Originally Posted by 310Pilot

Another thought - have you done much, or any, shooting with a 4" barrel 29 using .44 Magnum ammunition? The reason I ask this is that there is a huge difference in muzzle blast and "impact" (not recoil) on the shooter between a 6" or 6 1/2" barrel and a 4" barrel, and many find it quite unpleasant. The 3 1/2" barrel will be even worse in that regard. If you haven't shot a 4" much, I strongly recommend that you seek one out and try it, you may not like it, turning a "favorite" into an "also-ran." I own somewhere around ten or twelve .44 magnums, but I have only one 4", a 629. I do carry and shoot it, but the difference between it and any of the longer barrel guns is very pronounced (and I am not a recoil sensitive guy, I've been shooting 44 Mags for over 40 years, and I have two 500 mags which I greatly enjoy). If I'm going out to do a bit of shooting, or a lot of shooting, the 4" gun gets used the least. There is a reason that the 4" guns were not produced in as great a number as the 6" or 6.5" guns in 44 magnum.