Grips are a very subjective thing. Depending on your hand shape, a different grip could be a lot more comfortable. Ahrends are beautiful, but they don't work for me, while Hogues fit my hand perfectly. Rubber soaks up some of the recoil, but doesn't look as nice.

Most people think a 4" 629 is pretty snappy with full power loads. Maybe you could find some intermediate loads and get used to them before going full power. If you develop a flinch, your shooting will go downhill fast. Most of my 44 shooting is with cast loads, 240 grn at a little over 1000 fps. I only shoot full power loads about 10% of the time.

That's a nice looking 629-1 !!!

John