Questions for the expierenced S&W 44 Mag shooters. Is there a significant difference in shooting the 4" & 5" models? Accuracy? Kick? Etc.

Any custom trigger job expierence?

Thanks in advance.

There are some members here who have every configuration of s&w 44 mag conceivable, I'm sure they'll see this and speak up. I don't think you're gonna notice too much difference in recoil nor any loss of accuracy between those 2 barrel lengths. Maybe if you're talking about 5" Full lugged Classic as opposed to a half lug 4", will there be a bit of a difference with the 5" Classic being a softer shooter, but not having both myself I can't really speak from experience on that.

Mr Harry pretty much nailed it. The difference in accuracy between the two is minimal. The difference will be the recoil mostly because the 5"er has a full lug barrel.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

Accuracy and barrel length have NOTHING in common...

It's just that a longer sight radius is easier to shoot accurately.

As others have said, barrel length has nothing to do with accuracy. Accuracy has nothing to do with the shooter, but the mechanical ability of the firearm to put bullets in close proximity to each other. Some 2" guns will out shoot some 8 3/8" guns, just depends on how everything works together in that specific revolver. I have a Model 24-3 6 1/2" that puts 5 charge holes in 1 1/2" (At least when my eyes were then much younger!), and consistently puts the 6th charge hole around 2 1/2" out of the group high left.

2" barrels are mechanically capable of just as good accuracy as longer barrels. Longer barrels do tend to be more "shootable".

Recoil? While there are others who claim to "Get off" on recoil, muzzle blast, etc, (They are liars, masochists, confused, or have nerve damage!), I am not one of them. I used to tolerate recoil pretty well, had a .357 Magnum Hi Hunter double derringer in college, but so far as a .44 Magnum revolver with full power loads is concerned I can't really tell the difference between my 629 "Mountain Revolver" and my 6 1/2" Model 29 that is significantly heavier. They are both brutal! 53 years ago when I was in college I tolerated recoil far better than I do now at 72!

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Gunsmithing since 1961

I can notice a difference in recoil between a 4- and a 5-inch gun. I notice a LOT of difference with a 6.5-inch gun, which I consider "barely tolerable." 4-inch guns with magnum loads... forget it, IMHO!

I run almost only handloads. With that, I will load to the barrel length. In my experience, 4-6" is kinda right where the slower powders start to do better.

Soooo... to cut to the chase, in 4" guns I'm running smaller charges of faster powders, giving less muzzle blast, less recoil, and pretty similar velocity to what my full power loads get out of the same barrel (and consequently, my ability to shoot accurately increases ). As the barrel length increases, I start migrating to 2400 and H110, so blast and recoil go up, but so does velocity

Just another factor to think about...

ps. I have absolutely zero experience with factory 44 mag loads, so not sure how they behave in the 4-6" range.

Elmer Keith wrote about shooting long ranges with snubbys. But he also took some extreme positions when shooting. And was not most people.

So to say barrel length does not effect accuracy, is playing semantics or macho BS.

Also the bullet needs some room to stabilize. How much I don't know. I am sure not a concern with 4".

With my 3", I have seen keyholing, on slower loads. Would another inch or two made up for lighter charge? Dunno. 44s do like a little speed.

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Beware the man with one gun.

Look at FAQ section here. There's a test of 44 mag velocity fro 20 inches down. But you won't notice much from 4 to 5. 4 inch guns are the best all around IMHO. Now say 3 inches vs 8 that two different animals. Some say shorter barrels don't recoil as hard from less time in barrel and more loss of psi. But a longer barrel adds more weight so...to each individual it's different

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

BBTI - Ballistics by the Inch :: Home

lf you REALLY want to know the difference between accuracy & barrel length

I think the 5" barrel helps me maintain a steadier sight picture.

Visited four LGS today looking for 629 5" for comparison to 4". No luck yet finding 5". Salesman did show me Lightweight PD model, which I'll stay away from, recoil wise. Had a chance to compare the 5 shot 69 to 629. 69 felt nice but I think I want to stick with 6 shot. Search continues for 5" 629 for comparison. If I happen to come across 5" Mod 29, I'll jump on it. I recently saw a Mod 29 with 5.5" barrel advertised on a web gun site. Not sure if it's a typo or if the 29 was made with a 5.5" barrel? Thanks again for sharing your expierences and advice.

Could be a typo or could be a 6.5-inch gun that someone didn't know how to measure and thought measuring to the front of the frame was the correct way (not unheard of). Good luck with your search. Finding a 5-inch 629 Classic is not an easy thing, but I believe you can still get a new one.

Felt recoil is mainly a function of mass, and to some extent, the grip. Wider grips distribute the force more evenly. It still hurts. Even a 20" carbine thumps the shoulder pretty well, nearly .30-30 level with hunting loads.

Rubber grips aren't spongy enough to mitigate recoil, but they do tend to grip the skin and raise blisters. I prefer wood or G10, which slip a little. There's a lot of torque in a .44 Magnum, which is controlled better with a longer grip. This has little effect on recoil or accuracy, just recovery for the next shot.

