29-3 Classic Hunter "Lew Horton" German style

[Norman77]

Dear Forum members,

i owe you lots of thanks for very interesting content, sitting on the fence here for some months - the time i had to wait for the paperwork to settle. After being sportshooter for nearly three decades without a S&W and a .44 Magnum, i finally caught up.
I found some reports on the Lew Horton 29-3 6 inch which caught my interest, and all of a sudden i stumbled upon a similar thing in an auction. It was imported to Germany by Wischo, therefore likely not from the Lew Horton order.

I took it to the range two times with a diversity of reloads and cast bullets, and it is an amazing revolver for sure.




With my suprise, i was astonished to find that the finish / polishing / bluing of this gun is not any worse than the finish from my 1973 Colt Python.
I am trying to find out more about it, if someone has info i am curious. I never have seen this configuration another time.
So far, i am really thrilled having entered the .44 Magnum endeavor, with powderpuff and heavy loads it is really very enjoyable.



So, i am more than glad to be on board!

Best regards,

Norman

[jcelect]

Sir, you have found a great gun for hunting and target shooting! The 4 position front sight was originally introduced on the 29 Silhouette model with a 10 5/8" barrel. These guns were designed for the Metallic Silhouette shooters shooting at a metal targets at 50m, 100m, 150m, and 200m. The sight was used on a few different models in limited production runs. Today these models command a premium when selling! The gun not in a case is my "hunter" with a reddot for low light conditions and a see-thru mount!

jcelect

[swagmeister]

Beautiful gun and very hard to find for sale these days!! Love the look of those stocks. Thanks for showing and enjoy.

[Green Frog]

Guter Tag, Norman77. Welcome to our happy home. You certainly know how to arrive in style! Any Model 29 is desirable of course, but you have found a very unusual variant that rises to a higher level of desirability. Congratulations and please come back to visit with us often.

Froggie

[Pisgah]

Although I love the Model 29 in all forms, the Classic Hunter is the one I'd snatch up if found at anything like a reasonable price. Nice pickup.

[H Richard]

They are very nice, Enjoy. I had acquired mine in 1989. Not too long after they were introduced.

The 2nd picture is with the magazine that had an article about it when released in 1987.

[RSBH44]

Congratulations on A beautiful first addition to your S&W .44 collection. Looking at your target in the photo , nice shooting !

[BC38]

The 29-3 Classic Hunter, Lew Horton edition is a very special S&W 44 magnum. I was lucky enough to find mine in a local pawn shop for a bargain price a couple of years ago.

Yours is wearing a replacement set of "presentation" wood target stocks, rather than the black rubber Hogue mono-grip that they originally shipped with from the factory.

Your wood stocks are definitely prettier. FWIW, for shooting full-power 44 magnum loads, the Hogues provide some very real advantages in terms of managing recoil - despite the fact that they are really UGLY!

Welcome aboard and enjoy your Classic Hunter!

[tjpopkin]

The S&W .44 Mag HUNTER was also manufactured in SS (629)

Here are mine....both of which have hunted for White Tail deer.

[WildBillWJW]

Norman,
Are you a German citizen? I ask because I was under the impression you could only possess two modern handguns at a time. If so, and you already have a snake gun, this is pretty much your 44 collection? Just asking.
Bill

[Norman77]

Indeed, Bill i am a german citizen, and you are right, we basically we can have two handguns (and 3 semi auto rifles including AR10, AR15, shotguns, depending on the shooting league). When we want more, we need to justify this with attending (not winning) competitions. Because we might need a backup gun, we want to shoot yet another discipline... then we can have maybe 12 handguns. But in our political environment, which is heavily anti gun and increasingly non competent, i think then we have to keep shooting competitions so nothing is taken away. I have now a P226 LDC II, the Python from 1973 and this 29. I also would like to include a .41 Magnum or a 22., 10 mm would be nice, but well, let's see. Shooting all of the handguns in competitions can get tedious.

