Hey guys, brand new to the revolver world as of today and personally couldn't be happier. I wanted a S&W for the first one and managed to spot this pinned and recessed 8 3/8 629 no dash on Uncle Henry's. Got it from the original owner who hardly used it and kept it in it's display box 99% of the time. It came with all of the original paperwork, blue cardboard box, display box with cleaning kit (blue felt gone), and black Pachmayr grips. I feel like I got a decent deal on it at $775. But as I said I'm new to this and only have very little knowledge on what they're worth. Any insight is much appreciated. Thanks! Sorry for the less than amazing picture by the way.

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Starting the collection

Nice find! An a good price....

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Ya done good, now go shoot it.

Welcome to the forum. That is a very good price on a very nice piece. I recommend shooting some 44 Specials through it before you juice it up with magnums.

Welcome to the forum.

That's a lot of gun for your first revolver. If you've not fired S&W .44 Magnums before you may soon lean why a previous owner put on the rubber. I hope that you are a reloader so you can shoot it for less and so you can reduce the powder charge.

You did well on the price.

Really nice-enjoy ! And welcome to the forum from North Dakota

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John

You did really well on the revolver as well as the price. Forum member Joe Cadill can make that presentation look like new again.

Wouldn't have been my first choice, but you got a great revolver at at a great price. The P&R 629's are very desirable. I'm interested to know if this your first revolver, first handgun or first gun ever? Good luck with it. It's a beauty.

Welcome to the Forum. You started off your revolver buying with a nice one. With all the accessories you got a great deal too. Like Goblin said, start off with specials to get used to the gun being your first. Factory loads can be an eye opener and there's no need in beating up on the old girl. Congrats

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

Ah.... I remember my first revolver... I was just a young buck then. I was wandering through a little gun shop in town interested in nothing in particular like I had dozens of times before. All of a sudden, I spied her peaking at me from the back of the case. She was a bit older than me, long in the barrel and with graceful curves despite and obviously having been used a bit. I believe it was love (or at least lust) at fist sight. I took her home with me that day.
Being a gentleman, I will say no more.

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Dave

You did great.
Welcome to the S&W Forum.

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

Welcome! You got yourself a beautiful gun at a very nice price. I don't have any interest in having an 8-3/8" revolver, but I sure do like to look at them. However, I must admit that I was once severely tempted by a nickel Model 29-2.

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I'm gonna grow fins.

You bought a handful.

Congratulations on your new revolver. Very nice!

Congrats, and welcome from Delaware!

While I have no interest in any 8-3/8" revolver, and even less in a .44 mag, I'd say if it's what you wanted, you did great!

Beautiful gun, great price.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I have the same revolver without the presentation case and I would not sell mine for anywhere near $775!

That was my first firearm I purchased also, same revolver same presentation case. That was bask in 1982. I foolishly traded the whole package away,I've regretted it ever since.

SWEET !
Watch "Dirty Harry" before going to the range and " Make Your Day ".
Gary

Welcome to the FORUM! I am 63, and still never owned a .44 Magnum. Congratulations! I think you will be happy with .44 Special loads. Of course you have the Magnum option! Enjoy it! Bob

Thanks guys Seems I don't have to have buyers remorse anymore. And to answer some of your questions. Yes I reload, just loaded 50 pretty mild .44 special wadcutters, highly doubt this gun will ever see magnum, no need to shoot a hot round at paper haha. Although it's the first revolver I own I've shot my fathers 29-3 6 1/2 inch many times. It wasn't the first handgun I bought, started off with a 1911 5 inch. As to why I got the 8 3/8, I honestly couldn't tell you. Just fell in love with the long barrel the first time I saw one.

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Starting the collection

That was a good purchase, Rusty.
But there is a problem.
You will find that revolvers multiply like bunnies and you'll be eating ramen noodles for the next 5 years.
Trust me.

As someone who actually like Ramen, that sounds like a good problem to me Mike haha

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Starting the collection

Cant go wrong,
I have a 929,25,27, and 15. a M&P 40
M&P 10 and 15 love my Smiths

You did very well. Up here they(629's) run well over a grand. And since you reload you'll have a lot of fun with it. Welcome aboard.

That's a fine revolver! I think you did very well. I suppose if your like the rest of us then you have been bitten by the revolver bug. I'm finding there is no cure. I remember my first smith a 586-3 Ill never sell it!

Heck with the Ramen noodles, many more S&Ws ans you will be eating Bunny food. Best

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Thanks guys, brought it out to shoot today, hitting bowling pins at 50 yards. But man you need a steady hand to hit with it. I'm a real small guy so that doesn't help either. I hadn't planned to shoot mags through it but was heckled by gramps to try it. I can see why people keep the rubber grips on now haha.

