629-3

[Seikosthlm]

You like square butts and 3" barrel 629s. Someone else paid out the big bucks to have 629 customized to your taste. Unlike throwing the $75 toward the end of a rainbow spending it on cartridges or reloading tools or components will make you happy.

Very true! I still need to know how it was delivered Its my personality. [emoji26]

If anyone in the US with paypal want to help out. Please send me a pm. Ill fill out the form with this and two others (HP and a 1954 combat masterpiece) and send you the funds. Also let me know how much you want for the trouble of posting it.

 

[grip frame]

Not a cut down barrel. It retains it original integral front sight ramp. If it was a loped off barrel it would have a visible seam of a new ramp added. Also not a longer barrel that was loped off at the rear.

The revolver looks like it has been polished to me. Its possible it came from the factory with laser lettering (like the regular Classic and Classic DX and Magna classic revolvers of the same time period) on the barrel that was polished off.

Other possibility is that it had it barrel replaced with a new 3" tube.

 

[k22fan]

We are all thinking slow. One of us should have asked for a close up picture of the muzzle crown. A local gunsmith's method is to mill metal away from an integral ramp until the only thing left under it is a male dovetail. He mills the female dovetail in from the crown parallel to the bore. After the ramp is pressed in you could not spot his work in the side pictures Seikosthlm posted. Polishing starting with abrasives might hide it when viewed from the crown but it is worth a look.

 

[Seikosthlm]

Not a cut down barrel. It retains it original integral front sight ramp. If it was a loped off barrel it would have a visible seam of a new ramp added. Also not a longer barrel that was loped off at the rear.

The revolver looks like it has been polished to me. Its possible it came from the factory with laser lettering (like the regular Classic and Classic DX and Magna classic revolvers of the same time period) on the barrel that was polished off.

Other possibility is that it had it barrel replaced with a new 3" tube.

2 plausable theories! Especially the replacement one if its indeed true that this model was not made with 3" in this period as stated earlier.

I found this special order 6" Classic Hunter without roll marks on another forum. Not same prefix but pretty close.
One Of A Kind Classic Hunter? I Have A S&W 629 Classic Hunter In .44 Magnum... | Gun Values Board

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[Seikosthlm]

We are all thinking slow. One of us should have asked for a close up picture of the muzzle crown. A local gunsmith's method is to mill metal away from an integral ramp until the only thing left under it is a male dovetail. He mills the female dovetail in from the crown parallel to the bore. After the ramp is pressed in you could not spot his work in the side pictures Seikosthlm posted. Polishing starting with abrasives might hide it when viewed from the crown but it is worth a look.

Here are some more pics. Let me know if you need another angle or part.

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[S&WsRsweet]

Sorry I'm no help as far as information goes but I just wanted to say even in pictures those 44 barrels are impressive looking from the business end

 

[iPac]

That is not a S&W crown, at least not how they are on the 3" Classic Hunter model of '89, and I'm not aware of another 3" run in the -3 range. Except the one below.

The holes for the front ejector retention are located different and there should be no hole in the front, it's on the bottom.

I'd bet money a cut down barrel or swapped barrel.

 

[Seikosthlm]

That is not a S&W crown, at least not how they are on the 3" Classic Hunter model of '89, and I'm not aware of another 3" run in the -3 range.

The holes for the front ejector retention are located different and there should be no hole in the front, it's on the bottom.

I'd bet money a cut down barrel or swapped barrel.

View attachment 323363View attachment 323364View attachment 323365View attachment 323366

Thanks! Nice one btw!!

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[iPac]

Thanks! Nice one btw!!

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Might be worth a letter to find out what it is, but something is amiss.

Maybe it's from that run I pictured above, 100 to Lew Horton. Would be scarce if so. If not, then part of another run around that time but they all had longer barrels, so would suggest a chop.

In any case, it is NOT part of the 103650 production run of 3" classic hunters. The barrel is not factory for them, and I'm pretty sure they didn't get Hogues, they got Pachs and S&W combats, plus I have never found a -3 example in that run. They only consist of -2 and -2E marked examples, but they have all the endurance upgrades.

Factory oddities do exist, but usually there is a more plausible reason.

 

[Seikosthlm]

Might be worth a letter to find out what it is, but something is amiss.

Maybe it's from that run I pictured above, 100 to Lew Horton. Would be scarce if so. If not, then part of another run around that time but they all had longer barrels, so would suggest a chop.

In any case, it is NOT part of the 103650 production run of 3" classic hunters. The barrel is not factory for them, and I'm pretty sure they didn't get Hogues, they got Pachs and S&W combats, plus I have never found a -3 example in that run. They only consist of -2 and -2E marked examples, but they have all the endurance upgrades.

Factory oddities do exist, but usually there is a more plausible reason.

Thanks again. Will absolutely order a letter as soon as I found a way to do it from here.

