I could have made a grip out of a Nerf Football, and those .44 Magnum rounds still would have hurt. That's why I only shoot .44 Special out of my 629...

You are a better man than me to be shooting full house mag. loads in that short barrel thing. It must still be burning gunpowder 12inches from the end of that short barrel. No wonder it stings.

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44 Garrett Defender Ammo 4 me.

John,
Those are really great pics of a great gun. That said, I had
always wanted a 44 Mag. Finally got one. Started with 44 Spl and then to my rifle rounds, 44 Mag, 240gr. Hard to believe that the
recoil was so pleasant. It came with Pachmayr Presentation grips.
Lots of surface area there to spread out the recoil.
Converesely, I've got a .380 pistol that causes me more pain
than anything I've ever shot. Save those beautiful grips you've
got for show time, and go out and enjoy shooting again. There's
just something special in the report and muzzle-blast of a 44 Mag!
JMHO, TACC1.

wood grips + snub nose revolver + .44 magnum cartridge = pain in the hand

I find 240 SWCs over 9.5 to 10 grains of Unique are very accuarte out of 2-4 inch Smiths. IIRC, from a M29 3 inch they ran 1020, but not real pleasant to shoot more than 100 or so. Lucky for me I boght 5 boxes of Blazers back when they were $18 and still have they them-dan

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HIS Trains 'a LEAVIN

I have a 4" Colt Anaconda that I found myself wishing it was a .41 (which is the same thing I found myself wishing with previously owned model 29's).

I have found one commercial load that recoils noticeably less than all others; the CCI Blazer.

Widener's Reloading and Shooting Supply INC

Don't complain, the other side hurts worse.

Its that damn lock causing the recoil to be amplified get rid of the lock and you will be able to shoot howitzer rounds from that pistol with no problems!!!

What did you expect?

LOL. I have a 686 and a 629 and I've shot 50 rounds of .38 special and 50 rounds of .44 special out of them respectively - just out of curiosity. I shoot only the .357 and .44 magnums out of them now. I might use .38 special in the future because I am amazed at how little recoil the round produced when fired from the 686 (6" barrel). But yeah... I didn't buy those two monsters to shoot the special rounds. There ain't much special about them when compared to the big magnums. Plus, I shoot just as well with the magnums as I do with the specials, so there really isn't a reason for me to shoot specials. :-)

I had a 29-3 4 inch and shot full power loads through it. To me atleast it kicked no harder than a .357 mag N frame.

Im sorry to resurrect this thread but i had to laugh. I just bought the same 629 PC and just got back inside after shooting 2 rounds of buffalo bore low recoil 44 mags through it. My thumb got cut really bad and i had to go inside to clean the gun so the blood wouldnt cake on. I googled Karl Nill wood grips for the N frame and found this thread right away. Im glad to see im not the only one who was cut by the factory grips. Looks like i will be getting the Nills for sure. Also i am having something really cool done to this gun. I am dropping it off at the gun smith Tuesday and i will post a video on my youtube channel gunglutton, when i get it back.

Gawd I like this subject. And it gives me the opportunity to retell my story of my 329. No, not a reasonable weight stainless steel or carbon steel handgun with some heft!

So we used to go to a mid winter campout. It was just the guys, but did include beer and lots of firearms. So I worked about a half day, then lit out for the site. When I got there they already had a nice fire going. We'd cut and split enough wood for a nice home supply for an entire winter. So's I parked the jeep within crawling distance and walked over to the fire with a chair. But before I sat down, I mentioned I'd bought a brand new gun and would like to shoot it, just for fun. Of course everyone encouraged me. I wouldn't hang out with other types.

So I went back to the jeep and dug out my then spankin' new 329. I had it all gussied up with Crimson Trace grips I almost stole from the dealer. Someone had bought them and didn't like the idea. So I got the gun in my sweaty hand and very, very carefully selected my ammo. Yes, 3 rounds of bear destroying 300 grain full power ammo, and then 3 of my very own favorite reloads in 44 Special. And I was double careful to index the rounds so "my" 3 came up first.

And like every group of guys, we had one who can do anything better than you or anybody else. Ole Davey was better at everything, just ask him. Or don't, because he'll tell you.

So I walked over to the creek, about 15 full feet away from the fire circle. Took careful aim at the sycamore tree, probably about 4' in diameter. And I fired the first round. I wasn't born yesterday, and it was winter so I had gloves on. But I put on a pretty good show, I whined and complained about how it hurt. So then I fired the 2nd, and put on another Oscar rated performance about pain. When they all stopped laughing about what a wimp I was, I fired the 3rd round of specials and announced I was through, it hurt too bad. Well, that was Davey's clue to jump up and declare he could shoot the gun. And he did.

