Any thoughts about the gun just looking for a nice packing gun I looked at one at the gun shop and loved it. Im not worried about recoil not gonna shoot it a lot. Mainly just packing in the woods/fishing and doubling as a hunting gun. I hunt thick woods from a tree stand if its over 50 yards Ill grab my rifle.

Matt,

Have one in 41 Mag, 44 Mag, and 45 ACP. When you pack'em, you forget that they are there. Recoil hasn't been an issue for me. Shoot the 44 with 270s, 41 with 220s, 45 with 240s.

Doc

They sure don't feel as smooth as a steel gun....they just feel soft. For lack of a better term...they feel like a piece of crap compared to the steel 29.

Not that much is gained by having such a featherweight gun...give me a 4" 29 any day. at 45oz the 29 is Still not very heavy at all, but the 29 feels like a real gun.

The 329 is more difficult to shoot, Guys will say that they are not planning to shoot them much "just want something to pack"...well if you don't shoot them, you will not be able to hit with them....if you can't hit a target when you "want to" then there is no way you will hit one when you "have to".

Recoil from a 44 just can't reach the raw power of the the heavy guns like the 475 and 500 mags...but the snap of the 329 was so fast it stung my hand and was not any fun to shoot. I loaded the one I tested with 6 rounds and only shot 4...ejected the last 2 and took it back and bought the 4" 29...have never regretted the choice.

Well I would definetly shoot it and become good with it. I'd shoot it as much as I do my other 44 mags. I guess what I meant was I wasn't gonna put 5 thousand rounds a year thru it like I do my 1911. The inner me would like to my wallet tells me different lol

I also have been looking at a 5 inch 629 classic with the full underlug. It's a look that used to not be appealing to me but it's growing on me.

Theres some very effective but lighter recoiling loads one can use for that gun and it not hurt but be entirely useable. I like em. Especially for chasing hounds on blackbear or cougars or packing as a hiking gun or a bowhunting packer

Folks have had trouble with the lightweights safety locking in place durning firing of hotter loads. It also looks like around a thousand to fifteen rounds the steel under the topstrap cuts through but S&W will just replace the frame for ya.

I love mine and settled on this as the best back-up/trail gun out there, considering all of the qualities that are necessary in a back-up woods gun (pack-able size, weight, quality of construction, resistance to the elements, real-world usefulness, etc.). Full-on 270+ gr. .44 mag is a little bit of a handful, but light .44 Spl. stuff is downright fun to shoot. I would NOT choose this one as my primary hunting tool though.

Love mine. I was in AK for 10 days fishing and unlike everyone else I was able to wear it all day every day. Everyone else ended up putting their sidearms in packs where they would do no good. Wes Daems makes a great holster that's a chest rig for it you literally forget its there. I highly recommend it.

I think the young housewife that packs a baby on her hip for a couple years while doing all her normal chores would laugh at the poor man hunter that can't pack four pounds in a both hands free holster.:)

Well put!

Actually I have a 329PD that I had Mag-na-Ported and trigger work done on specifically for Mt. Biking and running. I load 310 gr FN at around 950 fps, I love it, but it is only for that purpose.

A buddy has one. Fun to pack, no doubt, due to the weight but not as much fun to shoot.......due to the weight. I'm not recoil sensitive and I'm not afraid of this one but it's not comfortable to shoot. The little 340PD in .347 Mag is even worse.

But if you wanted to one to carry on hikes, etc., and shoot it when needed (other than some practice) then it should rock.

l had been wanting a short barrel 44mag lately and got a 3'' 629..lt feels kinda heavy for its size tho. l plan on trying it this weekend at Shooters.. The concept of a light 44 appeals to me tho..l had a Charter Bulldog a few years back but sadly my daughter ''stole'' it from me. S&W makes a 5 shot 44mag Model 69 that may be right for some wanting a lighter 44 carry gun..l handled on at the gunshop but was disappointed in the overall quality of it