Just purchased 2 new S&W 44 magnums, 1 is the new "Night Guard" with 2 1/2" barrel..but whoa the other is a Performance Center 629 44 mag that is just awesome.. I have put a Dark Ops Reactor red dot on it and am planning to shoot it tommorrow at work. This very well could become my #1 hunting handgun. Any one else have one? good loads?? Have a nice weekend..ElDee

Congrates on the new toys. Both are very nice handguns, you should be happy with them both.

I got bit with the 629 bug a few years ago and love mine.



Since putting it together I have harvested many fine backstraps. Yours should be a fine piece coming from the custom shop. Many happy days in the woods!

Enjoy those wonderful guns guys! The 44mag is a great round!

Hey Raf where did you get those grips?? they are really super looking, how about recoil handling?? I really need to replace mine for heat loads..ElDee

The grips are from a German outfit, Nill-Grips:

http://www.nill-grips.com/

Now as to the recoil. Let me tell you that I actually removed a set of full wrap around rubber grips and replaced them with the wood grips. I believe that the wood helps to spread out the recoil or force that comes back through the grap frame.

These are not the only wood Nill grips I own. The only problem is trying to find a dealer in your area. The guy that used to sell them in mine, is out of business now. And they are not cheap, but worth the price I think.

Hello again fellas! Today I finally got my 629 Performance and she is freakn sweet!! Gun shoots like a dream. First 44 I ever shot. Imagine shootn a one revolver and two things are pointing at the same target! One a shiny piece, the other was the huge bulge in my pants. Sorry about the description.

Jeremy,

EXCELLENT!!! Do you have a picture?? Post it here!! We all like eye candy.

Congrats on the nice pickup. I own a number of 29s and 629s. My 629PC is a great shooter. For loads I generally stick with the Hornady 240 XTP and 296 powder. For plinking I use a good cast bullet and Universal Clays powder. Enjoy the new "toys".

I tried to post a pic in here. I was successful to put one in my member gallery. Me and the gun started the 1st day together perfectly. Got a groundhog at 30yds. All I lack are bullets to start my reloading adventure. Plinking should be an easy pic. As far as a hunting bullet, not sure yet. Any suggestions. My shots will most likely be within the 100yds.

Hey Jeremy, welcome to the to the forum. I too live in Gloucester and shoot at the LGC in York County. As to hunting bullet I have tried many. But I found that the Speer Gold Dot 270 gr. JFP was by far the best all around bullet for any hunting situation requiring a .44 Mag. I have harvested many deer with this bullet. As to powder, I use a military surplus powder. It is called WC820 and has the same loading characteristics as AA #9.

Now as to lead bullets for plinking. Any brand Keith semi-wadcutter of about 240 gr. will do. I found that this bullet with about 9 to 9.5 grs. of Unique will match my hunting loads as far as point of aim. It makes it easier on the scope and me as to trying to readjust the point of aim everytime I shoot the two bullets.

Hope this helps and good shooting pal.

Hey Raf! Glad to see somebody on here from my neck of the woods! And by the way that is one hell of a 629 you got there. Maybe one day we will cross paths. I appreciate the input on the loads. Might need some more input when I start to load em.

Jeremy, here is you picture, now tell the story.

Congrates, I like hard cast for Elk and bear with a WFN. I haven't used hand loads, but I used the 300gr. Federal Hard Casts and they penetrated great. Big animals need good penetration and a big hole for bleeding and tracking. You can break the shoulder and it will keep on going. The Nosler partitions would be a good choice to, but I haven't used one in my .44mag yet, but they are a good bullet in what ever you shoot. I did use one on a bear in my .454 and it went threw the spine, and threw the boiler room and on out. very impressive in my book. just my opinion for what it's worth.

Thanks Tigger, I guess you ole' boys can still show a whippersnapper a thing or two!! Well the story goes, the lil' guy was just not looking in the right direction at the wrong time. I happen to walk up on it when it was going on some soybeans. And of course as you see... I rolled it! The gun was in my posession for just a couple of hours. I love this gun! Did anybody notice.. I couldn't bring myself to laying it on the ground. I will have some optics on her before this fall!! The next pic will be bullwinkle.

After being in the woods for awhile, you should end up treating it a little differently. You still respect it, but you will learn that it can stand a little rougher going.

She is a fine piece for sure. Good luck and make it work for you and harvest many fine backstraps!

Before you get too wound up in trying different bullet types, I strongly suggest that you measure the chamber throats of your gun. The newer Smiths have significantly tighter chamber throats than the Smiths of old. My 629DX and Magna Classic both mic at .429. Whereas, some of my older 29s measure .430 and even .431 in one instance. For that reason, I use jacketed bullets only in the newer guns. My bullet of choice is the same .44 Magnum bullet that I have used for almost 40 years. The R-P 240 gr JHP over 24.0 of H-110.

This bullet performs every bit as well, if not better on deer sized game that bullets costing many times as much. For heavier game (i.e. Black Bear, etc.), it is hard to beat the 240 gr. Partition bullet. There were some other good bullets mentioned above, but this is what has worked for me. If you are bound to try cast bullets in your gun, just be mindful of your pressures because of the tight cylinder throats. I considered having the throats opened up in my guns, but because of the accuracy, I decided to leave them alone, and shoot cast out of my other 44s.

Good luck with your new gun. Despite what you might read around the web, there is not much on this continent that cannot be handled by a good 44 Magnum with the right loads.

240 Hornady XTP Hands down my pick for the 29. Second would be the 240 Speer Gold Dot. Third 300 Hornady XTP. I like using 2400 in the 44 mag but there are the H110 and 296 fans out there. I find you can cover much more of a range with 2400 than with the rocket fuel powders. For plinking i would use a Berry 240 SWC on the 2400 again. Just my thoughts

I've had good luck with Lil Gun by Hodgdon in my .44's

Is the pic of a performance center? I ask b/c I ordered a 629 Stealth Hunter from the performance center in January (and still have not recieved it yet 6mos+). And it looks similar to the one in the pic.

WELCOME to Handgun Hunt Hoffa!!!

thank you sir, glad to be here

Hey Hoffa! This is the Magnum Hunter. The Stealth Hunter is pretty close to that though. I think the Stealth Hunter has a ported barrel. My 629 is sweet shootn. She bumps up 3-4 inches at the most. Let me know how that Stealth is when you get it!