First I want to apologize for not posting sooner I am a casual reader of the forum and have learned a great deal from you all. I believe it is better to be quiet and listen when the smart people are talking.
I picked up my new 29-10 from Academy Sports this morning. Looked it over good I thought but when I got it home I noticed the barrel is marked 41 magnum. I'm not a happy customer at this point. I tried 44 mag cartridges in the cylinder and they fit. When I tried to place a 44 bullet in the forcing cone it doesn't go in nearly as far as it does in my 629. I'm not real good with a caliper but the muzzle end of the 629 measured .420 and I got .405 on the 29-10. Is it possible that this weapon has an actual 41 mag barrel not just miss marked? How could they have test fired this gun?
Otherwise it looks great nice presentation box and tool kit but I don't think it's safe to shoot. Smith and Wesson sent me a shipping label I'll update when I hear from them.
I'm not bashing Smith and Wesson I own several I'm a big fan. I've never had a problem.
This situation makes me sad.

Thanks JD

Wow. Just...wow. Do you have any photos? This is just...wow.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

I'm working on photos waiting for the sun to get a little lower. My first try wasn't very good. I hate for my first post to be negative. This just really surprised me.

When making thousands and thousands of something, there will be one here and there that's not right. No one is perfect. When S&W gets that gun, THEY will say "How could that ever happen?" It's part of running high production volumes. A few bad ones get out the door.

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protocalldesign.com

Good on you for noticing before you loaded it and pulled that trigger. THAT would've been something to write about. I'm curious too as to how that one made it out the door without being test fired. Must've been quitting time on Friday.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

I am sure that S&W will just send a whole new one but, could they change the cylinder to 41 mag and have an oddball 29-10 or can they put a new barrel on it to make it a true 44mag?

They could go either way. My money is on a new barrel, since the frame is marked for Mod. 29.

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protocalldesign.com

Someone may well have fired it at the factory. I would bet that if fired, you would end up with some shaved lead and a longer .410 bullet. I doubt the gun wouldn't handle it. Swagging soft lead and copper from .429 to .410 isn't that difficult. The forcing cone would probably take more punishment than the cylinder.

It is also possible the guy who test fired it saw 41 mag on the barrel, dumped in 3 41 mags, went bang click bang click bang, ejected the 3 bulged out cases into the empty brass bin and went on coffee break, having tested the require number for Monday morning.

If you have any 45 cal muzzle loader balls you could tap one part way in each muzzle. pull it out and get better measurements.

S&W should hang their head in shame. This is the result of assemblers putting together the same pieces one after the other as apposed to craftsmen assembling them.

This gun needs to go back to S&W. Do not fire it. Bore diameter on the 44 Magnum is .421. You got a 44 cylinder and a 41 barrel perhaps. Be careful!

It is a shame the Academy folks did not catch it, but they are the same folks who told me there is only a six-shot S&W revolver produced when they had a 8 shot S&W R8 in their case. Mot to let S&W off the hook, but you might want to buy the nicer firearms like a model 29 somewhere else. When I bought the R8, I was sure to ask the clerk to be sure to put all 8 cylinders in the box. S&W will eventually make it right.

Why didn't / don't you take it back to Academy????

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Wow! Thank goodness you caught that! I don’t think it would ever occur to me the barrel of my brand new gun might be the wrong caliber. But it will now. Are there any signs that the gun has been fired?

Please post pics of this.41/.44 squeeze-bore prototype. On the upside, you hopefully have one of one gun. Might be some collector value!

Pictures !

I just finished the letter to include with the weapon when I send it back tomorrow. I had to cool off a little after I thought about what might have happened had I fired it. I noticed when I picked it up there were no powder rings on the cylinder I thought maybe they cleaned it. I'm embarrassed I did not see the barrel marking before I took it home. It was a special order so the Academy staff did not look at it before I picked it up. Missing the problem is 100% on me. I took pictures but have no idea how to post them. I expect Smith and Wesson will make it right I'll let you all know how it goes.

JD

JD3006, you upload pictures to your post by clicking Add File at the bottom of the page where you make a post.

Wow! A Model 29 with a Model 57 barrel. Certainly not a glowing testament to QC at S&W these days.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Academy, just like every other retailer, will tell you to send it back to the factory. That is pretty much standard and has been for many years.

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Pisgah

Should take it to the next shot show and show it off while you hang out with it in front of the S&W booth.

I am sure it would get some real interest from some people. It should get the most interest from both the S&W quality control AND Liability dept.

I think I might have some pictures attached. I did ship the 29-10 today.

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Other than the obvious problem I was very happy with the revolver.

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I really like the presentation case. I've always wanted one in the case with the tools.

