How'd I do for my first Revolver?

That was a good purchase, Rusty.
But there is a problem.
You will find that revolvers multiply like bunnies and you'll be eating ramen noodles for the next 5 years.
Trust me.
 
As someone who actually like Ramen, that sounds like a good problem to me Mike haha
 
That's a fine revolver! I think you did very well. I suppose if your like the rest of us then you have been bitten by the revolver bug. I'm finding there is no cure. I remember my first smith a 586-3 Ill never sell it!
 
Thanks guys, brought it out to shoot today, hitting bowling pins at 50 yards. But man you need a steady hand to hit with it. I'm a real small guy so that doesn't help either. I hadn't planned to shoot mags through it but was heckled by gramps to try it. I can see why people keep the rubber grips on now haha.
 
IMO you got a really good deal. I had to laugh at gramps getting you to shoot full mags in it. Yep that is a hand cannon for sure.
That's an awesome first revolver for sure.
 
Shot well, but it's gonna be a hard gun to get used to for sure. Shot about 40 rounds through it today. It was grouping great, but wanted to shoot left. Got the thing shooting good just as I ran out of ammo. I think a lot of my accuracy issues came down to old less than amazing reloads. And I catch myself flinching sometimes.
 
RustyVT said:
Shot well, but it's gonna be a hard gun to get used to for sure. Shot about 40 rounds through it today. It was grouping great, but wanted to shoot left. Got the thing shooting good just as I ran out of ammo. I think a lot of my accuracy issues came down to old less than amazing reloads. And I catch myself flinching sometimes.
Click to expand...

Don't you love Uncle Henry's? If anything is going to make you flinch, the 44 magnum will do it.

I like casting and loading for my "brand X" 44 mag revolver.

Congratulations on a nice firearm.
 
I actually had never even heard of Uncle Henry's until a gun nut co worker told me to check it out. After weeks on Gunbroker and Armslist surfing with no luck I found this in 10 minutes on Henry's. Drove about 70 miles to meet the guy and took it home. Now to spend hours with polish to get it looking nice.
 
RustyVT said:
[...] Now to spend hours with polish to get it looking nice.
Click to expand...
Too many owners think they can do a better finishing job on stainless than S&W did. Maybe they can but the whole point of paying more for a pinned and recessed 629 is to get a more desirable collector item. Polishing off the original satin finish detracts from collector value. If you did not want a collectible 629 you may as well have bought a less expensive dash 1. Please put off polishing it until you've had time to think it over.
 
k22fan said:
Too many owners think they can do a better finishing job on stainless than S&W did. Maybe they can but the whole point of paying more for a pinned and recessed 629 is to get a more desirable collector item. Polishing off the original satin finish detracts from collector value. If you did not want a collectible 629 you may as well have bought a less expensive dash 1. Please put off polishing it until you've had time to think it over.
Click to expand...

When I see a polished stainless steel gun it screams bubba and I walk away.
 
It's definitely not gonna be anywhere near mirror. Just getting the powder burns off. I don't care for the chrome look either, the factory "grain" is untouched
 
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Here's the after, essentially exactly the same as when I started. Just without the powder residue all over it. I'm OCD pretty bad when it comes to that. Don't worry, this one won't be turning into a bubba gun.

xil57ii.jpg
 
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Metal polishes are designed to change the surface appearance. Clean it with polish enough times and that is what will happen. You can satisfy your OCD by detail cleaning it with your favorite gun solvent, bronze wool and elbow grease. You can scrub it with bronze wool until the cows come home then when your done it will still have the factory's surface finish. Seriously, that is no more work than using metal polish. Bronze wool is available at larger yacht supply stores, mail order from Brownell's and from Ace Hardware's paint department. If your local Ace does not have it on the shelf they can order it through their warehouse system. It's $7 or $8 for a bag of 3 pads. I like fine wool. Since I only pull off small tufts a bag lasts for years.

While lead fouling sometimes has to be removed the only reasons to clean the powder burn doughnuts off the front of the cylinder are to satisfy OCD, just to enjoy fondling your new revolver or to prepare it for sale.

Ordinary target shooting by a hobbyist and hunting do not put any significant wear on S&W revolvers. As a buyer I shop for S&Ws with that background so my first choice is to have the doughnuts intact.
 
Thanks for the info K22, I'll get some of that bronze wool next time I'm out! Quick question for you guys though, I've run this gun through just about every condition test and it has passed with pretty much flying colors except for this. Just wondering if this is normal or not. This is the yoke gap while applying pressure. It was an .011 gap with a feeler while pushing on it, probly looks massive due to the pic though. If this is abnormal what would you consider the suspect? I'm just hoping the yoke isn't tweaked slightly. The second pic is just in it's normal position.

5hDeFMZ.jpg


AjiEzss.jpg
 
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