Can you identify this Smith from this photo? It's a 629 or a 686?

[Silvio55]

Hi! I'm in the hunt for a .44 Magnum revolver. Budget is tight so I was thinking in a new Taurus M44 or a used Smith if the price is right.
Recently the owner of the gun shop I usually do business with, told me he was going to buy a lot of used guns from an old man who wanted to sell everything he has, and he thinks there's was a .44 revolver among the guns, he wasn't sure because he was more interested in others guns from that lot, and not much in the revolvers, and he would get me a very good deal if I was interested in any of the revolvers.
He showed me some photos y one of them is what appears to me to be a 629, but I'm not sure, I'm not an expert by any means.
Could be? Or it's a 686 or another .357?
Here's the only photo he's got:

 

[AveragEd]

I'm pretty certain it is a 686. You are probably going to find that a used Smith & Wesson in good condition is going to cost you as much or more than a new revolver of another brand. Us olde partes have driven those prices up because we prefer them to new ones.

Ed

 

['79 Magnum GT]

By the look of the the size and color of the cartridge I would say it's a 357. To me the trigger and hammer don't look like one of the 3 T's. Maybe a K-frame which never came in 44 magnum to my knowledge. Lots of people here have much more knowledge than I do.

Rick

 

[Silvio55]

Thanks! I wanted to be a 629 so bad! But I suspected it was a 686, as I said, I'm not an expert, never owned either of those.
I live in Argentina and the gun prices are at least double of what you pay in the US, so a brand new Smith is out of the question for me. Used prices in Smiths are very reasonable, but not many 29's or 629's around this part of the country, and guns cannot be send via Mail, so I'm very limited with my options.
The gun shop has a brand new Taurus M44 on sale, less than half the price of a brand new S&W. So I guess I will go with that one.
Thank you very much!

 

[S&WshooterFIN]

Hi! I'm in the hunt for a .44 Magnum revolver. Budget is tight so I was thinking in a new Taurus M44 or a used Smith if the price is right.
Recently the owner of the gun shop I usually do business with, told me he was going to buy a lot of used guns from an old man who wanted to sell everything he has, and he thinks there's was a .44 revolver among the guns, he wasn't sure because he was more interested in others guns from that lot, and not much in the revolvers, and he would get me a very good deal if I was interested in any of the revolvers.
He showed me some photos y one of them is what appears to me to be a 629, but I'm not sure, I'm not an expert by any means.
Could be? Or it's a 686 or another .357?
Here's the only photo he's got:
View attachment 790391

Welcome to the S&W forum.
I posted this picture showing the points where you can quickly distinguish between N- and L-frame revolvers. Red circle.
It's a shame that guns are rare and expensive there. Here in Finland we have a lot of cheap S&W revolvers. More than we can buy ourselves and they are destroyed by the police.
In Finland, you can give a gun to the police if you don't need it yourself and can't sell it. For example, if you inherit a gun and don't get a gun permit for it, the gun must be sold or handed over to the police. The police will try to sell the gun at auction. If no one pays the minimum price of EUR 100, the gun will be destroyed. You have to apply for a separate gun permit for each gun, the permit costs over EUR 150. There are a lot of old guns, so not everyone can find a buyer.

If I were buying a revolver myself and could buy a good used S&W, I would rather buy that than a Taurus.
I don't want to criticize Taurus. I had a Model 941 4" .22 WMR about 30 years ago and it was a fun little revolver.
I now have a Taurus Model 90 4" .22 LR and a S&W Model 17-5 6" .22 LR. I have this Taurus only, because it's rare model in Europe.
It was almost unfired when I bought it at a police auction.
The S&W is a dream on the range. The Taurus's trigger pull is horrible compared to the S&W.