Model 29 and 629 Why the popularity?

[GT_80]

two words... "Dirty Harry"

 

[GT_80]

I think reloading is key to truly appreciating the 29/629. All 44 magnum loads don't have to send shockwaves down your arm. I load at appx. 1000 fps and is plenty strong enough to topple a 55 lb steel ram at 200 meters in IHMSA competition. And as mentioned by others above the 44 magnum is just a very fine looking six shooter. The bug bit the fool outta me!

OH. MY. Gosh... We should all be so blessed!

That is the equivalent of a really nice used car these days... Or maybe one years college tuition... or about 500,000 smiles

 

[NEURON]

Its the gateway drug to the 500 Mag.

 

[lppd4]

Here is my 2 .44's A 29-2 (Christmas gift from my father in law who lost his battle with Covid in January) and my 629-3. I sold a 629-1 6" and a 629-? 4" and used the proceeds to buy the 5". Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I had kept the other 2.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Not long after the DH movies came out, I remember seeing a rash of want ads for Mod. 29's saying "fired once." LOL

Exactly true!

And Dirty Harry Callahan loaded his M29 with .44 Specials. That comes out in one of the later movies.

And how is any N frame in .44 Magnum "sexier" than any other N frame? Really a ridiculous concept.

M27 Classic

M25 in a classic, more useful, and more friendly caliber:

 

[gunbarrel]

My recently purchased nickel finish 29-2 with a 6" bbl. Had to sell a couple of my guns that were nothing special to generate the funds to buy it.

 

[lppd4]

M25 in a classic, more useful, and more friendly caliber:

[/QUOTE]

.45 Colt classic? Yes
More useful? not in my book
Friendlier? Yes unless .44 specials are used

 

[BE Mike]

The 29 & 629 is mostly a hunting revolver. As such, I consider it a gun for an experienced reloader. They are very accurate and can be loaded down for fun shooting or even controllable self-defense use. Since they came out with the round butt frame, the size fits medium sized hands much better. For revolver shooters, it is just the logical addition to my S&W .22 , .38 SPL, .357 Mag calibers. I don't shoot my 629 that much, but when I do, it always puts a smile on my face!
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[Hair Trigger]

If you have 3 minutes to spare, watch this video for an explanation. If you don't have 3 minutes, skip to 1:49.

Oh, some pretty bad film editing at the end of the clip too. Harry cocks his Model 29, then performs a double action pull. Hollyweird.

And he walked pretty well for someone who took shotgun pellets to his leg.

 

[CLASSIC12]

It’s super sexy, super fun, a big kick. What more can I say ?

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

The Model 29 is a classic. At one time, it was S&W's finest revolver. Perhaps it still is. At that time, it was S&W's most powerful, for whatever that's worth. For an individual who was capable of identifying and buying proper grips for his or her (let's not forget Joni Lynn!) hand, it was a fine medium-recoil revolver with plenty of power for bowling pins and often for silhouettes, with plenty of factory ammo and handloads. There were and are plenty of good heavy-recoil factory loads for those who need them.

A very versatile cartridge not particularly expensive to load, and not always expensive to buy in factory ammo. Much more powerful for some purposes than the .357, but still easy to carry in 4".

I could easily be wrong, but I think that most folks who tried one and didn't like it, tried it with improper grips. Maybe they thought that because .44 Mag is sometimes a rifle cartridge, they should use stock stocks, instead of properly-fitting grips.

 

[pharmer]

Being Italian I understand "an offer I can't refuse. Almost 20 years ago I was wandering around the Lakeland Gunshow and a guy says "you want this." OK I sez

I couldn't refuse.
Maybe 10 years ago 'ol Dimonback68+ were sitting at the eating tables and a guy says "you want this." Dick says: "I'm buying it if'n you don't."

I couldn't refuse.
5 or 6 years ago Khaled of Shoot Straight said "you want this." Anyone who has done business with him knows he didn't get "Oprah money" rich giving guns away. I couldn't "hunker/dicker" down that last $25 but it turned out OK.

I couldn't refuse. Joe

 

[TheHobbyist]

@ the OP, hopefully, you may have a local range/friend that reloads for the .44 and are able to experience first hand the flexibility of the round. Ol' Elmer had a wadcutter load for it, I believe around 1,000 FPS that was very pleasant to shoot.

They have always been desirable for a number of reasons mentioned here.

As briefly mentioned, there are a lot of hunters/outdoors folks that carry them for a number of reasons. There are a lot of deer hunters that use them (including me ).

