I did have a 20 yr safe queen LNIB 6.5" 24-3 and a nib Heritage 6.5" 24, both gone during my blued gun purge. I replaced them with a 6" 629, current production, and love it! Below are my '.44 Specials', although only the lefthand pair are chambered for .44 Special. The 4" & 6" 629s, current production, make fine .44 Special launchers. Clean the chambers, and you are good to go with .44 Magnums. Currently, the 6"-er wears a Hogue .500 Magnum backstrap padding monogrip, Weigand scope rail in lieu of the rear sight, SS scope rings, and a Weaver H2 SS 2x28mm scope. It's fun with everything from my 200/240gr poppers in .44 Russian to real Magnums.
Note the small difference in my 4" 629 vs my 696. You gain a real forcing cone vs a knife edged one, another round, another inch of barrel, larger hammer & trigger, etc - and at only six more ounces. I wouldn't shoot anything near a Keith load in my 696 - but, as you'd expect, up to full SAAMI spec'ed Magnums are fine in the 629s. I have another .500 Magnum Hogue monogrip for the 4" 629, too. I've seen new 4" 629s, SKU #163603, for less than used 696s, too. The 296, in a Mika pocket holster, is a frequent pocket protector - and not much fun to pop away with, restricted here to 200gr Speer #4427 Gold Dots in new .44 Special brass from Georgia Arms.
Stainz