629-4 MG load questions

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sobrbiker883

sobrbiker883

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I got a nice 629-4 Mountain Gun last week, a pre-mortem inheritance from my dad.
I had a Redhawk 4.6” for a while and have a Win94 in 44M, so I’ve got a bunch of ammo loaded up with 20.2gr AA#9 under MBC 240gr Keith pills. These clocked just north of 1300fps in my Redhawk.

Is this too much to run in the 629-4?

Has anyone had any luck with Longshot under 240’s for a more economic “working load” around 1050-1100fps? That’s what I’m probably gonna shoot for once I clear up some brass from the stockpile of the above mentioned ammo.

Has anyone had good luck with the 300gr WFN pills from MBC (especially with either of those two powders: #9 and LS)? Would 1000fps be too much to expect in a 4” S&W for a 300gr pill? 313E654D-96C2-41AB-8A21-227EC4B0C5DB.png
 
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It’s not to much for the 629 but it will not hold up like the Redhawk with a constant diet of that. I love AA#9 and run it around a starting load of 18.2 grains to give the gun and my wrist a bit of a break from the full throttle stuff.

I can’t help with Longshot, all of my lighter .44mag rounds are with W231 or Universal. Beautiful gun by the way!
 
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Thanks, I’m blessed to have it. On a side note, it’s like a lot of good old 44M’s-the two boxes in the picture were bought at the time he bought the gun and the 280gr box is full, and there’s six gone from the 180gr box. Pretty sure dad got it for a Wyoming hunt and only shot it once
 
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My first sigh of to hot a load-
Heavy loads of W296 caused peening (arrow) of the metal around the center pin . This caused the pin to stick inward. Fixed by removing pin and opening hole with the correct size drill bit. Installed new center pin.
full.jpg

Cylinder may start rotating backwards, after firing. Another sign of hard use. Both my 29 & 629 did it. Sold 629 years ago. The 29 factory repaired couple years ago.

Starts post #6 https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/smith-wesson-customer-service-or-lack-threrof.836851/

Newer guns have the "Endurance Package".
 
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243winxb said:
Cylinder may start rotating backwards, after firing. Another sign of hard use.
Newer guns have the "Endurance Package".
Click to expand...
I’ll keep an eye on the center pin peening.
Looks like they took care of your 29-2 as best possible. Was your 629 a no dash, or otherwise pre -2E?
Mine’s a 629-4 so it does have the Endurance upgrades, hopefully cylinder rollback won’t be an issue.
I’ll be working up a load for it, I’m aiming to find the best accuracy I can and be around 1200fps.

I just gave it a solid going over, and found all my throats to be between .428-.430 (best I can measure with caliper, best measuring tool I’ve got). I hope that’s not too tight for the .431-.432 240gr MBC Keith hard casts I’m hoping to use. I couldn’t get a .44 jag with a patch on it through the throats, had to use a double patched .40/10mm jag
 
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Congratulations on receiving a very nice inheritance gift, that is a sweet revolver indeed. :thumbup:

The MG with heavy loads isnt much fun, mine kicks pretty stoutly with full house 240 gr factory loads. I prefer the 11 gr Unique/240 swc loads for that gun and if heavier .44 loads are called for I will shoot them in the 6.5”” full lug ported 629. The extra weight out front helps to dampen the kick.

9A4DD51E-3956-43D7-B5E2-46464780644C.jpeg

Stay safe.
 
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StrawHat said:
I believe I see elongated cylinder notches on your revolver. Those are part of the Endurance Package that S&W introduced to combat the issues related by 243winxb. You should be good to go with any sane load.

Kevin
Click to expand...
Yup, it’s a 629-4, from my understanding all the 629’s -2E and up are endurance modified (Somewhere around -4 or -5 for 29’s)
 
I have a 629 Mountain Gun with the hillary hole. I bought slightly used in 2006 in Anchorage and it has been a workhorse gun ever since. I carried it when I lived in Alaska and it is still loaded in my gun safe today. Nowadays I keep 44sp Corbon 180 gr SP in it.

It goes to the range several times a year and I shoot the heck out of it.

No experience with any really hot ammo out of it. But it is certainly a shooter.
 