That first shot really got to him. I think it was Speer grand slam or something like that. And in all fairness, he didn't lose his grip on my revolver. Nor did he cry or anything, but you could see the hesitation in his little mind. And to his credit he fired rounds 2 and 3. But then he handed the gun back to me. And I watched closely while he went over to the cooler and selected a cold beer, dipping it out with his left and putting it in his now mostly useless right hand. Then he sat down. To drink the beer, he'd take it in his left/off hand and put it up to his mouth. Then back to his right for the pain ending cold.

And I sat down next to my buddy Wes. He'd been a detective for the last decade of his 32 years as a policeman. He kind of enjoyed the show but said "Dick, did I notice a different sound from your shots to Davey's?" Yep. Nothing escapes the trained observer. So I handed him the 6 fired rounds. Then he smiled, enjoying someone getting the best of the other guy as much as anyone.

OK, 44 mags are fun, but even more fun with specials. Magnums are OK for a shot or two. None are fun in a 329, they just hurt. I even like to read the guys who post they shoot hundreds of rounds through theirs. But I think they must be gluttons for punishment. Same goes for full weight guns, too.

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Dick Burg

A .357 revolver can be seen as a heavy duty, extra durable, .38 revolver.

If a person wants to shoot .44 Special ammo, I don't think S&W makes a .44 Special-only revolver. You have to buy the magnum revolver to shoot the special ammo.

Them NILL's are very comfortable with full house .44's

I finally got out and shot my (new to me) 629-3 5" Classic last week. I wore leather/Kevlar weave shooting gloves. While the gun came to me with Hogues I put on Altamont silver/black grips with checkering. This was Prvi 240gr that's listed to 1500fps, although this is probably out of a long test barrel with no cylinder gap. My guess out of a 5" is it's a 1200fps load, it's certainly full power.

I'm blessed though, although I'm not a big man and have average hands, my wrists aren't very flexible (I have to do push ups on my fists since my wrists just don't bend back well at all). This is an advantage with hard kicking handguns, my wrists just don't move much and the recoil is handled by my arms/elbows. I shoot .500 S&W out of a 4" comped barrel with no problems! A couple of boxes of magnums will start to wear on the webbing of my shooting hand but that's about it.

A fellow shooter last week did 2 rounds out of the 629 and called it quits, and he's quite a bit bigger than me. There are lots of factors involved with handling recoil. If you have "normal" wrists you'll probably want rubber grips, for me I feel no difference and the wood looks a lot better.

I'd love to try a 329 snub sometime

I like the rubber grips because I can squeeze my fingers into the rubber.
They don't look as nice as a good piece of wood but it's functional.
The wood finger groove grips work better than the smoother wood grips.
My ccw guns all have rubber grips. I purchased my m58 wood combat finger grooved grips from the s&w store. There smooth but fit my hands to perfection.

A hand gun grip needs to fit your hand like a shoe fits your foot. It's either ok or not ok. I mainly have this problem with all my ruger handguns. My Colts and s&w handguns fit me perfect. We need a tight fitting grip that fits our whole hand comfortably.

I had a custom pair of heret grips made to the size of my hand drawn on a piece of paper and sent to heret to make them. My ruger security six fits my hand exactly. Maybe that's the answer to your problem. The smaller grips the gun tends to rotate up in my hands with Magnum loads.

I've always said they kill at one end, and cripple on the other.

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John

HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't even read all the posts - you just cracked me up totally!

And now you know why I was happy to sell my 3" M629 to a friend for $900!!!! He loves it - but he's a little wild!

***GRJ***

Is it just me, or does the prospect of loosing the skin off the top of one's thump frighten you too?

That'd be reason enough to take up another occupation!

All kidding aside, it's all about the grips.

Get grips that fit you.

I have a 3" 629-2 and a 629-2 Mountain Revolver, both hard recoiling revolvers that shoot my own cast 265g GCSWC over 22g of W296 - a stout load.

The right grips makes them functional and even fun to shoot.

The wrong grips and... my thumb used to get it like yours did. Looked like an accident with a meat grinder.

I cleaned out some od loads (from mild to wild) handloads
a few rounds of each to a total of 200 rounds.
Dumped every one into a stump at the range, as fast as i could reload.

