I'm on my 2nd reflex sight for my newer model 29. The first was a Sightmark that was immediately sent back because the dot looked like a cluster of grapes. I read some good things about Mueller and decided to take chance on their water proof Quick shot with auto brightness control. My indoor range only allows lead ammo and no Magnum Loads so I loaded up 50 rounds of .44 spl. and headed over this morning. The auto brightness didn't work (not really an issue) but it didn't take long to get the gun zeroed. I then put up a smaller target and tried to get it to group, after about 24 rounds it was all over the place. I was hoping this was due to lead fouling from 240gr. lswc bullets but I knew better since the gun never did this with the original sights. I took it home and gave it a good cleaning and it was no better. The sight will be going back tomorrow. I've been trying to stay within the $200. range with the holidays coming and being on disability at the moment. Anybody have any luck with a reflex sight that isn't over that amount? (I know I'm reaching here)

It's a bit over your budget but the Burris Fastfire II is on sale at Cabela's at present. Add another 35 dollars for a mount I saw being sold on this forum yesterday and you'll probably have a total cost of about 250 dollars.

Other than that there was a J Point Reflex for sale on this sight yesterday for 165 dollars and I think the mount was included. One issue is that you may not be pleased with the optical quality of the dot in the J Point Reflex because they use a molded lens to minimize the weight of the sight and as a result the dot can be a bit distorted. BTW, I have three J Points and am not bothered by the distortion because the sight still does what I need it to do, which is get my shots on target with excellent accuracy. Note, for me that means groups of about 2 inches at 35 yards from a rest and if you really need something more accurate I'll tell you that you will need to use a scope. I'll also note that the J Point on my model 620 has withstood the recoil of some pretty stout 357 Magnums without the zero shifting by even a tiny bit.

Thanks for the input, I'll check them out.

The downside of the Fastfire II is it is a sensor controlled dot brightness, and the one I had was always either too bright or too dim. I bought a Fastfire III which has the auto feature, but also several manual brightness settings, and it works perfectly. I can't recall just what I paid, but it was over 300. If you go that way, also check the classifieds for the mount being made for them for S&W's.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I mounted a Fastfire III on my 629-4 PowerPort and it works well. I just checked Ebay and they're available with mount for $200 and free shipping.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing