Ouch!! .44 mag's hurt.

Im sorry to resurrect this thread but i had to laugh. I just bought the same 629 PC and just got back inside after shooting 2 rounds of buffalo bore low recoil 44 mags through it. My thumb got cut really bad and i had to go inside to clean the gun so the blood wouldnt cake on. I googled Karl Nill wood grips for the N frame and found this thread right away. Im glad to see im not the only one who was cut by the factory grips. Looks like i will be getting the Nills for sure. Also i am having something really cool done to this gun. I am dropping it off at the gun smith Tuesday and i will post a video on my youtube channel gunglutton, when i get it back.
 
Gawd I like this subject. And it gives me the opportunity to retell my story of my 329. No, not a reasonable weight stainless steel or carbon steel handgun with some heft! :)

So we used to go to a mid winter campout. It was just the guys, but did include beer and lots of firearms. So I worked about a half day, then lit out for the site. When I got there they already had a nice fire going. We'd cut and split enough wood for a nice home supply for an entire winter. So's I parked the jeep within crawling distance and walked over to the fire with a chair. But before I sat down, I mentioned I'd bought a brand new gun and would like to shoot it, just for fun. Of course everyone encouraged me. I wouldn't hang out with other types.

So I went back to the jeep and dug out my then spankin' new 329. I had it all gussied up with Crimson Trace grips I almost stole from the dealer. Someone had bought them and didn't like the idea. So I got the gun in my sweaty hand and very, very carefully selected my ammo. Yes, 3 rounds of bear destroying 300 grain full power ammo, and then 3 of my very own favorite reloads in 44 Special. :) And I was double careful to index the rounds so "my" 3 came up first.

And like every group of guys, we had one who can do anything better than you or anybody else. Ole Davey was better at everything, just ask him. Or don't, because he'll tell you.

So I walked over to the creek, about 15 full feet away from the fire circle. Took careful aim at the sycamore tree, probably about 4' in diameter. And I fired the first round. I wasn't born yesterday, and it was winter so I had gloves on. But I put on a pretty good show, I whined and complained about how it hurt. So then I fired the 2nd, and put on another Oscar rated performance about pain. When they all stopped laughing about what a wimp I was, I fired the 3rd round of specials and announced I was through, it hurt too bad. Well, that was Davey's clue to jump up and declare he could shoot the gun. And he did.

That first shot really got to him. I think it was Speer grand slam or something like that. And in all fairness, he didn't lose his grip on my revolver. Nor did he cry or anything, but you could see the hesitation in his little mind. And to his credit he fired rounds 2 and 3. But then he handed the gun back to me. And I watched closely while he went over to the cooler and selected a cold beer, dipping it out with his left and putting it in his now mostly useless right hand. Then he sat down. To drink the beer, he'd take it in his left/off hand and put it up to his mouth. Then back to his right for the pain ending cold.

And I sat down next to my buddy Wes. He'd been a detective for the last decade of his 32 years as a policeman. He kind of enjoyed the show but said "Dick, did I notice a different sound from your shots to Davey's?" Yep. Nothing escapes the trained observer. So I handed him the 6 fired rounds. Then he smiled, enjoying someone getting the best of the other guy as much as anyone.

OK, 44 mags are fun, but even more fun with specials. Magnums are OK for a shot or two. None are fun in a 329, they just hurt. I even like to read the guys who post they shoot hundreds of rounds through theirs. But I think they must be gluttons for punishment. Same goes for full weight guns, too. :D
 
Last edited:
I can't for the life of me understand why people buy .44 magnums and then shoot .44 specials though it or buy a .357 magnum and then shoot .38s through it.

A .357 revolver can be seen as a heavy duty, extra durable, .38 revolver.

If a person wants to shoot .44 Special ammo, I don't think S&W makes a .44 Special-only revolver. You have to buy the magnum revolver to shoot the special ammo.
 
