Made the rounds after work today found two Smiths that I thought were pretty nice:
first one was a 617-2 6" barrel, alloy cylinder, forged hammer and trigger, box & docs, high 90's gun. 700 otd.
the 2nd was a 629-4 Classic 6.5" barrel, forged hammer and trigger, no box, nice and tight, high 90's gun. 725 otd
I'm kind of leaning towards the 44 mag.....it would be a shooter.
Any words of wisdom?

FYI: There were some issues with the aluminum cylinder of the M617-2, which I think were related to wear. They soon replaced the aluminum cylinder with a SS version, and thats what I have on my M617-2. If you were to check you might find that the factory would replace it, maybe for free. I would check first before going with that particular M617. If it would cost you to replace the cylinder, I'd pass.

My words of wisdom are:

Buy the 629. For a "working gun/shooter" it doesn't get much better.

I concur with 629shooter!

To all Thanks for the feedback....I'm going to try and close the deal on the 629-4. I'll post some pics if it goes through.

Very similar looking guns on polar opposite sides of the caliber chart.

If your looking for something to shoot squirrels with the 617 might be a better choice, for shooting elephants in Africa the 629...little taxidriver joke there.

Seriously they are so different why not get both ?
I dont recall an issue with the aluminum cylinders other than sales dropped so they went back to SS, I could be wrong.

If it is covered under the lifetime warranty you would get abrand new cylinder and tuneup and have a pre lock pre MIM 617 so its a win win.

I have a 5" 629-4 Classic with full underlug barrel and interchangeable front sight system....mine has a SB grip frame which I really like but IIRC they came both ways...great gun but the neighbors wont like you shooting it in the backyard as much as the 617....ha ha

+1... Check out completed sales on GB for the 617-2. Almost cult status. 900-1100 and going up. I can't tell you how many rounds have gone through mine, but there is no turn line on the alloy cylinder. Timing and lock up are perfect. I'd say 700otd is a great price.

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"GUNS UP"

Will you check that gun again. Usually the box label says SB under Stocks but it's just a Sq to Round Conversion. Pretty sure the company wasn't making SQ BUTT frames at that point (629-4 era) except for a few Reg Mag Repro guns and Lew Horton 3" Repro guns.

I maybe wrong though

BPZ serial prefix 629-4 classic, 5", and definately a SB frame with grooved tangs, pretty sure the change to RB grip frame occurred during the dash 4 revision but did not warrant a revision change.

The 629-4 classic that I'm looking at doesn't have a box so I'm not sure if you can tell a RB vs SB unless you take the grips off. Don't forget these era gun's had rubber grip's that transformed a round butt to a SQ butt. From all the research I've done I'm sure its a Round but. serial # is CAC6XXX.

I have two 629-4s - one a 6.5" Classic and the other a 4" standard and both have round butts. Even my 5" 629-3 Classic DX has one! I much prefer square butts but the 5" DX was only made one way so...

Ed

The 629-4 is a round butt. I have that gun in 8-3/8" and 7-1/2".

My 6-1/2" 629 classic is a -3 and also is a round butt pistol.

The SB on the box end label indicates square butt grip on the round butt frame.

Vinny, How would you explain the cult status and high prices for the 617-2? I paid $900 for mine two years ago, which seemed high at the time. It came with the box and other goodies and seemed brand new. Mine has the SS barrel.
But I can't swear that it shoots any better than the current version. It definitely looks better, though. They had to widen the K frame when they added the lock, and they just don't look sleek like the pre lock guns.

Hey Guys I ended up buying both guns.

Last night I was pretty convinced that the 44 was the gun to buy, the -4 model is as good as it gets and I plan shooting it for a long time.
So after work to I stopped by the 1st shop and bought the 44, nice tight gun. That was easy.....since the 2nd shop that had the 22 was only 10 minutes down the road I thought I'd stop by for one last look......I was surprised when I saw 10% off all used guns on the display case....that's all the convincing I needed. The 617-2 turned out to be really nice...looks like it was a safe Queen. Came with the clam shell case plus all the docs and the end label. no rod or mop....not sure if they were even offered at the time. Can't wait for tomorrow....plan on shotting them both. Thanks to all who responded.

Attached Images

	2 ls sml.jpg (260.8 KB, 28 views)
	2 rs sml.jpg (232.5 KB, 32 views)

That's the best way to settle it. Buy both.
Congrats