S&W .44mag Mountain Gun vs 329PD

[ArmedBear]

Did you shoot it off a rest?

I do a fair amount of .22LR pistol accuracy competition at a local club during the Winter months, and I can tell you that, among other things, grips matter. So do triggers, dimensions, etc. I'd try to determine first whether it's the gun itself, that shoots to the left, or if it's just the gun in your hands.

Various grips are available, and you may find that one of them works much better for you than the relatively-skinny factory Hogues with the tight finger grooves. I like Ahrends no-groove Tacticals on my 686, though I've kept the standard Hogues on my Mountain Gun for skinnier carry with no concerns about trashing nice rare hardwood on the trail.

 

[cmdc]

No, don't shoot off a rest. Standing two hand grip. I have put a Hogue 500 X grip from S&W on it, which is much better than the stock open backed grip, but it still shoots way left. The thing is, I am left handed, and I usually tend to shoot to the right until I get used to a pistol, not to the left. In fact I never pull shots left. And, I shoot a lot, and am not particularly recoil-sensitive, so this has me really frustrated. It shoots a very tight group, it's not like the hits are all over the place. I shot a three inch group with twelve rounds at fifteen yards, but the group was as I said, about three inches off center.

 

[Steve 48]

I have both a Mountain Gun in 44 Mag 2nd ed and a 3 inch non-fluted 629 which I would clealy carry either one. Their accurate and deadly!!

 

[CraigC]

A veteran sixgunner from another forum (known as Paul105), who puts more rounds downrange in one year than I do in five, has had to send his lightweight .44's back to S&W multiple times. They've been reworked and replaced enough times that I would never want to count on one.

 

[Bluenote]

A veteran sixgunner from another forum (known as Paul105), who puts more rounds downrange in one year than I do in five, has had to send his lightweight .44's back to S&W multiple times. They've been reworked and replaced enough times that I would never want to count on one.
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The above is why I no longer own a model 29 of any permutation , they quite simply don't stand up to the same handloads that my Redhawks or my Blachawk do with any degree of reliability.

And sure the Redhawks are heavy , even the chopped and modified 3.25 incher , but carried in a crossdraw it's actually not all that bad and what's your life worth 'eh?

 

[Oceans]

We hear a lot of talk about 300 grain+ travelling at 1400fps bullets being required in the .44 magnum to stop large critters, do we really need that? Is that type of load actually hurting your chances of solid linear penetration? Linebaugh has stated that a .45 Colt SWC going at a pedestrian 900fps will shoot completely through a Mulie and in fact, he states that he is comfortable carrying that .45 Colt and that load instead of a .44 Magnum when he is in the back country. If you push those semi wad cutters too fast, they deviate from there course after hitting the target, and can deform the bullet too. At close range, 50 yards and under, a 250 grain Keith @ 1100+ will penetrate any black bear, or silvertip that one is likely to encounter. So you will penetrate the animal to any desired depth with that weight and velocity, what more can that bullet do at any weight? You will be able to apply rapid follow up shots easier than if you were firing 300 grain bullets at 1400 fps aswell. A Smith&Wesson 29/629 will digest these loads without a problem at the range, so will your wrist. The only place I see a need for these 300 grain stompers is for long range shooting where the extra velocity will mean a flatter trajectory, as in shooting 300 meter rams in Silhouette matches. Think about it, if you penetrate an animal through and through with a 250 grain bullet at .429 diameter, what more can a 300 grain bullet of the same diameter do?

 

[CraigC]

The above is why I no longer own a model 29 of any permutation...

The above was in reference to the 329 and I read tonight that he wore out two of them.

 

[cmdc]

OK, so does anyone have any input for me as to why this thing is shooting so far to the left? None of my other handguns, I mean NONE of them, of which I have many, do this when I shoot them. I can't believe it's me, but hey, I'm no expert. HELP. I had pretty much decided to take this one with me to CO, but don't want to unless I can get this corrected without moving the sights so far to sight it in.

