Posted on 04/11/2006 12:53:48 PM PDT by 45Auto
IIRC, they couldn't get a Model 29, in time to make "Dirty Harry", so used the Model 57.
When I bought the Beretta 12 years ago I was also checking out a 9mm Sig for about $100 more. I decided at the time to save some money. A choice I have always wondered about.
That was my recollection also.
A few months later, there was no problem finding lots of Model 29s, along with the first boxes of ammo that the guns' original owners had bought, less a handful of cartridges.
When did you buy yours? I bought a Sigma in .40 when they first hit the market back in the 90's. I did not like it - entirely too many failures to feed for me to ever feel comfortable relying on it as my primary defense piece. That's why I picked up a Sig P239.
I've heard that S & W made a lot of improvements to the Sigma in it's later iterations, but it's reputation as a junk gun is probably forever fixed.
I just recently got rid of that Sigma - traded it in at the very same store where I bought it toward a S & W Model 637 .38 snubby. Now that one is a very nice little gun.
You shouldn't have much trouble finding a 4" Model 29. Some guy sees "Dirty Harry" (or "48 Hours") on TV, can't find a 6 1/2" gun, and instead buys 4" at what he thinks is a cheap price. Along with the gun, he buys a box of the hottest .44 Magnum ammunition the gunstore has. He then takes it to the range, fires six rounds and never shoots it again. Within a month, the gun is back on the store shelf.
I'm looking at a 4" Model 29 myself. I'm buying one back from a friend to whom I sold it years ago. The forcing cone is out of true, and he can't afford to have it fixed. I never shot anything in it except .44 Specials and light .44 Magnum handloads.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.