new model 29, new member and questions

[jcleverly76]

Hi guys -

I'm a new member. Longtime gun owner but just got my first smith. Picked up a 29-10 with a 4" barrel new at the local sportsman's warehouse. I have a couple questions about it.

First, took it to the range today. shot a box of winchester white box 240gr jsp's through it. shot great, although you can feel the recoil in the lighter barrel.

While cleaning tonight, I noticed that looking down the barrel from the rear of the gun forward, the centerline/front sight is slightly off center.

If you look at the top of the gun where the cut in part of the frame and the barrel are (like the cut in part that goes to the rear sight) the front is maybe 1/16-1/8" off, indicating the barrel is just barely off 12 o'clock. to explain it better, the sight is off toward the left if you're looking at it as if you were in a shooting position, from the rear to the front.

anyways, should i be concerned with this? the barrel is nice and tight against the frame, and doesn't feel loose when trying to turn it by hand. it shoots straight, and i honestly never paid attention before i shot it today so i don't know if it came out of the factory like that. my main concern is that i don't want the barrel to eventually loosen from lots of recoil. i don't handload at all, so i generally shoot stuff that's 1100-1200 fps.

second, i had read somewhere that you shouldn't put full magnum loads through the guns all the time and mix it up with .44 spl. with the ruger blackhawks i've owned, i've only used .44 mag, the same winchester white box ammo. do they mean using hot magnum loads as compared to factory loads? being that it is a .44 mag n frame, i know it is a solid frame designed to be used with the .44 mag round, but didn't quite understand that.

thanks in advance for your answers,

jim

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Welcome to the forum!

I have seen several Smiths like that over the years. It isn't the quality that one might expect from them, but it is common. I wouldn't worry about it. The 29-10 has all the endurance upgrades, and can and will handle a steady diet of full power factory (or factory equivalent handloads) magnum rounds

As to your second question-
what they are referring to is not using .44 specials, then using magnum rounds with out first cleaning the powder fouling ring (at the mouth of the case) from the chambers that the shorter rounds will leave. It can raise pressures, and the expanding brass from the magnum rounds can literally weld that crap to the chamber wall.

 

[jcleverly76]

thanks for the answer, gun 4 fun. good to know it's nothing to worry about. as you say it's common, have a lot of people seen this type of thing? i don't mind it, but was concerned at first that the barrel was loose and rotating.

now, these days, is the crush fit barrel as strong as an earlier pinned and recessed 29? and what are the 'endurance upgrades'? i've read john taffin's page on the 29, but that only goes up to the 29-6.

here's a pic of my 29. i'm real happy with it. expensive but well worth it.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

The endurance upgrades were enhancements to the durability of the gun. The endurance guns aren't any stronger than the earlier guns, but they will take a steady diet of full power ammo without shooting "loose". The endurance package started with the 29-3E in 1988, and ended in 1990 with the 29-5. Every Smith revo since that time has them all (with the possible exception of some of the small J frames).

The barrels of newer guns aren't really crush fit. It is more of a slight mismatching of the barrel threads in relationship to the frame threads. I have a couple of pinned guns that look just like what you described, so it isn't just the new guns. They still shoot great though.

 

[fyimo]

Congratulations on the purchase of the Model 29

 

[Kurlis]

Model 29

I purchased a new Model 29 with 6 1/2" barrel and nickel finish for just under $900.

I pick it up tomorrow and will post pics.

My other S&W is Model 327NG 8-shot .357 Magnum.

 

[JDBarrister]

Beautiful gun, I was fondling the same thing at Sportsman's Warehouse, I think I still see some of my drool marks on yours. How do you like the grips, I have a 29-5 with the hogue monogrip, but it's too tacky so I'm thinking of switching out to some round to square conversions like those.

 

[Kurlis]

Thanks, I love fondling it. Silky smooth action. Feels great in my hand. Very clean finish. High quality craftsmanship and design IMO. I'm glad I forked down the money to get my own. It's definitely a keeper.

There's no denying it. I'm a revolver man.

 

[jcleverly76]

looking at it and cleaning it today, the barrel is a little off 12:00, but really not that bad. one thing i didn't notice is that the rear sight blade looks a little tilted, like one side is a little higher than the other. i think that's what i was noticing. can i adjust that at all?

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

The tilted rear blade is also a common thing. I have never bothered taking one apart to try to straighten, but I believe that it is simply the little square "foot" that the blade adjustment screw attatches to that is slightly out of perfect alignment, or "square" in relationship to the rest of the rear sight assembly. I have several that are like that as well.

 

[Kurlis]

I finally picked up my Model 29 this morning. I'm so glad I took the plunge.

It is a work of art. It's beautiful.

 

[Kweeksdraw]

jcleverly76, Can you do me a favor? Take your calipers and mic the barrel thickness at the muzzle in a few places. Is it consistant all around? I've found that some barrels are off center by a bit and reading this I wonder if the factory isn't compensating by rotating the barrel a tad.

 

[jcleverly76]

jcleverly76, Can you do me a favor? Take your calipers and mic the barrel thickness at the muzzle in a few places. Is it consistant all around? I've found that some barrels are off center by a bit and reading this I wonder if the factory isn't compensating by rotating the barrel a tad.

i can do it. i'll mike it tomorrow and let you know. how much consistency are we looking for? exactly the same numbers, or is there a tolerance of +/- a few thousandths?

 

[Kweeksdraw]

The ones I've seen are only a few thousands off from one side to the other. But this has caused previous owners to knock the front sights around to compensate. My guns are mostly antiques, however, and where I've seen this it has been on guns without adjustable sights. Plus more modern techniques in manufacture may have eliminated off center boring... But, I have seen it enough to think it worth a look-see.

 

[jcleverly76]

just miked it. it's only about 3 thousandths off from one side to the other.