Them NILL's are very comfortable with full house .44's

CIMG0200_zpsd3a89637.jpg
 
I finally got out and shot my (new to me) 629-3 5" Classic last week. I wore leather/Kevlar weave shooting gloves. While the gun came to me with Hogues I put on Altamont silver/black grips with checkering. This was Prvi 240gr that's listed to 1500fps, although this is probably out of a long test barrel with no cylinder gap. My guess out of a 5" is it's a 1200fps load, it's certainly full power.

I'm blessed though, although I'm not a big man and have average hands, my wrists aren't very flexible (I have to do push ups on my fists since my wrists just don't bend back well at all). This is an advantage with hard kicking handguns, my wrists just don't move much and the recoil is handled by my arms/elbows. I shoot .500 S&W out of a 4" comped barrel with no problems! A couple of boxes of magnums will start to wear on the webbing of my shooting hand but that's about it.

A fellow shooter last week did 2 rounds out of the 629 and called it quits, and he's quite a bit bigger than me. There are lots of factors involved with handling recoil. If you have "normal" wrists you'll probably want rubber grips, for me I feel no difference and the wood looks a lot better.

I'd love to try a 329 snub sometime :D
 
Last edited:
I like the rubber grips because I can squeeze my fingers into the rubber.
They don't look as nice as a good piece of wood but it's functional.
The wood finger groove grips work better than the smoother wood grips.
My ccw guns all have rubber grips. I purchased my m58 wood combat finger grooved grips from the s&w store. There smooth but fit my hands to perfection.
 
Last edited:
A hand gun grip needs to fit your hand like a shoe fits your foot. It's either ok or not ok. I mainly have this problem with all my ruger handguns. My Colts and s&w handguns fit me perfect. We need a tight fitting grip that fits our whole hand comfortably.

I had a custom pair of heret grips made to the size of my hand drawn on a piece of paper and sent to heret to make them. My ruger security six fits my hand exactly. Maybe that's the answer to your problem. The smaller grips the gun tends to rotate up in my hands with Magnum loads.
 
HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't even read all the posts - you just cracked me up totally!

And now you know why I was happy to sell my 3" M629 to a friend for $900!!!! He loves it - but he's a little wild!

***GRJ***
 
Is it just me, or does the prospect of loosing the skin off the top of one's thump frighten you too?

That'd be reason enough to take up another occupation!

All kidding aside, it's all about the grips.

Get grips that fit you.

I have a 3" 629-2 and a 629-2 Mountain Revolver, both hard recoiling revolvers that shoot my own cast 265g GCSWC over 22g of W296 - a stout load.

The right grips makes them functional and even fun to shoot.

The wrong grips and... my thumb used to get it like yours did. Looked like an accident with a meat grinder.
 
HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't even read all the posts - you just cracked me up totally!

And now you know why I was happy to sell my 3" M629 to a friend for $900!!!! He loves it - but he's a little wild!

***GRJ***

I cleaned out some od loads (from mild to wild) handloads
a few rounds of each to a total of 200 rounds.
Dumped every one into a stump at the range, as fast as i could reload.

It took 8 weeks untill i could grasp anything with my shooting hand :D
Sure was fun though
 
Long ago, I had a 629 6" and an 8-3/8". Never tried specials, but I used 180 gr until I got used to that; then moved to 240s. Never liked the original wood grips though.
 
I was handling this same gun at the range and she is a beauty. I never liked stub nosed revolvers, but this is one i can see myself owning. The sales dept had it in the clearance counter. Its on my list of handguns to own.
 
Last edited:
Wimp. My deceased wife shot a 2 1/2 inch model 629 and could clear the x and 10 rings of a 25 yd target at 50 yds. The reason is that she approached her shooting with a correct mental approach and used a grip technique which allowed her to absorb the recoil using her arms as springs.
 
Beautiful pistol and photography there, John. As for the 44 Mag, this is more my style.

_DEF3990a.jpg

I have one just like that, but the original grips are horrible when you shoot 50 heavy loads in competition...i used Hogue monogrips but they just dont look right on a Mod29...so i bought theese wooden grips from Thailand, feels ok and they have the right look ;)
 
Back
Top