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Been a huge fan of MGs since seeing a National Geographic (!!!!!) article about the Norwegians who skied to the North Pole. (no dogs; kept everything light). They were stalked for two days by a Polar Bear; when he finally charged, one guy took pictures, the other killed it with the MG. Wow, just wow.
For the OP, the gun may well tolerate far more than you will. Run some loads in the 1000'sec range, and enjoy the gun.
And I'm jealous... ;)
Moon
 
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According to Accurate Arms' data (HERE) that is max. load.

When I shot max. loads out of my 29-2 in 44 Mag, it loosened up the side plate screws. I hoped it wasn't loosening other things up inside the gun that I didn't know about. Now I think my 29 was a -3, it was an original blued one with the 6-3/8" barrel. Looked just like Dirty Harry's. Maybe S&W tightened things up a bit more by the time they made your -4?

If it were me, I'd save those hot loads for the Redhawk and your Marlin, and just for carry in bear country or something with the S&W. That gun will be a lot more pleasant to shoot with lighter loads, on the heavy end of 44 Special.

I sold my 29 and bought a 7.5" Redhawk and never looked back. The Redhawk has a better DA trigger, but the S&W had a better SA trigger.

Meanwhile, check your screws. ;)
 
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Smaug-yes it is and it clocked 1317fps in my Redhawk (when it would function properly). There is no “Ruger only” 44mag data like the 45C-it’s either kosher in labeled guns or not.
That load is my hunting load (1705fps in a Win94 and accurate), so it may run as a matching carry load if the
29-2 is solidly “pre-endurance” (29-5 and 629-2E were the first productions for each models).
I will keep my eyes on screws.
My concerns rise from the tight throats Smith put on 90’s guns….

No to hijack my own thread off the intended topic of 629MG loads, I’ll say this:
I had a Redhawk, and it has two trips to Ruger and was never the gun it should be. If Ruger had made the Gp100 style lockwork they put in the SRH’s standard in all RH’s I’d be a fan of RH’s again, but the mainspring/trigger setup has me never going back to an RH.
 
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Quick update,
Longshot at 11.0 under the MBC 240’s averaged 1098fps. I tried 10.5/11.0/11.5 and the 10.5 ran 1009fps and the 11.5 ran 1131fps.
Seeing almost 3x the increase from 11.0>11.5 than from 10.5>11.0 leads me to believe I’m approaching max pressure.
I’m gonna try some for accuracy at 10.8, 11.0 and 11.2 (if I can shoot the difference).

I did run W231 at 9.1 (1053fps), 9.5 (1095fps), and 9.9 (1130fps)-going to try 9.5 and 9.7 also on paper.

The 231 loads had a better ES and SD by a little bit, but leaded more than the Longshot. I am taking that with a grain of salt until I get more rounds through the tube. My dad gave it to me with 2 boxes of Corbon JHP from the 90’s, one was 180gr with two missing and scribbled “home defense” on the box, and the other was 280gr and full, with “grizzly country” written on it. Four of the remaining 180gr were probably carried as they don’t have as much “fuzzing” on the24yr old rounds-this makes me think he tried two rounds and that’s probably all he shot it so the bore isn’t even broken in.

The 20.2 AA#9/240XTP load I mentioned above wasn’t horrible to shoot, but definitely let’s you know you shot something substantial and clocked 1309fps.

I do have 260gr Montana WFNGC’s loaded up for the 94 that I may try out if I ever head where bears are bigger than the blacks here in AZ.

I did put Pachmayr Diamond Pro grips on it and really like them better than the factory Hogues.

thanks for all the input folks
 
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Sobr, with that same commercial 240 SWC coated I get similar velocities of between 1050 and 1100 with 9.4 gr of Ultimate Pistol or 11.0 gr of VV N340. All give wonderful accuracy, too.
 
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DR505 said:
29-3E and 29-4 and up had endurance package.
Click to expand...

You’re correct on the 29-4, but the 629 got it as the -2E


black mamba said:
Sobr, with that same commercial 240 SWC coated I get similar velocities of between 1050 and 1100 with 9.4 gr of Ultimate Pistol or 11.0 gr of VV N340. All give wonderful accuracy, too.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input on the Longshot (and others), the others I may play with down the line once powders open up on the market. 231/HP38 are both on my shelf and already on shelves at good prices. Longshot is pretty available too, but I’m not gonna try for much more than 1150 out of any of the above mentioned. I’ve still got about 4lbs of AA#9 for the rifle and serious handgun stuff

between W231/HP38 and Longshot I hope to have my 44M, 45LC, 45acp, and 10mm pretty well covered!
 
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