I have a S&W 29 with a 8 3/8 barrel. Are there way to improve my acc. with or without a gunsmith?

Trigger job is about most you can do without the proper tools or access to them.

Springs #1 Grips #2--a scope if you like those

Forgot sights. Sometimes having a better sight and sight picture will help tremendously with accuracy. And depending on your type of sights you may be able to change them out on your own.

[quote=H2OBUG]Springs #1 Grips #2--a scope if you like those ]
I think it starts with good grips that fits your hand,
so you have Repeatable Hand Positioning.Changing your grip from shot to shot plays hell with accuracy. Then a Smooth trigger pull,(not necessarily a super light one)with no creep. Then sights that you see well,be they open peep or scope, and Practice Practice Practice.

The Smiths normally have good triggers out of the box, that dosn't mean there isn't room for improvement but they generally break clean making them seem much lighter than they are. There qc seems to be tighter than Ruger so you don't see the issue with tight throats like you see on the Rugers or some of the other issues you might see on other guns. I'd say the grips are a good ideal although the factory rubber grips normally fit real well and are comfortable. The sights are another thing, you have several options, being a classic the front blade should be held in by a spring and plunger so all you need to do is slide the sight backward and then pull up and forward. Sometimes it's necessary to tap it with a soft hammer. SDM makes most of the inserts for smith and they vary from plain partridge and ramp, hi viz in red and green and a 14K gold bead which I really like. Any of these combined with a white outline rear works well although the Hi Viz and Gold bead really jump out. If you want a scope you can go wrong with a 2x or 4x leupold, weaver or Nikon, I prefer those three as they are more compact.

To expound on Rod's comments on the throats, I think I would like to know whether the barrel is free from constrictions. I have not a clue about whether they are prone to being tight where the barrel is threaded, but it costs next to nothing to confirm. This is a mandatory check on Rugers, not sure about S&W's. Along the same lines, I like to also check for any inconsistences in cylider allignment by testing each hole in the cylinder on paper to see if I have any particular cylinder that is outside the rest.

Craig

Working up a reload that your revolver likes can reduce your group sizes markedly.

I have one or two revolvers that I can't hit squat with when using factory loads but a little careful workup and both guns shoot much better than I am capable of

Barrel constriction is no stranger to Smiths. Especially, the older N frame models. Check the barrel, and measure each chamber with plug gauges to determine the maximum diameter. Then you can decide if some gunsmithing is in order, or whether things can be improved through the reloading process (match bullet dia. to your chambers).

Ditto. Bullet weight and velocity makes all the difference, relative to twist rate.

While on the smith 29. I have one and in process of working up a load for it. My gun smith says he would not recommend any jacketed 300 gr bullits in it. He says cast is fine. any commits on this

Your gunsmith doesn't post here does he??

No he dosen't

You can shoot 300 jacketed as long as you don't push 'em to the max.

I have not shot it alot yet am just curious. I have new grips on it, and am putting a red dot scope on. I have seen others advertised as pinned and recessed? i know that some have recessed cylinders but what is the pinned part?

Swamp,

The pinned reference is to a cross pin that is used to supplementally hold the barrel to the frame. If you look at one, it will be obvious. The pinning of the barrel and recessing of the cylinders were two areas of added machining expense that were dropped from many makes of revolvers, to curb costs.

Craig

In some cases a new Base pin will require fitting and or modification to the pawl.

It has been about 50/50 for me on Rugers-- some were drop in some were not.

However a Belt Mtn Base pin will snug things up a bit