 

[mec]

you might want to take a close look at the barrel where it joins the frame and also at the front sight to see if its leaning. Gun companies- especially those who have found out they can rush merchandize out the door with little or no effort at quality control are often lackadaisical about screwing the barrel into the frame and other minor details.

 

[cmdc]

Thanks. I'll check that out.

 

[mec]

look where the barrel rib joins the frame. If its level or not it should be easy to see there.

 

[cmdc]

I just checked it. It is NOT level. Looking down on it, there is the slightest bit of difference in distance between the top of the rib and the frame of the revolver. Looking end-on from muzzle to back of revolver(after making sure three times it wasn't loaded) the barrel is canted to the right. Not much, but enough that you can tell. Also it is apparent that the ejector shroud is slightly to the left of center from the front. The gist is that the front sight is leaning to the right when looking down the sights. Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction, no pun intended. Will this cause it to shoot left? Yes, I believe it would, because with the front sight leaning to the right I would have to bring it left in order to line it up with the rear sight, which would cause it to shoot left. Do I have that correct? At any rate, I will take it to my local smith and have him true it up. This is a simple fix, no?

 

[mec]

you move the rear sight the way you want the group to go and the front sight the opposite way. Standing it straight up should do the trick. to avoid any damage, it would be advisable to send it back to smith and wesson with a carefully worded description of what is wrong. Then hope for the best. You generally get pretty good customer service from them.

 

[cmdc]

Thanks.

 

[JBob]

Re: kaboomed 329, maybe I've been lucky. I've fired some very stout loads out of mine and, as of yet, no damage to the gun.

Full story on the kaboomed 329pd at http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-re...38621-329pd-kaboom-pics-new-pic-post-1-a.html

I put another 75 rounds through my second one yesterday. Never tried the wood grips. You need to hold this gun just so; I've been done after a dozen rounds, but with the right hold, I've put over a hundred rounds through in an afternoon comfortably. I've never tried .44 special in the 329pd.

 

[Bluenote]

The above was in reference to the 329 and I read tonight that he wore out two of them.
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I understand that it was in reference to the 329s , however I've never had *any* 29 stand up to the sort of loads that Rugers digest with impunity , there's a reason for the "Ruger Only" warnings on certain handloads.

 

[paul105]

You need to send it back to S&W and hope for the best. These are two piece barrels, and require a special tool to adjust. If your gunsmith doesn't know this and uses the traditional method of rotating the barrel to adjust windage, you'll end up with the same condition that led to Jbob's kaboom.

As CraigC mentioned above, I have enough experience with these guns to know that they don't hold up well to prolonged use with .44 Mag level loads. Most folks will never shoot them enough with heavy loads to have any problems.

If you are relying on them to protect your life, make sure you know about the "lock problem" and shoot it enough to make sure you don't have a "short" firing pin. Yes, I've experienced both problems.

The 329s recoil is very quick and harsh, however (due to the light weight) it is easier to get back on target quickly with this gun than with its heavier steel counter part. I know it is counter intuitive, but I think it's all about recoil momentum -- the heavier the gun, the more recoil momentum. I had an interesting discussion about this with Ashley Emerson -- he agreed -- the 329 is faster back on target vs. the steel siblings.

The 329 is my all day, everyday carry gun. I'm retired and live in Western Montana. I'm out woods bumming, hunting or fishing everyday. Bow hunting elk can be a dinner bell for several predators (black bear, grizzly, mountain lion, wolf). The weight makes a huge difference for me. When not hunting, I carry a S&W 340 in my left front pocket -- if approached by unknowns, my left hand is unobtrusively in my pocket on the butt of the 340. The 329 is carried strong side in a Simply Rugged Sourdough Pancake over my right kidney and is loaded with 260gr WFNGCs over 23.5 gr of H110. Six extra rounds are carried in a speed strip in my pocket.

