300..... I personally think this was a baaaaaad move. That old (no key smith) 6 inch boomer for the 3 inch version.
Now what ya “want” is the point and always agree all should get what they want and can pay for but I think yer gonna regret letting that 6 inch 629 go.....:o)
I have some very old S&W’s and their actions are night and day different with the older ones, even new in the box finds, are much better than todays versions. Unless they come out of the performance center or such as Cylinder and Slide type shops that perfect such actions.
I have the performance center 44mag “snub” with fixed sights etc and it is horrible bad to shoot with full house defense loads.
If I remember right you mentioned something about arthritis ?.......:o) I have it and you will “remember” shooting that 44mag 3 inch fer sure.
I made a deal on a duplicate 629 that was my brother's. Due to a messy divorce, and an assault warrant falsely sworn out by his ex, he had to get rid of all his firearms, so he gave them to me. Three Smiths, a Ruger .44mag semiauto carbine (why did they ever discontinue that?), and a rather beat-up shotgun. That 629 was a dupe, and therefore prime trading material.
You are probably right about the decline in workmanship, and I despise that "safety", and will somehow render it inoperative, but for the rest, I'll have to wait and see.
This must have been my week for trades. I traded my M4E(economy) to my best buddy for a early-80s pre-ban item. Details probably next week, when I sort through all the accessories he threw in.
In both our cases, 30 years ago we had money to buy stuff, but no time to play with it. Now we don't have the money, but we do have the time. I'll build another M-faux or AR57 as soon as I can save $200-300 on a complete upper. Those deals don't come often, but I built each one that way.
In today's world, he figured it was time to reacquaint himself with "America's rifle", since he only fired a few shots from an M16 while he served on a PBR on the Mekong in 1968.
IMO Full .44 Mag loads in a 3” barrel are only useful if you want to set the bad guy on fire as well as perforate him, especially if they’re stoked up with something like H110 or W296.
Be better off getting on of those 3” Lew Horton 24/624’s from the 80’s and putting big honkin’ SWC’s in it. Or having a 625 chopped, then you have the moonclip advantage.
You’re not kidding about the triggers on Smiths over the years. The only recent one I had that was really nice was a performance center gun. Most of mine are ‘50s and early 60’s guns (Carl Hellstrom era), and the trigger on a plain Jane Highway Patrolman is slick by comparison to new guns.
The only ones that are even nicer than that are pre-war guns. One is a M&P target that is only a couple thousands in SN from the one McGivern used for his record 5 shots in 2/5th’s of a second. Even I can shoot that one quick, the trigger just seems to roll on and on.