Thoughts on 629-4 Mountain Gun w/ Magnaports

[arc2x4]

That is a new Gun price, and it is not a collector's item. The -4 has the endurance package though.


Here is a brand new 5" 629 no porting at Buds for about the same price delivered:

Smith & Wesson 629 Classic .44 Mag 5" $794.00 SHIPS FREE

3" TALO model 629 New

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/...ts_id/411549877/S&W+M629+DLX+44M+REV+3SS+TALO

 

[Doug M.]

Not comparable. They have locks, and that 5" has that hopelessly ugly full lug barrel. For a useful carry gun, not a good package.

 

[team sidewinder]

I vote for the 629 3" TALO. Sweet looking gun. Less money and I bet you wouldn't even know you were packing it. It's not my cup of tea but it might well serve your purposes.

 

[Magnumdood]

Another result of Magnaporting one might consider is the gasses actually cut and pit the front sight blade if the ports are directly even with the front sight blade. I've scrubbed the front sight blades to remove what I thought were carbon deposits on two of my Dad's guns that he bought already Magnaported. Both showed pitting and cutting on the front sight blade. It doesn't happen to all of the Magnaported revolvers; it seems to be isolated to the ones that have the ports either partially or fully cut even relative to the front sight blade.

 

[Longhorn90]

Again, thank you everyone. Obviously there's no 'one size fits all' right answer.

If I go the 44mag route, then I'm leaning (todays lean; may change overnight ) towards a 3in barrel. 1" less barrel length for being a tiny bit more discreet when needed and/or less getting in the way sitting down. And I'd probably prefer magnaporting as all the 'loose your night vision' issues, while true, are probably less of a concern to me than any improvement in getting back on target for a follow-up shot. Since I usually have the kids with me I'm not shooting in the dark and will try to have a flashlight on target....and maybe the Magnaporting plus a short barrel can double as a flash bang for whatevers on the receiving end

But I'm equally favoring a Glock 29 as concealable around the campgrounds, very totable carrying on the trails, and higher capacity of a pretty potent round (i.e. Buffalo Bore type loads). Then, if we're somewhere that I feel the need for a bit more hand cannon, I simply open carry or pack carry my 6 1/2" 29-2 .44mag and keep the G29 also as a backup.

Thanks!

 

[wheelgunguy]

.....perhaps gives me something to think about that I hadn't considered.

Thanks.

I think $850 is to much like many others here.If I was looking for a trail gun in 44 mag in that range a new Ruger Alaskan($845 shipped on GB) would be on my radar.I put this out there just because you asked for something you hadn't considered.If it's a Mountain gun you want I'd look for a better price.

Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan .44 magnum NEW 44 mag : Revolvers at GunBroker.com

 

[Nemo288]

Consider that in going from a 4" to a 3" barrel, you are losing
more FPS than any other 1" barrel reduction creates.
(Excepting maybe the jump to a 2")


...Nemo...

 

[Kinman]

I just had this pistol dual trap magnaported, it helped quite a bit with full on magnum loads. I can't wait to try out these new Kurac square butt stocks, I was so excited to see them in the mail today I damn near cancelled everything to run out and try them.
I think the price at 850 is a little on the high side for one built that late, I'm into this very early -2 less than 700 including the porting and stocks, if you want one keep your eyes open...they surface around here quite often. People take them out and shoot them with full magnum bear loads with the cheesy pachmeyer grips and don't like the way their hand hurt afterward, lots of guys around here use 10mm autos, usually swapped in a 629. IMHO if you truly need to stop a bear that is intent on doing you bodily harm you better be proficient with your pistol and put the shots where they need to go otherwise you might as well carry a flyswatter. I have been fortunate in that the only reason I fired my handgun was to try a shot into the air, this was after a fairly close encounter with a jaw popping black bear sow with cubs up a tree while flyfishing a noisy creek. The shot worked but she wasn't happy and I backed out of there real quick.
I forgot to mention my experience with the porting job, I did not buy this pistol for resale or collector status, I plan on packing it whenever out in the woods and may hunt with it. I tried it out with pachmeyers and full on magnum 250g rounds and was not happy with the fit of the pachmeyers for starters and did not enjoy the recoil enough to have it inhibit my shooting. I went with the dual trap porting and am very happy with the results...a good 20-25% reduction in felt recoil, I left the rest of the fitting in the hands of John C. the fit is perfect and should make this pistol very comfortable to shoot. I also like to shoot 240g lead semi wadcutters with .44 special for plinking, its my favorite go to round. About all I have found is that I have to spend a little more time cleaning up the debris from the ports, hasn't caused any damage to the sight as of yet. I find I have to spend time cleaning up lead anyway, it really doesn't detract from shooting it. I will keep my eyes open for a nice old triple lock .44 special strictly for shooting lead.

 

[ajvossman]

I have been throwing the idea around myself getting a 629. glad i came across this topic the only question i have is didn't smith make a 629 ported? one large port on top infront of the front sight? Theres one on the form forsale now. How does this compare to the magna port?

 

[Kinman]

Can't speak from experience about the single port job, the dual trapazoid ports on my 629-2 cut an honest 20-25% off the felt recoil with full-on magnum loads (250g silouette bullets) I couldn't be much happier with the results, I do not believe the dual trap ports will contribute to sight cutting as has been mentioned. I have fired 100 rounds of hot stuff down the barrel and found that all that was done to the front sight is that the dullness on the side near the front port has lost some of its paint or finish. With lead bullets I have to spend a little more time cleaning the residue off the barrel above the cuts, about as much extra time as I have to spend on the cylinder face. I keep my weapons clean at all times and don't mind the extra alone time it takes to get things clean again. This is my first stainless pistol and I am finding it has an advantage over blueing when it comes to cleaning, no need to worry about using anything harsher than Butch's or Outers.

 

[Frank V]

We have mentioned 3" bbls. I've carried a LOT of revolvers in the past 35 years, on duty & off. What I found was that it's not the BBL length that's hard to conceal, but the cylinder & butt. Going to a RB helps tremendously. It's unbelievable how much more a squart butt prints than a round butt of the same frame.
I once carried a 6" Python IWB off duty & it wasn't hard to conceal with a vest. The only thing I didn't like was a bbl that long tends to pinch in some very uncomfortable spots when you sit down.
Frank