It took 8 weeks untill i could grasp anything with my shooting hand
Sure was fun though

Long ago, I had a 629 6" and an 8-3/8". Never tried specials, but I used 180 gr until I got used to that; then moved to 240s. Never liked the original wood grips though.

I was handling this same gun at the range and she is a beauty. I never liked stub nosed revolvers, but this is one i can see myself owning. The sales dept had it in the clearance counter. Its on my list of handguns to own.

Very fine looking, and I bet you get the ring of fire with the full magnum loads!

Wimp. My deceased wife shot a 2 1/2 inch model 629 and could clear the x and 10 rings of a 25 yd target at 50 yds. The reason is that she approached her shooting with a correct mental approach and used a grip technique which allowed her to absorb the recoil using her arms as springs.

those are exactly the grips i want. Are they open or closed backs? I am thinking i should get the closed backs

Those are some nice looking grips. Who makes those?

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Accuracy supercedes Speed

Beautiful gun and nice photography.

I have one just like that, but the original grips are horrible when you shoot 50 heavy loads in competition...i used Hogue monogrips but they just dont look right on a Mod29...so i bought theese wooden grips from Thailand, feels ok and they have the right look

These are open back.

When i sold the gun, i kept the grip and sanded it down to fit my 19-4 2.2/5"



Unfortunatly won't work with my speedloaders

I bet that IS a handful with the small grips. Looks like the same Eagles that are on my 625-10PC but on a gun with much more power. I just bought this 629-6 Talo snub .44 and it's grips are larger so I hope they are usable. I really like the way they look. If you like these grips we can always swap guns!!

Bill

Attached Images

Smith629-6Talo.jpg (65.1 KB, 45 views)

Never heard that before!

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No good deed goes unpunished.

These Ahrend's retro combats work well...I've used 270 grain Speer JSP loaded with a max charge of H-110 in this and it is stout, but does not cause me any internal bleeding. YMMV

629-4 4"

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Try some Remington 185g JHP's.
The basketball size fireball takes your mind off of how much yor hand hurts. 😀

.41cal

Some didn't get the memo that 44 mag snubbies are not as cool as they look. Move up to a 6" all steel N-Frame like a 629, and you will have some fun with real deal ammo.

No, it's not about the grips. It is about not having enough barrel and mass to handle the caliber. That gun will be aggressive enough in .44 S&W Special. Nice paperweight.

Like get a real barrel for it?

You should try the Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 200gr jhp. Great factory load, accurate and reduced recoil.

My Lew Horton 3" M29 is good for one cylinderful of accurate DA shooting with full power 240 grain Magnum loads. Anything after that, in my hands, is a waste.
The original RB combats are gorgeous but don't fit my hand and I put on a pair of Sile "boot type" rubber stocks. Bad choice for full power loads but tolerable with Georgia Arms 240 grain loads rated at 1000 fps, according to the package.
Am now trying to decide whether to sell the gun or find different grips.

I have only fired 6 rounds of .44 Magnum in my life, and that was through a friends S&W. He had just the standard wood grip panels on it, has since replaced the grips with rubber, but I just handed it back to him and said, "thanks, but no thanks".

My strong hand hurt for a day after that.

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USMC 83'-87', NRA Member.

There are just some pistols that get carried a lot but fired very little.

I feel your pain. I have a nice 3" trail boss that I shot a total of 16 rounds before I put the gun down.
I love it though.

Hogue Grips

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N.R.A. BENEFACTOR Member

Almost beautiful??

That's half the battle, knowing/learning how to use your arms to absorb some of the recoil.

Beer and firearms huh? You're real smart.

I'm right there with you, but in all fairness there's no direct mention of beer consumption before shooting, or shooting after drinking the beer.

The Pachmayr Presentation grips in large size will tame the recoil a bit with the N frame. Put those on for the range and save the pretty grips for carry.

I find that Elmer's 44 Special load works in the short 44 Magnum barrels. Goes 985 fps from a 3 inch as chronoed by me. Recoil is not too bad. I doubt you will get much more velocity from that bullet with a full 44 Magnum load with a short barrel.

I load the 240/250 gr lead cast bullet to around 850 fps for a general practice load in 44 Magnum. There is no need for full loads unless you are doing something serious. Puts less wear on the revolver, brass and the shooter.

This BlackHawk (on top) shoots nice and recoil ain't to bad.

Agreed. But you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out either. Plain and simple, they guy is being stupid.