FWIW,

Paul

 

[Jason68]

RE: Carry rig for Mountain Gun

CMDC, I too was having the 29 / 629 / 329 dilemma, when a mint 4" Colt Anaconda 44mag fell into my lap at a local shop. The carry rig for your Mtn Gun is easy: http://www.simplyrugged.com/
These holsters are handmade in Alaska, and designed for hiking, hunting, and fishing in bear country. The rig I am getting for my Colt is a "Sourdough Pancake" holster ($60) with a "chesty puller rig" ($55) for chest carry. This gives 3 options; holster-on-belt carry, center chest carry (quick access under a coat) or under arm carry. Take a look, have fun with your gun.

 

[mec]

stand up to the sort of loads...

Most used 29s/29-2s you find are in need of an overhall. The problems range from end shake caused by frame stretch to relatively minor failure to carry up. They definately suffer when used with heavy loads. In the 80s, during the metallic silhouette shooting rage, this became apparent and S*W introduced the "endurance' package." It consisted of a number of modifications designed to increase durability. These probably work and they were in place with the mountain guns came out. Still, moderate loads are the prescription for extending the life span of these things. I was near the custom gunsmiths tables at the St Louis NRA meeting shorty after the first endurance package guns came out. Clark and Bowen were there along with a couple of other well- known revolver smiths. One of them mentioned getting a customer's endurance package gun that was rattling loose from shooting the 300 grain hornady xtp handloads published by a gun writer considered the expert on all things big bore. Those loads would knock a ruger into endshake and when the Hornady Handbook came out, the maximum listed charge was a grain less.

 

[friscolatchi]

Look at this issue of American Handgunner. There is a letter to the editor from Randy Garrett the cartridge maker. He'll attest to ArmedBear's presentation above. It is worth the read if you are considering the scandium framed 44's. The light weight gun is a brutal shooter and cannot be relied on for follow up shots.

 

[mec]

http://www.gunsmagazine.com/1960/G0860.pdf
See if this works. Its from a pdf of the August 1960 guns magazine available on at www.gunsmagazine.com. Its the second page of the Elmer Keith column where he discusses the hot loads being put out by the ammunition companies at that time and the damage they were doing to S&W and Ruger revolvers

It starts on page 8 and continues on 65 You can use the contents page- scroll down or use the thumbnails on the left of the page and click on the Keith column

 

[cmdc]

Wow. Thanks for all of the information, gentlemen. I found it interesting that the 329 is easier to get back on target due to its light weight. I also am getting the feeling that the 629s are not as strong as I thought they were. I have a Redhawk as well as the Mountain Gun, and the Redhawk definitely is easier to shoot with full house loads, but after putting the X grip on the MG, it was not bad to shoot, either. I have put at least three boxes of AE magnum ammo through it, but after reading what you guys are saying, maybe I should back off of that. I have some Buffalo Bore stuff too, but perhaps I will not use it much in the MG.

Oh, by the way, referring to what paul105 said about short firing pins, I got a 386 NightGuard a while back, and had just that problem. It wouldn't ignite Blazer .357 ammo. I had my local gunsmith put in a long pin, even though I could have sent it back to S&W, and it works fine, but does string shots when shooting magnums. The MG is on its way back to S&W as I write this. I also think I am going to get a 329. And a Simply Rugged holster rig, as some of you guys recommended.

 

[mec]

Some of us (who are O.L.D) are particular sorts of gun snob prefering the older handejectors to the modern innovations regardless of strength. I have a couple of 29-2s that I top out at 1000=1100 fps with keith bullets. Though fairly mild, they wll go through anything I'm likely to shoot around here and the guns have a usefully extended service life.
I also like Mountain guns even though they no longer have pinned barrels and recessed chambers. This one is supposedly enhanced to prevent premature loosening but I spent enough on it that I don't hammer it with factory level or maximum loads.