New member. New Performance Center 629 owner... Couple questions

[C J]

I have a 629-2 Classic which is almost identical to your revolver. It also has the 8 3/8" barrel. The accuracy of that revolver has really surprised me over the years. It was much more accurate than I expected. I've never used anything but the irons on it even though mine is drilled and tapped. I can rest mine against something on the side like a post or a tree and it will shoot plenty accurate like that. I can bounce a gallon jug around at 175 yards with it. I saw another 629 match my Sig P220 shot for shot at 25 yards shooting with no rest of any kind. People laughed at me at first when I moved the 8" steel target out to 25 yards. They had been shooting it at 7 yards and they thought I would never hit the target at 25 yards. When I started hitting it about 9 out of 10 times I started drawing a crowd. Then someone got the range master to challenge me. He was using a 629 with a 6" barrel. We were matching each other shot for shot until I ran out of ammo. When he saw me bring my own 629 out of the truck he suddenly decided it was getting late and time to close the range. Yeah right. He should have kept shooting because I had only just acquired that Smith so I wasn't nearly as good with it as I was the Sig. Still he shot his very well and kept up with me when I was using one of the most accurate pistols of that era.

 

[jaymoore]

You saying hard time with target acquisition and wobble with magnification an arms length away from eye? 99% of my hunting will be from elevated stand, but none with an IDEAL handgun rest. I have some ideas involving shooting sticks, existing rifle rail. We'll see. Inside 80 is my goal. thinking evening hunts and doe to begin with so they are over food source and still... not slipping through woods heading back to bedding areea. as such, it seems like scope might be good. close range cursing buck I'd much prefer red dot or even iron sites.

with red dot, what's good size dot for inside 80, maybe out to 100 after practice?

decisions, decisions.

Good off the shelf rounds for small Florida deer? Maybe an Alabama deer at 190#?

Wobble, not so much, but speed of acquisition is lacking. And field of view when the deer is going by at 20 yards or less! (Have had that happen more than once.) Magnification under 3x makes targets look SMALLER to me, and 4x is just a bit much for a short range handgun.

I almost always still hunt/stalk, and rarely is a support available when trigger pulling time comes.

As for ammo, I dunno. Shot placement counts for 90% of a clean kill with pretty much any .44 as far as I can tell. I also use more or less standard pressure .45 Colt loads for deer, so power isn't a major concern either. What you want is enough penetration to generate an exit wound regardless of what the bullet encounters inside the body. (I've yet to recover a .44 bullet from a deer.) Expansion can't be relied upon. Nor hydrostatic shock, which works fanatasically with my .223 hunting rifles! You have to break major bones, sever the spine, or create massive bleeding. Think broadhead arrows.

The Ultradots seem like serviceable gear, however, I don't know how well the battery will last in the cold. Have been using a couple of Matchdots for a bit over a year now for target work and still don't have a final opinion. Which is probably more good than ominous!

 

[Tom S.]

Red dots are fine - I own several - but a good scope can provide far better clarity, especially at dawn/evening. Low power and long eye relief are a good choice. There are some variable powered long eye relief scopes available, but at the higher power, the eye relief is shortened which can become a problem with recoil, plus it becomes harder to obtain the picture with the scope. I would consider a 2x Leupold or Nikon, but after having both, the Leupold would be my first choice.

Here's mine:





240 grain SWC coated bullets at 25 yards:

 

[Panhandler80]

Wobble, not so much, but speed of acquisition is lacking. And field of view when the deer is going by at 20 yards or less! (Have had that happen more than once.) Magnification under 3x makes targets look SMALLER to me, and 4x is just a bit much for a short range handgun.

I almost always still hunt/stalk, and rarely is a support available when trigger pulling time comes.

As for ammo, I dunno. Shot placement counts for 90% of a clean kill with pretty much any .44 as far as I can tell. I also use more or less standard pressure .45 Colt loads for deer, so power isn't a major concern either. What you want is enough penetration to generate an exit wound regardless of what the bullet encounters inside the body. (I've yet to recover a .44 bullet from a deer.) Expansion can't be relied upon. Nor hydrostatic shock, which works fanatasically with my .223 hunting rifles! You have to break major bones, sever the spine, or create massive bleeding. Think broadhead arrows.

The Ultradots seem like serviceable gear, however, I don't know how well the battery will last in the cold. Have been using a couple of Matchdots for a bit over a year now for target work and still don't have a final opinion. Which is probably more good than ominous!

thanks. yeah, I'd already assumed little to no hydrostatic shock. I'd alson already pretty much decided that my desired POI with this new gun would be identical to archery aim point for each given deer deer position.

Thank you all for help. Sounds like Ultradot is pretty good bang for buck. It won't be here by Christmas, but I may be able to shoot a little Monday pm.

 

[Panhandler80]

ah.... snap! sight is supposed to show up tomorrow!!! Shop just took delivery of gun. Not sure if waiting until Christmas is something I'll be capable of.

 

[Panhandler80]

As promised it is still in the box. I could easily see one too many cups of cheer resulting in this box thing or ripped open though

pic not posting. grrr.

 

[Bill In Texas]

Welcome to the Neighborhood and congratulations!

 

[Panhandler80]

Yeah.... Killin' me. Sight in brown box, gun in white box.

 

[digiroc]

Burris FastFire 3 ...

My model 69 now has a FastFire 3 on it and I like it quite a lot. Prior to the FastFire I put a Sig Romeo 4 tube type red dot and it seemed that picking up the dot was harder when looking through the tube.

The FastFire dot picks up quickly and with both eyes open seems to provide a wider field of view. Getting a holster to fit has been easier with the Burris as it sits back farther and is more compact.

It also comes with a protective hood that snaps over the sight, and clear panels at each end allow sighting with it on.

I found that a Don Hulm front break holster works and may even leave room for your tube to fit in the open front. The only modification to the holster was to cut off the retaining strap, making it an open top which I prefer anyway.

I also have a Cordura pancake holster that makes the 69 a CCW if I want to carry the weapon without showing.

digiroc

 

[Panhandler80]

a lot of love for the FF3.

I think the best solution is to buy another gun so I can compare the two first hand. ;-)

I had FF3 in electronic shopping cart couple days ago, but cane across couple revuews that mentioned dot being too bright at first and last light in field. I have killeda lot of ddeer with literally seconds of legal light left.

Hopefully tube turns out okay. if not, I'll slap it on turkey gun and try something different on 629