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Starting the collection

IMO you got a really good deal. I had to laugh at gramps getting you to shoot full mags in it. Yep that is a hand cannon for sure.
That's an awesome first revolver for sure.

You did great!

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Life is short,live it fully.

Welcome to the Forum. You did well, Grasshopper! Don't
forget to give us a range report.

Shot well, but it's gonna be a hard gun to get used to for sure. Shot about 40 rounds through it today. It was grouping great, but wanted to shoot left. Got the thing shooting good just as I ran out of ammo. I think a lot of my accuracy issues came down to old less than amazing reloads. And I catch myself flinching sometimes.

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Starting the collection

Don't you love Uncle Henry's? If anything is going to make you flinch, the 44 magnum will do it.

I like casting and loading for my "brand X" 44 mag revolver.

Congratulations on a nice firearm.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

I actually had never even heard of Uncle Henry's until a gun nut co worker told me to check it out. After weeks on Gunbroker and Armslist surfing with no luck I found this in 10 minutes on Henry's. Drove about 70 miles to meet the guy and took it home. Now to spend hours with polish to get it looking nice.

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Starting the collection

OK then...I'll give you $500.00.

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'Merica!

Too many owners think they can do a better finishing job on stainless than S&W did. Maybe they can but the whole point of paying more for a pinned and recessed 629 is to get a more desirable collector item. Polishing off the original satin finish detracts from collector value. If you did not want a collectible 629 you may as well have bought a less expensive dash 1. Please put off polishing it until you've had time to think it over.

When I see a polished stainless steel gun it screams bubba and I walk away.

It's definitely not gonna be anywhere near mirror. Just getting the powder burns off. I don't care for the chrome look either, the factory "grain" is untouched

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Starting the collection

Here's the after, essentially exactly the same as when I started. Just without the powder residue all over it. I'm OCD pretty bad when it comes to that. Don't worry, this one won't be turning into a bubba gun.

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Starting the collection

Metal polishes are designed to change the surface appearance. Clean it with polish enough times and that is what will happen. You can satisfy your OCD by detail cleaning it with your favorite gun solvent, bronze wool and elbow grease. You can scrub it with bronze wool until the cows come home then when your done it will still have the factory's surface finish. Seriously, that is no more work than using metal polish. Bronze wool is available at larger yacht supply stores, mail order from Brownell's and from Ace Hardware's paint department. If your local Ace does not have it on the shelf they can order it through their warehouse system. It's $7 or $8 for a bag of 3 pads. I like fine wool. Since I only pull off small tufts a bag lasts for years.

While lead fouling sometimes has to be removed the only reasons to clean the powder burn doughnuts off the front of the cylinder are to satisfy OCD, just to enjoy fondling your new revolver or to prepare it for sale.

Ordinary target shooting by a hobbyist and hunting do not put any significant wear on S&W revolvers. As a buyer I shop for S&Ws with that background so my first choice is to have the doughnuts intact.

Thanks for the info K22, I'll get some of that bronze wool next time I'm out! Quick question for you guys though, I've run this gun through just about every condition test and it has passed with pretty much flying colors except for this. Just wondering if this is normal or not. This is the yoke gap while applying pressure. It was an .011 gap with a feeler while pushing on it, probly looks massive due to the pic though. If this is abnormal what would you consider the suspect? I'm just hoping the yoke isn't tweaked slightly. The second pic is just in it's normal position.

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Starting the collection

The portion of a yoke that gets "tweaked" by misshandleing is the thin tube the cylinder spins on. The most infamous way they get bent is from closing the cylinder with a flip of the wrist. A bent tube can be straightened with gunsmith tools. In your 1st picture you might be pushing hard enough to flex that tube. You are putting an abnormal stress on the system. I never tried that. In your second picture showing the 629 in its normal at rest state it looks healthy. I suspect what the 629 needs is less examination and more target shooting. While I'm not a gunsmith I can recommend an iron bullet mold and set of reloading dies. To get comments from gunsmiths put your pictures in a new thread in the Smith-Wesson-smithing sub-forum. However, before starting the thread brace yourself for some harsh handling instructions.

Edit to add: You'll enjoy 500 Magnum Nut's Frequently Asked Questions sticky thread in S&Wsmithing: FAQ's

Thanks again, the pressure applied was very light, same sort of pressure as if it was lying on that side of the cylinder. so hopefully didn't hurt anything. Cylinder rod is perfectly straight as far as I can tell. And I have never done the flip style close, precious owner didn't seem like the type to do that but you never know.

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Starting the collection