 

[James E. McCall]

Smith & Wesson Model 29

Well all you S&W Model 29 owners out there I have a S&W Model 29-2 4 inch, blued bought it from a fellow PO for $125.00 and never regretted it, I am a handloader so both the .44 Special and Magnum are versatile as there are so many combinations to choose from. Another fellow PO sold me his brand new Ruger ( which was Bill Rugers first rifle) and is a semi Auto chambered in .S&W 44 Magnum which looks just like his 10-22 and it is hard to tell them apart unless you look real close, I paid $75.00 for it and it a real shooter deadly accurate. I had real an article in Guns & Ammo about loads for this rifle and there was a warning not to shoot this load in a Smith&Wesson Model 29. My self and a few other fellow PO's and about 10 Auxiliary PO's who were members of our Gun Club decided we needed to test it at the range along with My 29-2. We took two plastic buckets ( 5 gallons each) filled them with water, epoxied the tops on, left them in the range house for a few days and then on a Sunday went there and placed the two of them about 10 targets apart. First I fired my S&W Model 29-2 with a 240 grain hollowpoint Sierra bullet with a near maximum charge at the first bucket and it blew the top off and fell over with the water blowing all over the place. Next I fired the Ruger at the other bucket with the load from Guns &Ammo with same bullet at same distance (50 yards) and it shocked me and every body else when the bucket flew off the the target frame to about 10 feet in the air with the top and bottom flying in different directions and the water sprayed even higher and splashed all over the 25 yard line. We went forward and found that the bucket was almost flattened with only one hole in the center and the other bucket only had one hole no exit. After that the guys wanted to buy both my S&W 29-2 and my Ruger also. But I told them NO WAY. A few of them went out and bought them both as they were also hunters. One of them who was a Doctor went on a hunt in Arizona the following year and he told me he shot a Mule Deer at about 125 yards and it just fell over dead as a doornail and didn't move. He said after he opened it up the insides just poured out but he did get a lot of meat from the front legs back. Well we had a deer roast that year at the range house and it was delicious . I never went hunting as my daughters could not understand why anyone would shoot "Bambi". The S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum as far as I am concerned is the King of Smith & Wessons bar none. I still have both of those firearms and will NEVER sell them, they will go to my Grandsons who are also shooters and a few of my Grandaughters also shoot and thev love shooting. I have 10 Grandchildren , 6 girls and 4 boys I am a happy guy who is blessed and I still shoot whether with .22's or >357's and .44's . Born 10/14/1940.

 

[Greyman50]

Having lived when the DH movies came out And been into guns,IMHO ole Clint caused the run on Mdl 29’s, saw many friends run out and buy them and even got to shoot a few. Never got “ bitten” by the 29 bug , bought one maybe 20 years ago at a decent price. Since been casting and reloading since late 70’s it was an ok piece. Then bought a Ruger Super BH with scope for hunting. Well age caught up with me with nerve damage in both hands / wrist so both “ went down the road”. Have to stick to milder cartridges. 29’s are very nice pieces, enjoy them if you have em.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

.45 Colt classic? Yes
More useful? not in my book
Friendlier? Yes unless .44 specials are used

Not to pick a fight but in my book .44 Magnum is useless EXCEPT for hunting. When you start talking about reloading it "down" for the range or other fun uses then you're not speaking about .44 Magnum any longer. It's something "less", even in magnum cases. 44 Special is far friendlier, far more useful on a daily basis than .44 Magnum, it just doesn't have the panache (which is why Dirty Harry didn't make too big of an issue since that's what he was using) . I loaded my M629 with .44 Specials for the house (until I sold it) because 230 grain LRNs in .44 Special are fabulous for home defense. .44 Magnum is ridiculous for home defense unless you really hate your neighbors. YMMV

I really don't mean to pick a fight but I just think that .44 Magnum is horribly over rated for the "real world", notwithstanding Elmer Keith, my friend John Taffin, and some other renowned and respected men of the gun.

And a sexy N frame is a sexy N frame, no matter the caliber.

 

[twodog max]

Well I ain't gonna fight over it but IMO opinion based on 50 years of using the 44 magnum it is the most versatile round out there. I have 357's and 45's of several shapes and forms but the 44 stands shoulder above the rest in its wide range of applications. If you don't like the 44 fine, leaves more for me.

 

[jbenedetto2]

S&W 29

Purchased this in 1974.

 

[Xfuzz]

My two cents in two words.....

.44 Special.

 

[NavySCPO]

I only have one Smith 44 Magnum, 29-3 6”, because everybody needs at least one. Really wanted a 29-2 6.5”, but they demand such crazy money these days.

At 70, it’s not fun to shoot, but it sure looks good paired with my 19-3.