaded by CCI in .44Special the most of course. The 240grain Federal and PMC HP mags are not bad at all I will admit.

I'm looking forward to the Underwood 255's as they most certainly will be less punishing! And being you trust the same weight/style hard cast tells me all I need to know! Thanks again brother!

Thanks for your insight Lobo! The 300grain PRVI's are pushing just a hair over 1100fps out of this 3" mag... But a Hard Cast in the 1000-1050fps seems to really be the ticket for anything thick skinned/boned in the woods. Thanks again!

Heck my friend...if that ol b'ar is hanging around your house/cabin a 12 ga Beretta/Benelli loaded with as many 12 ga 2 3/4 in foster slugs as it will hold is the best medicine you can use. Honestly any bear is hard to kill or even stop with a handgun without an extraordinary amount of luck and/or skill. I am a much better shotgun shooter than with a handgun so I still carry an old 1100 Rem with a mag tube extension on it and load 9 in it.. It sports a 26 in skeet bbl. By carry I mean if one of us happens to kill an elk or Muley up on the mountain..It comes out of the truck for protection while doing the necessaries after the kill. The guy with the shotgun does not help with the field dressing. I also have a Marlin CB 1895 with full length mag. I prefer the shotgun but my hunting partner likes the Marlin. My daughter met the fellow who was attacked last year while field dressing an elk his client killed. The darn thing came right up to them to claim the kill as his own. Almost killed him and bit the lady pretty seriously who shot the elk and then drug the elk off. They had 2 horses flashlights etc and the bear knew he wanted the elk. Quite often the hunters here consider they have rung a dinner bell when they shoot a game animal. As far as black bears my Tlinglit friend in Alaska told me...if a black bear makes a serious charge he is gonna kill you and maybe eat you. Be careful around that blackie. They are fast and very strong