To shoot, or not to shoot. That is the question!

[jjbrewst1]

The first thing you should do is PULL those nasty Hogue MONOGRIPS off with that half moon side plate covering deal. These grips will ruin that side plate At least pull em off and put some oil underneath.

Sweet Gun. I Say SHOOT THE GIRL!!!

 

[G-Mac]

Without a doubt, use it for what it was intended for.

 

[Beachblaster]

Blast away.

 

[yep380]

That's a fun looking piece... shoot it.

 

[mg357]

Shoot it a gun that pretty should be taken to the range and shot regularly.

 

[jstanfield103]

Fire it up.

 

[aphelion]

Here it is, bought as an unfired, with original box, 1987 production Smith Wesson 29-3 Classic Hunter .44 Magnum. What would you do?

The bluing wear on the cylinder is consistent with it having been fired a fair amount, or as someone else mentioned, dry-fired. You could shoot it quite a bit and it wouldn't look any different as long as you took some care with the finish. Any bluing wear on the recoil shield?

 

[s&w-noob]

i had the same conflict with an unshot 29-2 i just purchased. i shot it, and loved it, and shot it again. if you dont shoot it someday when your long gone, somebody else will.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I agree that you can be very comfortable shooting it. It will be important how you take care of when it's time to sell.

I want to re-emphasize the suggestion to take those darn Hogues off ASAP! If they've been on the gun for the last 28 years there may be rust/corrosion that needs attention.....voice of experience.

 

[old11bravo]

Maybe the lighting is misleading but there is 0 (zero) holster wear on this 29-3. It has plenty of handling and dry fire wear but the bluing on it is unblemished otherwise. In this picture you can see some scratches in the bluing where the cylinder hinges but I figure that cylinder has probably been opened and spun thousands of times over the last 28 years.

I've been shooting this S&W Performance Center 629 (8.375" fluted barrel)with .44 Magnum 240gr factory ammo. Should I shoot 44 special through the 29-3 or are the Magnum rounds GTG for it too?

 

[growr]

Your gun was MEANT to be shot...it has the silhouette adjustable front sight. Use whatever ammo you want in it, it was meant to fire stout silhouette rounds to take over the rams.
Randy

 

[Mike@NDS]

Learn the dope on the front sight and ring steel at a metallic silhouette match.

 

[mod29]

The first thing you should do is PULL those nasty Hogue MONOGRIPS off with that half moon side plate covering deal. These grips will ruin that side plate At least pull em off and put some oil underneath.

Sweet Gun. I Say SHOOT THE GIRL!!!

This! ^^^^
Shoot it and enjoy!

 

[Snapping Twig]

Same revolver, hard chromed, ported, etc, etc.

Did so much work to it to make it an ultimate hunting revolver.
Did this when I bought it new in 89. Who would have thought it would impact collector value back then?

Shoot it!

 

[old11bravo]

Same revolver, hard chromed, ported, etc, etc.

Did so much work to it to make it an ultimate hunting revolver.
Did this when I bought it new in 89. Who would have thought it would impact collector value back then?

Shoot it!

Where can I get some nice wood grips for it?

 

[Snapping Twig]

Those were made for me by Mr. Hogue himself way back when.

Not that I ever talked to him, but he made those like so many others when he was active there.

 

[BIGDOC]

Shoot it. I couldn't aquire a gun like that and not shoot it.

 

[wbraswell]

That's a shooting gun, not a collecting gun. If it was engraved and gold inlaid, that's different. Really, how much more is it worth if you don't shoot it, and how much is it worth to you to shoot it. It's too new a product to worry about a bunch of history and posterity bunk. Load it up!

 

[daverich4]

I've been shooting mine since I bought it new all those years ago. It would be a shame for you to miss out on getting some of the same pleasure out of yours that I've gotten out of mine. One thing I wanted to mention though. At that time some of the 29's had a problem where the cylinder would occasionally rotate slightly backwards at the shot which prevented it from advancing to the next chamber when the hammer was cocked again. A couple of months after I purchased mine I started having that problem and it went back to S&W. They added their new at the time Endurance Package to it and in the last 25 years I've never experienced the same problem again. I'm just pointing this out because if yours didn't receive the upgrade it's possible you might run into the same problem. I have no idea what S&W's policy would be about fixing it after all these years, I'm just letting you know.

 

[BigBill]

Not shooting it is like being out with a beautiful woman and not kissing her good night.

I'd shoot it. They might be safe queens but they all will go for a test drive often. It's like hiding a beautiful woman locked in a closet. She needs to be admired often.