Been reading on Mountain Guns for the past two days here, and am somewhat confused. My main question is: Can a Smith and Wesson "mountain gun" be a "mountain gun" if it is not laser etched on the barrel. This one is stamped Smith and Wesson on the right side of the barrel, where one would find Mountain Gun.

Here is an example: This is a .44 Magnum 629-3 4" barrel.

It has-

1- 4 inch barrel
2- Half underlug under barrel
3- Black front sight and rear white outline sight
4- Tapered barrel
5- Beveled cylinder
6- Round butt grip
7- Wide combat grip hammer
8- Grooved backstrap
9- Ahrends or Altamont grips?

Is this a Mountain Gun or a regular production 629-3?

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I would say no. Looks like a standard 629 with tapered barrel and beveled cylinder added.

Having a round butt frame is not indicative of just the mountain gun series .

Looks like a unique example. Looks like it has a target hammer and trigger and like you said it is stamped not etched. Mountain guns did not come with the target hammers and triggers.

I like it! Would rather my 629 mountain have the target trigger, hammer and stamping.

The grips are Ahrends and most likley were not the installed at the factory-too new.

You've been cheated. I'll buy it from you for a hundred bucks . . ..

BTW, as I am not familiar with these weapons...why is it called a Mountain Gun in the first place? Was it designed originally as a hunting sidearm? Just curious.

Give S&W a call with the serial number and ask for the product code and birthday.

You will have your answer in 30 minutes or less

MG product code was 103653.

It may be the case were the term Mountain Gun was trademarked by one of S&W distributors. S&W could make a M629 with all the identical features but not the name. If it sold well, why not? I've seen some. Yours is not the only one, and they had the same MG product code. Even if the MG term wasn't an official trademarked, S&W may of voluntarily respected a distributor's wishes and not made MG marked M629's.

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Since I cannot call Smith & Wesson due to it being a Saturday, anyone have their S&W book available to tell me the approximate date and possible pedigree of a .44 Magnum with serial # BFL9XXX (last three left out intentionally).

Thanks

All factory S&W "Mountain Guns", .44 Mag & .45 Colt, have the words "Mountain Gun" etched on the right side of the barrel.

Rule number 1 with S&W is "There are no rules with S&W".

Your pics are a bit blurry but its really speculation without the box showing the product code.

Basicly there are several levels of Mountain Gun-ness" in descending order:
1) A S&W revolver that says "Mountain Gun" on the barrel,
2) A S&W revolver that does not say "Mountain Gun" on the barrel but has a factory code that says its a "Mountain Gun" , "Mountain Revolver" or just plain "Mountain".
3) A S&W revolver that has all MG features but a product code that doesnt call it a "Mountain ...."
4) A S&W revolver that was converted to have the MG features but didnt ship that way.

You were cheated! BUT, he's trying to cheat you again...I'll give you $125

Lad

I took the grips off and checked for the serial number. There were other numbers/letters. Is this the product code? There is no box to be had.

There is no product code on the gun itself, you will have to wait till Monday to call S&W.

Im not aware of another SS 44 Magnum that used the tapered narrow rib barrel , That being said my 629-3 has Mountain Gun laser etched on the barrel but is otherwise the same as your gun .

This was a pun by S&W on a short howitzer used by British forces in such places as the NW Frontier of India in the old days. It was shorter and lighter than usual, to enable mules to take artillery into wild terrain like present day Afghanistan and Pakistan, to combat risings (think Jihad/Holy War) by the tribes called Pathan. Pronounced Pa-TONNES.

Other forces may have had Mountain Guns. That's where I saw the term. They'd compare to 75mm Pack Howitzers of later times.

I think S&W may have had both Mt. Guns and Mt. Revolvers in different product runs.

THis gun is the same sort, if not marked as such.

If you need a very powerful revolver for carry in mountainous or other areas where you may face attack by bears or cougars or an elk or moose in a nasty mood, buy one. It's handy in a high riding belt holster and out of the way. It is one of the few N-frame guns that's a viable candidate for concealed carry, too.

It is directly meant for those living in or visiting the western mountain states, as an everyday carry gun. But it'd also be ideal if your problem is alligators in a southern state. Sidearm on an Alaska fishing trip or a sidearm on a brown bear or polar bear hunt? Right on!

Be aware that the thinner barrel gives added recoil, and blast from a four-inch .44 Magnum is substantial. A hunting .44 normally has a longer barrel. But if circumstances allow shooting a game animal responsibly at moderate range, this item has the power for a good kill. Elmer Keith and others killed a lot of animals with .44's with four-inch barrels. I know that Elmer shot some deer while fishing, and the gun on his belt was a four-inch .44 Magnum. He also shot caribou with a four-inch .41 Magnum, in Alaska.

The lighter barrel (like a M-1950 .44 Special) and rounded butt and those stocks by Ahrends make this a very desirable gun for its role.

You can handload it to give about 900 FPS and have a very fine defense gun, too. That velocity is actually enough to kill big, dangerous animals at contact distances, if the bullet is the right sort, like the Keith design. And recoil and blast are within reason. That load exceeds .45 Colt power in normal factory loads.

Here's a 629-1 "Special Mountain Gun (Product code 103619)

Thank you for the detailed explanation, it was very informative.

There have been many variations on the "Mountain Gun" theme! There are SB frames, unfluted cyl, non serrated tangs, and all revolver calibers, etc! The first guns of this configuration were called " Mountain Revolvers" and were not barrel marked, 629-2s, manufactured in 1989, and had product code #103652. There were 5000 made. These guns came with Pacmayr grips so the pretty Ahrends have been added to your gun!
jcelect

OOPS! Correction on the product code. 103619 is a mistype. Should be 103614.

