I stumbled into a 629-2 that was owned by a good friend, he didn't care for it and rarely fired it. I asked him what he wanted which I think was less than what he paid for it new, I couldn't turn it down, especially since I had been looking for a replacement for my 29-2 I had traded off.
I did not care for the pachmeyer stocks, all they do for me is turn my hands black. Most .44 magnum Smiths put alot of pressure on the web of my hand, unlike Ruger single action .44s that have a nice roll at the muzzle. I got used to it with my 29-2 and target stocks made all the difference in the world. After a trip to the range and discovering the way this 4" .44 recoils with heavy magnum loads the first thing I did was get ahold of one of the great stock makers and ask if he could make me a set of square butt target stocks to fit a round butt frame, he made my day by telling me he would be glad to. The second thing I did was send the pistol off to Mag-na-port for a quad trapazoid port job which will take a good 20-25% off the felt recoil and should make it much more pleasant and accurate with full on magnum loads.
I was tempted awhile back when a guy was selling a 4" 625 with dies and alot of brass, bullets, etc. I wouldn't turn my nose up on a 625 in .45 LC, you can load that up for anything on the continent just like the .44, the nice thing about the .44 is downloading .44 special for "plinking", I love to shoot .44 plinker rounds.
