Hello. I recently got a model 29-2 44 mag. It's blue with a 6 1/2" barrel. It's pinned but, the cylinder is not recessed. The serial # is N128***. Any ideas why the cylinder isn't recessed? Maybe the cylinder was replaced? Were there earlier model cylinders that weren't recessed that could have been used on this gun? Also, it has 3 screws. Any help is greatly appreciated!

I have one with a serial number in that range, early 1970's. They were all pinned and recessed until the -3, unless the cylinder is not original.

I have one of the same.
Worn cylinder replaced by S&W. They were out of the recessed ones some time back.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

There was a period when S&W was incorporating engineering changes wherein they used up the parts they had on hand, rather than scrap the parts, and it is not uncommon to find guns that have features of both before and after the change built on the same gun. They can be marked with either the old dash number or the new dash number. This seems to be very commonly encountered for the period when S&W was eliminating the pinned barrels and recessed cylinders in all the N frame guns.

I have a Model 629 no dash that has a recessed cylinder but not a pinned barrel. A buddy has a Model 629-1 that has a pinned barrel but a non-recessed cylinder.

Unlikely that it's an original cylinder, with that early N frame serial number. For a transition model such as others allude to above, it would be a much higher number. Most likely a replacement cylinder.

P & R are my Fav's but mostly because I like the way they look. Weather a cylinder is recessed or not and weather a Barrel is pinned or not makes little to no real world difference in the guns performance. I own both type and if a gun is without the P&R feature is NOT a deal breaker for me - but they are still my favorite and if given a choice I'd opt for the P&R model if all other things are equal.

S&W (like most manufacturers) have sold some transitional guns in between style and dash model numbers. You will sometimes find guns shipped in a different box than most of that model were, older parts sometimes used in newer models if they still have some on hand, and not every gun shipped will meet what the spec sheet says. Not necessarily a bad thing because I personally like most older models so if a newer model has older feature - it's just fine with me.

Your 29-2 dates to 1974. The cylinder is a replacement for the original.

Bill