Is your gun bead-blasted or given another dull, frosted look? Is that original?

I like your Magna service stocks, and the lack of checkering will avoid having that pattern banged into your palm by recoil. I had that happen with a snub M-19 .357...

Are the stocks/grips cocobolo wood or Goncalo alves? It's often hard to tell. I like the grain.

Elmer Keith, whom I knew slightly, had smaller hands with relatively short fingers. He didn't like target grips, and preferred Magnas even on four-inch .44 Magnums. If you can use those grips effectively, they do give the gun a leaner appearance.

You have a really nice item there, well suited to defense and to some game shooting at reasonable ranges.

Is recoil pretty severe? I've only owned two .44 Magnums, and one was a M-29 with 6.5-inch bbl. and the other a Ruger Super Blackhawk with the usual 7.5-inch bbl. Neither was abusive, but I bet a four-inch one has some blast. Both of mine were super accurate.

The only rub I've found with the .44 Magnum is a lack of good factory loads in a milder range. Not even Elmer Keith fired his all the time with his heavy loads. (Yes, I asked him.)

That's a very unusual revolver and yes, I do like it.
I'm not up on product code's, was it something the factory offered.
Looks to have parts from different generations

Well, I called up S&W, and they told me this serial number indicates a 2011 build date. Does this sound correct? With no IL? However, they could not confirm or deny it was a Mountain Gun.

Being a -3 it could not have been made in 2011.

In a normal alphabetical sequence, that s/n would of shipped in......

July - Sept of 1990.

Which would be normal for a -3 MG, product code 103652, and a gun with those features.

A M629 made in 2011 would be a -6, and it would have the lock and a frame mounted firing pin. So, S&W CS is simply wrong (most likely) about the date, or your gun has a strange lost-in-time history (unlikely).

Let me ask you this. Does your gun have the old style standard thumb piece? If yes, I'd be 99% certain it was made and shipped in 1990.

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Hey, Texas Star: thanks for the info on the "other" mountain guns, I'm reading a biography of Lord Louis Mountbatten, and one of his roles was seeing over the "partition" of India into what is today Pakistan and India. The Pathans are referenced in the book. Late 1940s.

Sorry for thread drift, OP.

__________________
SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

The gun in question is the first post. Not sure what you mean about standard thumb piece.

Texas Star,
The finish is bead blasted matte. The grips are original and square butt smooth goncalo alves. I'm old and don't like beating myself or my guns up anymore . I handload it with 8.0 grains of Unique behind a Kieth style 240 grain SWC - we both like it.
I have the letter from Roy Jinks. He describes it as "a Smith & Wesson 629 Mountain Gun, Special Production Run. This was a "Very Limited Production gun".
I like it a lot!

Here are a few photos of my S&W .45 Colt Mountain Gun. Note, the Etching on the barrel.

Over the years, I have seen many, many S&W Mountain Guns, in 44 Mag and in .45 Colt. Every single one of them had the "Mountain Gun" logo etched into their barrels. I also have heard of many people who have called S&W to check on their large frame revolvers and were told that they were some form of "Mountain Gun". I seriously find it hard to believe that they are correct in those identifications. The "Mountain Gun" was a Special Limited Edition and all of them were tagged with the "Mountain Gun" logo. Why or how do they now explain that any other of their large frame revolvers were some special run of "Mountain Guns"? That's ridiculous!

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The thumb piece is the thing you push to open the cylinder. Maybe I should of said "traditional" or "old style" instead of standard.

S&W adopted a "new style" thumb piece starting around 1996. I call it the "Nike Latch" (because it looks a little like the Nike swoosh) or the "angled" thumb piece. 99% of the revolver made since 1998 have had that new style. There are exceptions. S&W will still use a traditional looking latch on a small number of certain models.

Because the new style is so widely used, when you see a gun with a "traditional" thump piece it's often a clue that gun was made in the era before the Nike latch. Since the ship date of your gun was in question, I thought it was relevant to bring up. I missed the fact that you had already posted a picture. Got lost in all the cross discussions.

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I'd like to know why?

My 629 MG weighs and carries the same as my 625 4".

The original "Mountain Gun was built for guide and gunwriter Ross Seyfried by S&W Engineer Tom Campbell. Round butt, 44 Magnum with a black powder chamfer on the cylinder, 4" barrel and Pachmayr Rubber grip, small hammer and trigger.

Seyrfied wrote about hunting in the mountain West carrying the MG. One thing led to another and soon S&W was deluged with requests for the making of a Mountain Gun for the public. First issue was described as above and the barrel markings said: 44 Magnum on the right side and Smith&Wesson on the left side. Front sight was a plain black ramp.

Mine is a 629-2 and serial # starts with:BDY94XX

After the rapid sale of the first run Smith then began marketing the Mountain Gun by putting the name on the barrel,and making different runs in different calibers!

Hope this info helps

It was Seyfried's article in a gun mag that made me want one and I saw one by accident. Mine's SN starts with BDY95 and set me back $355 brand new in 1990. The shop said they could get more so I told them to order me another and went home. they called me that evening and tried to buy mine back for more money because they found out about the limited availability!

My 629-2 Mountain Revolver has no legend on the right side of the barrel other than 44 Magnum.

I tried to get a Mountain Revolver when they were new but couldn't, so I had Mag-Na-Port make me up a 3" 629-2 RB, tritium sights, and a whole host of custom features. 11 degree forcing cone for lead, ball bearing detente (my own design, now common), ported, etc.

Luckily I found a Mountain Revolver recently, so the search is over.