Richard, thanks for this very interesting picture of this journal. Do you by any chance have a scan of it? I would be very curious how they came to the idea to bring up this revolver. I took it to the range yesterday for the third time, and it is really even growing on me.
I think the huge weight of this thing makes it really easy to keep it steady. Easier even than the Colt Python i think, so far.

Dear BC38, i even was about to place bids for some Hogues. Then i noticed that these were round butt, and we need square butt for 29-3 models. I shot about 100 rounds yesterday, only target style rounds, between like 950 and 1100 fps. These go down like .38 Special, it is a dream to shoot. But even the hot old Winchester Factory loads running at about 1400 fps were not very unpleasant so far. I will not torture this gun with a steady heavy diet. When i see a nice opportunity on a hogue i still might follow you advice.

To keep you all updated, i attached two targets from yesterday, shot at 27 yards, 236 grain SWC out of the Lee mold unsized (rangescrap lead with 15% linotype), just tumble lubed, ignited with CBC 2 1/2 lage pistol primers, in CBC cases, propelled by a spanish shotgun powder i got cheap from a guy leaving the hobby. The other pic shows the 29 next to the Python.

Have a great week all, and thanks for the nice responses!

Best regards,

Norman

[BC38]

Originally Posted by tjpopkin

The S&W .44 Mag HUNTER was also manufactured in SS (629)

Here are mine....both of which have hunted for White Tail deer.

Nice guns, though a bit of a different animal then the 29-3 CLASSIC Hunter. I'm not familiar with that model - was the 629 Hunter also a Lew Horton special?

Originally Posted by Norman77

Dear BC38, i even was about to place bids for some Hogues. Then i noticed that these were round butt, and we need square butt for 29-3 models. I shot about 100 rounds yesterday, only target style rounds, between like 950 and 1100 fps. These go down like .38 Special, it is a dream to shoot. But even the hot old Winchester Factory loads running at about 1400 fps were not very unpleasant so far. I will not torture this gun with a steady heavy diet. When i see a nice opportunity on a hogue i still might follow you advice.

To keep you all updated, i attached two targets from yesterday, shot at 27 yards, 236 grain SWC out of the Lee mold unsized (rangescrap lead with 15% linotype), just tumble lubed, ignited with CBC 2 1/2 lage pistol primers, in CBC cases, propelled by a spanish shotgun powder i got cheap from a guy leaving the hobby. The other pic shows the 29 next to the Python.

Have a great week all, and thanks for the nice responses!

Best regards,

Norman

Yeah, the square-butt Hogues are a little harder to find because for quite some time, and in more recent years, S&W has made a lot more round-butt than square-butt guns. It's a big heavy piece of iron, so recoil remains manageable even with the wooden stocks. But if you can find a set of the ugly rubbers I think you'll like them for shooting.

At 27 yards those are some pretty nice looking targets. Good shootin'!

[Hawg Rider]

Willkommen, Norman. Very nice entrance to the Forum with a very nice 29-3. Lots of .44 Magnum fans here on the Forum, and a wealth of information. Unfortunately for you, your government restricts your ability to acquire multiple firearms without justification. The good news is that as long as you can compete, you can add firearms to your collection. .41 Magnums and 10mm are fun to shoot, too. Viel Gluck, und halten Schiessen!

[jaymoore]

Originally Posted by Norman77

...
I found some reports on the Lew Horton 29-3 6 inch which caught my interest, and all of a sudden i stumbled upon a similar thing in an auction. It was imported to Germany by Wischo, therefore likely not from the Lew Horton order.

I took it to the range two times with a diversity of reloads and cast bullets, and it is an amazing revolver for sure.








...So, i am more than glad to be on board!

Best regards,

Norman

I have the same thing but a little later, being a 29-5. It apparently was made for export, having the proof marks, but I don't think it actually made it across the pond.

If you run cast or swaged bullets through it, keep them on the large size. 0.432" to 0.434" (~10,97 to 11,02mm). Better for accuracy and reduces leading. A little on the short side for 100m metallic silhouette (IHMSA Field Pistol), but I used it for some years with a modicum of success.