I, too, have a 629 MG (.44M), which I bought several years after acquiring my 'first' DA revolver - a SRH in .454. I bought the SRH because of it's ergonomics, engineering, material selection, and, very important to me, it's ability to use .45 Colts, my favorite round. The SRH looked and felt better, to me, than the Redhawk in .45 - and was about the same weight. I have shot thousands of .45 Colts through it - and, after careful chamber cleaniing, ~300 .454's. I love the ~10:1 KE range this revolver affords - 200ft-lb 'Cowboy' loads in .45 Colt up to what even the Tremor's character 'Burt Gummer' would appreciate.
Admittedly, I have not stoked either of my MG's, a 625 .45 Colt or the 629 .44M, too hot at all. I have noted the expected muzzle flip and enhanced thump of the .44M with ~960fps 240gr FP. I expect even mediocre .44M's would be more troublesome, perhaps further enhanced by the nice feeling but poor recoil absorbing wood grips my MG's wear. By comparison, the SRH stoked with .45 Colts is easy to keep on target - very little felt recoil. The local indoor range I used closed before I bought a .44.
I did fire my SRH .454 indoors - several times. the muzzle/cylinder-forcing cone flashes were huge. In fact, I had to stand centered to keep from leaving the booth's sound deadening smoldering. With plugs & muffs, the sound was still painful. It drew attention... and did a number on the absorbing barrels. That indoor range also had a few 44yd rifle ranges - I did test it's grouping their. The best I got, with Hornady XTP's 240gr (rated at 2,000 fps = 2130 ft-lb), was 1.5" group for 5 of 6 shot. I keep a 2x28mm Weaver H2 atop it for .454's - a HiViz front sight for .45 Colt open sight use.
Outdoors, it is not an attention getter, as I shoot it at the rifle range only - and short barreled & braked AR's seem a lot louder. It is much more accurate and consistent with .454's than with with .45 Colts - especially 'Cowboy' loads. Recoil is less painful than the full-house .44M's I shot in a wood-gripped 29 I shot a quarter of a century ago - I blistered & popped after three rounds then. Your grip in the SRH is higher - closer to the barrel's line-of-action - resulting in less flip and more 'thump' down your wrist & arm. The Magnum Research .45-70 BFR I shot a week or so back was milder - it had 405gr .45-70 Govt rounds aboard. The BFR must weigh in at twice that SRH's weight, perhaps why I was 'tired' afterwards!
I would buy another one - of course. You must understand - I originally rationalized that it was a dual-use (.45 Colt) firearm - testosterone tester as well as .45 Colt plinker. I don't hunt, but it would be overkill for anythin in Alabama - probably most of North America. Of course, their was a fellow sighting in his Ruger #1 in .458 Lott at the range - he was going after white tails...
Stainz
PS An older gentleman brought his new S&W 500 to the range - shot a box and left - still able to carry a range bag in each hand. You want recoil? That was recoil! Of course ~$4/round - and nothing else fits....