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Well, I hope you get it back fixed quickly. I'm quite happy with my 29-10 I picked up used about a year or so ago. I changed out the Altamont stocks because for some reason they always felt a litle loose on the 29, but worked find on my Model 28-2. Go figure. It was OK really. I like Hogues too.

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John 3:16 .

Since I can now add pictures, thank you SLT223, I want to tell a positive story while we wait for news from the factory. Last summer at a small gun show. I spotted a four inch 28-2 with just a small amount of holster wear otherwise very nice. I thought you already have four and six inch Highway Patrolmen, but the little voice told me "They have target stocks you need that one with nice service stocks!" So, a little negotiation and out the door we went. On the way to the truck, I was telling my wife how much I loved my new Three Five Seven and she says "Why don't we go shoot it" I love her too and she is not for sale or trade. We went home I swabbed the bore and grabbed a box of shells. The result is in the picture. Offhand 7 yards single and double action. The trigger actuator being the most important part of the accuracy equation I will tell you that is the best I can do with a .357. At this point I'm having one of those really good days, so we pass the gun show on the way home and I decide to show the targets to the guy who sold me the 357. This is the funny part. I approached the table and said, "Hey you sold me a 28-2 this morning" He gets this funny look on his face like I was going to ask for my money back. Anyway, I showed him the targets, bragged on my shooting, and just how much I liked the new Smith. He tried to get me to give him a couple more hundos but I declined. Just a really good Smith and Wesson day.

A little long winded but I just wanted to say most of my Smith and Wesson days are good ones.

JD

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Many years ago I saw something similar at a gun shop in Idaho. A gentleman ordered a new at the time Colt Anaconda in 45 Colt. Barrel was marked 45 Colt but had a bore for a 44 mag. The guy ordered a replacement and wanted to keep his factory error. (as a non-shooter)

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Joni, I wondered if they would send me the 41 barrel since I technically own it. I paid a lot for it. This is my first interaction with the service department, so I don't know if they return the old parts.

JD

I thought the 44 magnum bore is 0.430".

I agree with Steelslaver, S&W should be ashamed. Mismarked guns are one thing but mixed parts are a totally different issue. I would be sending a very pointed letter to the head mucky-mucks expressing your extreme displeasure, then sit back and watch them crawl to you. At least that's what they should do.

In the letter I would explain how they narrowly avoided a massive personal injury law suit that could have resulted from their negligence.

The land diameter is about .420 and the groove dia .429-.430

I personally doubt the gun would have blown or come apart. It may well have spit a lot of lead or copper jacket out the gap. Part of that would depend on the bullet profile. I have forced a cast 45 bullet though a .429 sizing dia. It took some extra effort over a normal cast 44 slug, but my sizer has a pretty short handle.

Remember this PO Ackely did stuff like rechamber a 308 caliber barrel to a round like the 35 Whelen down the 308 barrel without excess pressure. As long as the bullet can release from the case it will simply swage to bore size

The problem arises when you stick something like a 318 bullet in a 30-06 case and then chamber it in a normal 30-06 chamber when causes the case neck to squeeze tight on the bullet which then does not release and causes a progressive powder to go to an extremely high pressure with no outlet.

With a 44 cylinder and a .410 barrel the bullet would release normally and as it moved forward case volume would increase as the bullet swaged to fit the bore.

I have a 41 mag and several 44 cylinders, but not enough motivation, faith or overwhelming need to test that theory however. LOL

I can definitely see it spitting a lot of bullet material out of the barrel-cylinder gap. I sure would not want to be at either side of that revolver if it had been fired. I still cannot wrap my head around how such a major mistake made it out of the factory.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Like I said it is what happens when you have assemblers doing the exact same thing all day, probably with a set quota of pieces to get assembled. Everyone quits THINKING and just goes through the motions. Grab a part and stick it in. A 41 barrel gets in with the 44 barrels, it gets spun into a frame, it gets torqued by the guy who does that, frame and cylinder go in a gig that trims the barrel shank, a guy sticks in forcing cone cutter which does either 357, 41, 44 or 45 barrels and turned x number of turns, the cylinder gets stuck in, the tool that trims the ratchet teeth gets stuck in and run by the guy that does that, trigger and hammer are stuck in and it is cycled, off to the fire 3 round guy it goes.

The package was signed for this morning In Springfield Mass. I don't know when we will hear from them. I really don't think it was fired at the factory. I didn't see any residue on the front of the cylinder, forcing cone, muzzle or around the firing pin. My pictures aren't the greatest but what do you all see?

JD

There should have been three chambers fired and no, I do not see burn rings around any of the chambers. That would explain how it got out of the factory, it was not test fired, which is supposed to be the final QC check.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I see a once proud and respected American manufacturer repeatedly embarrassing itself. I wish they would try to turn this around. I know they’re not perfect, but it’s hard to imagine something like this happening at Ruger or Colt.