S&W 629 Classic

With surprisingly easy-going manners and a proven heritage, the S&W 629 Classic is a modern, do-it-all .44 Magnum revolver that delivers decisive results

by Bob Campbell

After many years of firing and using magnum revolvers, I have reached several conclusions concerning these handguns. My own choices may not be the best for other shooters, but on the other hand, you won’t find many holes in my logic.

There are quite a few classes of .44 Magnum revolvers. There are guns that are ideal for hunting but too large for daily carry. There are compact guns — the S&W 69 and Taurus Tracker come to mind — that serve a purpose but are too light for constant firing with magnum loads. The longevity of the shooter and the revolver must be preserved!

The original N-Frame .44 Magnum is still the best for my use, especially since the modern 629 Classic offers a heavy barrel underlug and five-inch barrel option. The four-inch barrel I find a little light for heavy loads and the six-inch barrel a bit long, pushing the ribs up in a belt holster. The five-inch 629 Classic is remarkably well balanced.

The new Smith & Wesson revolvers are easily the most accurate Smith & Wesson wheel guns ever built. Barrel, throat, and forcing cone dimensions are tight, resulting in superior accuracy. In my experience, the .44 Magnum is more accurate than the .357 Magnum, all else being equal, and this revolver is no exception.

This is a strong revolver; however, if you are going to hunt big game and handload 300-grain bullets at rifle velocity, you need a Ruger Redhawk or Super Blackhawk. No punches to be pulled there. The S&W 629 is an N-Frame revolver originally chambered for big-bore cartridges generating mild pressure. The .44 Special was intended as a mild big-bore for target and general-purpose use. After all, we had the .45 Colt cavalry cartridge for men and horses and the .44-40 WCF for game.

History in Perspective

The original revolver was nicely sized for big-bore cartridges just as the K-Frame is properly sized for .38 caliber cartridges. Heavier barrels, adjustable sights, and big grips were added to create target-grade revolvers in .44 Special, .45 ACP, and .45 Colt. When Smith & Wesson introduced the .357 Magnum cartridge in 1935, the N-Frame was chosen. Recoil is modest in such a large handgun. Accuracy was excellent and the revolvers lasted for many years with magnum loads. When the N-Frame revolver was chambered in .44 Magnum, well, we had a different dynamic. The new revolver, introduced in 1956, kicked…and it kicked a lot. Finding a used .44 Magnum with a few shells fired isn’t a myth. It isn’t just the recoil; it is also the expense of the loads. The .44 Magnum isn’t for the slightly interested shooter. Still, the .44 Magnum in an N-Frame revolver isn’t significantly more difficult to control, in my opinion, than a lightweight .357 Magnum, as a comparison.

Wear on the handgun wasn’t much of a problem for most of the .44 Magnum’s history, and it still isn’t. Experienced shooters rate the life of the original revolver at 5,000 rounds of full-power ammunition. The guns don’t blow up, but small parts take a beating. The bolt stop and internal pins, designed to take .44 Special momentum, were not up to taking thousands of over-pressure punching. End shake becomes a problem. The culprit in small-frame .357 Magnum revolvers was pounding and the resulting problems in police qualification with full-power .357 Magnum loads in lightweight revolvers such as the Combat Magnum.

With the 629, a game called Silhouette Competition resulted in shooters firing thousands of cartridges in practice and competition. Some were basically overloads. Even the great Elmer Keith, dean of American handgunners, told us he fired perhaps 500 rounds a year spread about his .44 Magnum revolvers. Most of these were hard cast bullets loaded over slow-burning powder. Taking things to the extreme, silhouette shooters experienced broken actions.

One problem was the cylinder turning backwards under recoil, causing the hammer to fall on the previously fired cartridge. Smith & Wesson responded with a redesign called the Endurance Package. The Endurance Package features a new yoke retention system, a hand re-design, and improved hardening. The cylinder locking bolt received a re-design. To accommodate the new bolt design, a deeper bolt notch is cut into the cylinder. Internal locator pins are thicker. The result is among the strongest revolvers ever manufactured.

At the same time, Smith & Wesson introduced a drilled and tapped receiver to accommodate special sights and optics. I added the D&L Sports fixed sight to some of my magnums — those especially intended for personal defense. For the .44 Magnum, the many types of loads tested indicated I would leave the sights as issued in order to properly sight-in each load.

I have seen sight leaves and hammer spurs knocked off revolvers. This commonly occurred when a holstered magnum struck a cruiser door. If dropped, the geometry of a revolver usually means that the sights impact the ground. That said, I have never broken a S&W rear sight. It just seems prudent to consider the D&L sight if you use a single load and the revolver is a utilitarian working tool. I understand seeking out a vintage Model 29 for a collection or casual use, but if the revolver is for hard, constant use, the 629 Classic is the better choice.

Here’s Where It Fits

The 629 Classic is a good choice for an outdoors emergency. Dangerous animals are a concern for many of us. There are also dangerous humans willing to inflict serious harm or death on their fellow man.

A double-action revolver is second nature to many of us. In the hunting role, trained shooters may connect with deer-sized game at 100 yards. The .44 Magnum is, in short, a very capable cartridge. My hunting experience includes wild boar. I have never seen a game animal go down so quickly as a hog hit by a 240-grain .44 Magnum.

