[P. Plainsman]

Hit the range last evening after work to break in my new sixgun, a 4" S&W 629-6 .44 Magnum. I also brought along enough ammo to give some exercise to my current carry gun, a 3" Ruger SP101 in .32 H&R Magnum. It proved a productive, relaxing session.

The 629 is a big, comfortable, intimidating revolver. Considered it in the mirror when I got back home; that's some muzzle. I bought the gun to load with hot .44 Special as a main defense gun for home and car. I love my Ruger GP100, but am a bit leery of the intense muzzle blast and flash the .357 produces. I usually end up packing .38 Special +P instead. The figures I've seen put typical .357 loads at a full 10 db louder than typical .44 Special – a very significant gap.

The 629 shot low out of the box with .44 Spl, dead center for windage, so I gave the rear sight a couple of clicks. As seems to be the norm for new S&W revolvers, the gun featured a smooth and even, but heavy double action. Gunsmithing attention is clearly called for. Fit and finish on the 629 were excellent. The S&W "trigger advantage" over Ruger may be a thing of the past, but S&W does seem to clean up its guns a little more.

I am really impressed with the ease of shooting rapid center-of-mass groups with the common .44 Spl defense loads. Even the Cor-Bon 165 gr .44 Special JHP was no problem. This last strikes me as a wonderful option. It's rated for 1150 fps on the box and has been clocked pulling at least that much in 4" barrels (THR contributor Mike Cumpston got just over 1200 in his 4" Mountain Gun). It is fun to shoot, a little feistier than usual .44 Spl fare, but nowhere near magnum recoil. It's remarkable to have nearly 500 ft/lb of muzzle energy at one's disposal in such a controllable package. With the Cor-Bons the 629 emerges as a kick-[ahem] big-bore fighting proposition.

Finally I tried out some magnum rounds -- Federal vanilla 240 gr .44 Mag JHPs. Heh heh heh. Yep, kicked mighty stout. Hard to keep a firm hold on the N-frame's grip with that open backstrap. I rate the 629 just right for an all-round serious .44 Special, but if I ever need to shoot .44 Magnum ammo at something in earnest (as opposed to goofing off at the range) I reckon I'll pick up a Super Blackhawk or SRH.

* * *

After a couple of cylinders of .44 Mag it was nice to turn to the soft-shooting little Ruger. I nickname my 3" .32 SP101 the "Kit Gun," since the caliber, compact design, and moderate barrel length seem to beg to be thrown in a hiking pack. But right now I am most interested in the strengths and weaknesses of this sixgun as a defensive piece.

My gunsmith rounded and smoothed the rough-edged Ruger trigger and slicked up the action exponentially. Light, smooth and easy. The result is a peach of a little gun.

The .32 Mag is a small cartridge. The case for the .32 Mag sixgun as a defensive weapon must therefore stand or fall on its handling qualities. I think this SP101 offers almost perfect handling for a carry piece -- by which I mean not ease of carry (which isn't bad), but ease of deployment and operation when the whistle blows. The 3" SP is compact, but still big enough to offer a firm grip. The combination of a sweet DA trigger (post-gunsmith), good sights, and a mild, accurate, flat-shooting chambering combine to make this a special gun. I am confident that, if worst came to worst, even a small or relatively inexperienced shooter could place its six .32 Georgia Arms JHPs in an assailant's center of mass in no time flat. Published figures suggest that those rounds will push their 100 grain bullets from a 3" barrel at 1000 fps or more. Not bad.

I like .38 Special a lot, but for flat shooting, good manners, and rapid recovery the .32 Mag offers something unique.

After firing off about 150 mixed rounds of .32 and .44, it was time to head home. No stooping or brass-chasing for me -- this is wheelgun shooting! I simply scooped my neat pile of spent shells into the empty cartridge boxes, packed up and left.

Man, I love revolvers.

[Six-Gun]

Sounds liek a sweet little mixed-bag of shooting you got to do.

All of those guns sound excellent, and I would really love to see something along the lines of that .32 wheelgun.

I love revolvers, too, for all the same reasons you do.

<------ ...hence the name :cool:

[P95Carry]

PP - I too love my 629-6 - very nice platform.

I have yet (amazingly!) to sample a .32 mag - tho I know plenty of folks love it. I have the SP in .357 but must say I'd like to try the .32. Just for sh**s and giggles! ;) :)


http://www.acbsystems.com/boards/thr/cb_gun2/6296_01_s.jpg

[P. Plainsman]

That's the gun, Chris -- thanks for the illo. :cool:

Yours is a Mountain Gun, so it has a slightly skinnier barrel, and mine wears the stock Hogues rather than the Crimson Trace Grips on yours. But the basics are identical -- 4" half-lug stainless .44 N-frame. Nice guns.

You should give .32 Mag a spin, especially since you reload. That would save a lot of dough (Black Hills factory .32 Mag JHPs run almost 50 cents a pop). There's lots of room for experimentation in the caliber.

Permit me to ramble, with apologies if any of this is old news. If I were buying a .32 Mag revolver today for recreation and general shooting, I'd get either the 4" version of the SP101 or track down one of the various .32 Single Sixes and Vaqueritos Ruger's made over the years -- discontinued just recently. My only caution is to stick to the bird's head grip frame if you buy a .32 Vaquerito. The "regular" grip frames on most of those guns are actually chopped off short for small hands, which makes them hard to hold with normal or big hands. There was one small run of .32 Vaqueritos with normally sized Single Six grips back in 2000; these are rare and expensive. Jeff Quinn reviewed one; I seriously covet that test gun.

http://www.gunblast.com/Baby_Vaquero.htm

Or if you can find one of the rare used S&W 631 or 16 kit guns with 4" barrel, I'd jump on it. People rave about 'em, they go for a mint online. It's the "696 syndrome" -- great gun in oddball caliber; doesn't sell much; but as soon as it's discontinued the afficionados descend on the used market in force.

[P95Carry]

Thx for the skinny on those 32 mag's PP - maybe I'll keep an eye out over time and if I can afford one suitable, could well weaken!