Since you asked, ditch the Russian brass and use ONLY 44 Magnum brass. Using shorter cases only exposes the chambers of your gun to the heat and crud of firing a cartridge. If you save anything at all by using shorter brass, it is not worth it.

It is perfectly feasible to make moderate loads in 44 Magnum cases using more than a few different powders. They will be just as accurate, or possibly moreso, than similar loads assembled in shorter cases. JMHO.

One thing you may not have considered is that 29s are set-up to shoot a 240 at roughly 1400 FPS. Based on my experience, I bet your 8-inch gun will probably print pretty high with a target load. All of mine have. The good part is that an 8-inch 29 is really not punishing to fire with full-charge loads like a 4-inch gun is, but still, it is nice to be able to save the wear and tear on the gun if you don't need to be shooting magnums. Unfortunately, there is no good fix for this problem, unless your gun has a pinned-in front sight.

Congratulations on acquiring that revolver. You'll enjoy it.