As for personal defense, I have in my files three incidents with the .44 Magnum involving five human beings. In a robbery, two young men were killed instantly by a single shot each from the .44 Magnum. (The .44 Magnum was once a popular gun of robbery gangs, just as some police carried it.) In another incident, a fellow was involved in a drunken fight, left the scene, and returned with his Ruger Super Blackhawk with murder on his mind. He was cocking the hammer as he exited his vehicle, slipped, and shot himself in the kneecap. I was at the scene a few minutes later. Witnesses said he immediately collapsed. His lower leg dangled by a piece of sinew. If he lived, he lost the leg.

In another drunken argument, a fellow shot his best friend. The scene was the shooter’s living room. The bullet entered the victim’s body, pulping the liver. Death was instant. The problem was that the bullet exited and struck the shooter’s seated wife in the shoulder, crippling her for life.

I have examined a few photos and police reports involving the .44 Magnum, including a contact wound on a large canine that was stopped just short of the victim’s throat.

While I cannot comment on current consultations — only those that are no longer being tried or investigated — I have not seen a .44 Magnum shooting on the desk in some time.

Such is the power and responsibility of a .44 Magnum.

I also have two results against animals outside of hunting. In one, a dangerous animal had bitten a child and then attempted to invade a neighbor’s garage. He fired a single .44 Magnum into the dog’s shoulder with immediate effect. In another case, an officer was the point man on a raid. As they went into a door, a large dog of over ninety pounds — commonly referred to as a drug dealer’s guard dog — went for the officer’s neck. With one hand against the animal, he shoved the muzzle of his Model 29 under the dog’s jaw and fired. The results were immediate, if not pretty.

I should add that about thirty years ago, I saw a similar animal soak up a half dozen .38s without effect. A Sargent got behind the animal and delivered the decisive shot with a 12-gauge slug. The beast turned around and faced the cop before falling over. The tenacity of life is to be respected. The animal’s misspent life is all on the shoulders of the piece of trash that trained him to be vicious in guarding his dope.

The .44 Magnum will drop large animals seemingly out of the energy range of a typical handgun load. If you are hunting bear or large deer, the range must be short enough for good shot placement.

There are two lookouts for the .44 Magnum. For hunting, we wish to create the greatest penetration possible by using a hard cast or full metal jacket bullet, punching to vital regions; or we wish to limit excess penetration by using a fast-opening hollow point bullet for personal defense. When hiking or exploring rather than hunting, we may wish to be ready for anything. In that situation, a good general-purpose load is desirable. My own general-purpose loads are not too much for personal defense but would handle any type of coyote, feral dog, or even one of the big cats.

Animals, even smaller animals like my Carolina Dog, have thick hides and bones much heavier, pound for pound, than our own. They are difficult to stop. Ask a guide who has skinned a heavy bear. The sinews that connect tissue and bone are terribly strong. Deer are soft targets in comparison. You must also understand the differences in aiming points. An attacking animal close to the ground demands a raking shot from above; a low chest shot may simply pass through. For personal defense, the center of mass is still the preferred target. The Model 629 Classic is a good delivery device for potent ordnance.

Fit and Finish Above Average

The 629 Classic features a smooth stainless finish — not quite matte or bright but even and smooth. The new production 629 features the proven S&W adjustable sight, a smooth trigger action, and tight lockup. The famous orange front sight insert is an aid in rapid target acquisition.

The action is among the smoothest of any modern revolver. The single-action trigger is crisp and tight, making accurate fire at long range possible for those who practice. I like the Classic’s full underlug barrel. The synthetic grips are not gorgeous, but they offer a good mix of adhesion and abrasion. These grips cushion .44 Magnum recoil somewhat, making firing the big cartridge manageable.

This revolver weighs a solid 45 ounces and is as light as I wish to go with a full-power magnum. The trigger action breaks 14.0 ounces smooth in double action and 3.5 ounces crisp in single action. Most of my shooting is single action.

The revolver is a great .44 Magnum. It is even better as a .44 Special. Don’t subscribe to the .44 Special is “about as strong as a .45 ACP.” Sure, with standard target grade factory loads, this is about the score, with the .45 ACP significantly more powerful in some cases. With heavy .44 Special loads, the 629 remains almost docile but hits extremely hard. I believe the sweet spot for the 629 Classic is the powerful .44 Special loading from Buffalo Bore ammunition. These are fine defense loads, suitable for hunting and animal defense at close range, and are quite accurate. The .44 Magnum is truly a versatile cartridge when exploring the full range of munitions.

The accompanying ammunition performance table tells you something about the capabilities of the .44 Special and .44 Magnum options. Accuracy is often outstanding. A five-shot group from a solid benchrest at 25 yards may fall into 1.75 to 2.25 inch. With quality ammunition and a steady shot behind the sights, the 629 is capable of grouping four shots into four inches at 100 yards. I cannot say I am capable of this accuracy on demand, but it certainly isn’t impossible, and I have seen it too often for this precision to be a fluke. If you attempt a shot without plenty of practice and acquired skill behind it, well, that’s a lot of faith and hope. Some will balk at this figure; others who have given it an honest try will nod in agreement. At least some combinations are this accurate, and I have witnessed the demonstration. In short, the 629 Classic is one great gun chambered for one heckuva of a cartridge.

What I Like

Balance is dreamy. The heavy lug and five-inch barrel are well suited to the 629’s heavy frame. Accuracy is excellent. For a .44 Magnum revolver, it is controllable. With .44 Special loads, it is easy to control, with double action pairs coming quickly.

What I Don’t Like