The Mod 29, 5.5" barrel was the Vendor's typo. It's a 4". Thought I had beginners luck.

Sometimes.

Ever see a longslide 1911 Bullseye gun? Well, I have--but damn few. The overwhelming number of shooters seeking custom builds, even those that don't shoot "service" matches, choose a standard-length slide.

Longer sight radii help until they're too long for our eyes to deal with. I'd say any revolver with a 4" barrel or longer is more than long enough. Hell, even the 3" barrels are probably plenty at most handgun ranges.

Shooting full-house loads, recoil will not be much different, 4" barrel vs 5".

However, as a general rule: longer barrel, more weight = less felt recoil.
But with full-house loads, you're going to feel em, no matter the barrel length.

Accuracy-wise, not a lot of difference between the two.
Longer barrels provide a bit more stable sight radius, and would be my choice for hunting and longer range shooting.

The 4" models are great general-purpose revolvers. Very handy barrel length. My 29-2 4" is one of my absolute favorites.

The 5" models are also great general-purpose revolvers, more suitable for field work such as hunting, but also a very handy size. You're going to get a bit more power out of this barrel, too. I have a 629-5 5" and you couldn't pry it out of my hands.

The 6.5" model would probably be my choice for hunting. It's actually not bad to carry around, but clearly not as handy as the shorter-length barrels.
For me, the 6.5" is the longest barrel I'm interested in for a DA revolver.
I have two of the 29-2 models with 6.5", and a 629-5 6.5". So yeah, I like that barrel length!

The .44 magnum is, to me, the ultimate handgun cartridge. I reload light magnum loads using 240-gr JSP bullets. Accurate, fun, and much easier on me and the gun.

I strongly suggest getting into reloading if you're going to shoot this cartridge. That will make shooting the .44 magnum a lot cheaper, more versatile and more fun!

For full-house factory loads, I shoot WWB 240-gr JSP.

I have a 4" Model 29 and a 4 5/8" SBH, I don't find factory magnum loads to be all that bad to shoot in either gun. Granted I haven't shot any of the "over the top" factory loads from certain manufacturers as I really don't need them. I think every shooter perceives recoil differently, for some a .357 magnum is unshootable.

Agreed. I have shot other people's guns a good bit, and personally have found mag rounds in either .357 or .44 (standard/factory loads) to become 'uncomfortable' at least in extended sessions, in barrel lengths under 4". I'm NOT a "masochist" as someone else mentioned about felt-recoil in 44 mag earlier. It honestly doesn't bother me at all at this point, in my .44, in its configuration. 6.5" full lug Classic. I will put a max of around 150 factory 240 gr JHP's or SP's moving between 1150 and 1400 FPS, in a single session and my hand/wrist does not regret it nor show wear for the fun had. I guess this is very different for different people. My wallet gives out before my extremdies do. BUT, under the 4" inch barrel length, these results change quickly and dramatically. For me. To a degree where I would not even consider buying a gun in which I intended to shoot magnum calibers, that was under 3". Basically that means zero interest in magnum snubbies. I'm shopping for the 'perfect' 357 as I write this, and went through a good deal of decision making about barrel length. While I want to be able to CC it at least some times, I decided even 3" was a bit shorter than I ultimately wanted; as I want to be able to put in extended range sessions with mag loads, without discomfort, too. I used my pal's GP 100 4" as a litmus for what I found tolerable.

The only way my 629-2 with Hogue grips hurts me is that my middle finger gets pushed up against the trigger guard and I get recoil through that and that part hurts. I swapped grips and it helped some but I still have the same issue. If I don't grip the handle up tight against the top I don't feel the pain but I lose gun control (not completely of course - just enough to affect follow up shots).

I have the full lug 8 3.8" barrel Classic and I have mostly learned to deal with recoil issues but if I happen to not have a good grip on that gun when I shoot it then it's going to sting if not worse.

A magnum is going to rise when it fires, and one is best off not trying to fight it. A follow up shot is pretty academic except for the few "real men" that carry a 44 Mag concealed with Mag ammo loaded. If going too fast for a followup shot, I wonder if the first shot is too casual, thinking ahead to the next shot. The trick is to make the shot.

I have a 4" m29-2 I run full charges of AA#9 pushing 200gr XTPs and a 6.5" 629 Classic I run full charges of AA#9 pushing 240gr XTP.

Granted the bullet weight plays a significant role in recoil when pushed equally hard. But just the same, I can find no noticeable difference in recoil between those two revolvers. But for different grips, I would likely not be able to tell the difference if I were to touch them off blindfolded. (not that I would aver advise firing a weapon blindfolded mind you)

Both are equally accurate at comparable distance if I do my part.

I really don't think there is a noticeable difference in recoil, accuracy, etc unless you are comparing extremely short to extremely long. An inch or two either way is pretty insignificant in all metrics IMHO.