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[Seikosthlm]

Pics of inner markings


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[RSBH44]

I love a good mystery. None the less, that’s a nice little hand cannon.The
Unfluted cylinder is really starting to appeal to me. In Stainless or blued, no matter.

 

[SLT223]

That is not a S&W crown, at least not how they are on the 3" Classic Hunter model of '89, and I'm not aware of another 3" run in the -3 range. Except the one below.

The holes for the front ejector retention are located different and there should be no hole in the front, it's on the bottom.

I'd bet money a cut down barrel or swapped barrel.

View attachment 323363View attachment 323364View attachment 323365View attachment 323366View attachment 323368

The front sight ramp looks factory. What’s exceptionally odd to me is that it is set up for a full length ejector rod. If that is a factory configured gun, it’s the first 3” .44 I’ve seen with such.

Edit: post 9 has it summed up. I guess I never noticed that model sport the full length rod.

 

[k22fan]

9X741, which was shorted to the last 3 digits on the yoke, is the assembly number. S&W hand ejectors have always had assembly numbers stamped on the frame, yoke and side plate to to get those fitted parts back together after each time they were separated during manufacture. Serial numbers are added later on. To make the space available for model numbers frame assembly numbers were moved from under the barrel behind the yoke to the left side of the grip frame about 1957. They are neither recorded nor is there any effort to prevent reusing the same number so they are of little interest to collectors.

 

[Seikosthlm]

Payment issue solved. Ordering letter for it tomorrow

 

[k22fan]

To evade being asked to eat crow later I am retracting my skepticism now. At first glance my reaction was that is not a factory crown but I did not want to see lathe cuts that rough coming out of the factory. The same sloppy work was done facing off the front of the barrel, full lug, barrel rib, and sight base. I have never heard of a gunsmith going to the trouble of recentering a barrel in the lathe chuck to face off the front of it again after relocating a front sight. Nothing reveals relocation of the front ramp.

Whether the 629 is as it left the factory or customized I will not have to choke down crow when you bring this thread back up with a picture of the letter.

 

[Seikosthlm]

To evade being asked to eat crow later I am retracting my skepticism now. At first glance my reaction was that is not a factory crown but I did not want to see lathe cuts that rough coming out of the factory. The same sloppy work was done facing off the front of the barrel, full lug, barrel rib, and sight base. I have never heard of a gunsmith going to the trouble of recentering a barrel in the lathe chuck to face off the front of it again after relocating a front sight. Nothing reveals relocation of the front ramp.

Whether the 629 is as it left the factory or customized I will not have to choke down crow when you bring this thread back up with a picture of the letter.

I wont ask anyone in this discussion to eat crow. Thanks for giving your thoughts! I can see your point about the lathe cuts!

 

[Seikosthlm]

Update!

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[Dieseltech56]

So a cut down classic hunter it is. Thanks for the update!

 

[k22fan]

I guess the lathe cut across the front of the barrel rib and front sight base obscures the seam between the base and rib.

On the positive side its full length extractor rod is an improvement over the shorter extractor rods in the pictured 3" factory 629s.

 

[Seikosthlm]

I guess the lathe cut across the front of the barrel rib and front sight base obscures the seam between the base and rib.

On the positive side its full length extractor rod is an improvement over the shorter extractor rods in the pictured 3" factory 629s.

Thanks for the input! Yes and also got some pretty awesome news about 2 other revolvers but thats for another (vintage) thread.

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[Seikosthlm]

So a cut down classic hunter it is. Thanks for the update!

Thank you for chiming in!

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[one eye joe]

CHOPPED OR NOT---ITS STILL A BEAUTIFUL REVOLVER. SHOOT IT REGULARLY, AND ENJOY IT ! ! !

I HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR BOTH 3" M629s, AND 8 3/8" CLASSIC HUNTERS......

MINE WEAR PRE-BAN, SAMBAR STAG, BY EAGLE......

 

[Seikosthlm]

CHOPPED OR NOT---ITS STILL A BEAUTIFUL REVOLVER. SHOOT IT REGULARLY, AND ENJOY IT ! ! !

I HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR BOTH 3" M629s, AND 8 3/8" CLASSIC HUNTERS......

MINE WEAR PRE-BAN, SAMBAR STAG, BY EAGLE......

Thank you! I will Have a Nice weekend

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[Seikosthlm]

Still happy with this freak. Just invested in New grips for it.

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[yfdcap]

I have often thought about the same gun. Not sure who to trust with the barrel cut though. Great gun you have there.

 

[7tenz]

Please educate me. Why is Square butts and 3" incompatible?

A year and a half ago I bought used 629-3 6" with plans of converting it to 4" I found 4 and 3 inch barrels at Brownells and considered the 3 but got the 4" anyway. Never considered the sq butt in the equation for either barrel. I put some Jerry Mikulek grips on it to try out.