I wanted a 3 inch 629 and finally got everything together and ordered one right from Smith. They say they don’t make them In 3 inch anymore but I was able to get this one as one of the “emergency survival kits”. I don’t care about any of the rest of the stuff but I didn’t want to compromise and get a 4.
The day I picked it up it was to late to take it out so my friend and I just kind of fondled it and wiped it down. We both thought the trigger was horrible, heavy as a truck.
I figured I might as well replace the rebound spring right off the bat so we opened it up and then the stones found there way out and the next thing you know we smoothed everything down like you would have to do to a Ruger, put in a 11 lbs rebound spring and a factory 625 main, champhered the charge holes, hosed it down with brake cleaner, oiled it up and done in less than a hour.
I think it is the lightest, smoothest Smith I have ever pulled! We were just hoping it would have enough spring to fire. The next day was the local Thursday night IDPA match so a couple hours ahead of time I shot a couple dozen bowling pin loads. (240 SWC cast over 5 gr. Titegroup)
The finish was a dull gray that was easily fixed with polish and a buffing wheel.
It’s a honey. I then shot a few heavy loads and it is not a beast with bear loads either. A couple hours later I shot the Thursday night match with no failures, so I love this thing. I think this is my favorite handgun of all!
Last February I used it to shoot the S&W Indoor Nationals IDPA match with 44SPL loads in SSR expert. I hadn’t been practicing so I knew I couldn’t win but I shot a great gun and I was the only guy with a 44. I did get bragging rights!