Here's my 29-2 that I inherited from my late father. It is in like-new, mint condition. My father bought it new in 1980, and the price tag of $479.95 is still on the outer cardboard box it came in. To my knowledge, it has never been fired, and it doesn't even have a turn ring on the cylinder. I never saw my father fire it, and I have never fired it. My dad bought it because he got caught up in the M29 craze from the "Dirty Harry" movies. This one has the 6" barrel, and I don't think my dad realized that the "Dirty Harry" gun had a 6.5" barrel.
I have everything that came with it. It currently wears stocks with a speedloader cutout. I bought those stocks because they have nicer looking wood than the very plain, unfigured wood of the original "football" cutout style stocks that came with the gun. Then later, I realized they aren't period-correct, as S&W didn't introduce the speedloader stocks until the 29-3 in around 1981. Nevertheless, I still have the original stocks anyway.
For some reason, the "velvet-texture" blue lining in the wooden box completely deteriorated over time, just sitting inside my dad's gun safe. I have no idea how that happened, as the gun was not stored inside the wooden box; it was kept inside the smaller blue box. I theorize that gun solvent must have gotten on the box lining and dissolved it.
