Looking to pickup a S&W 625 or 629 Mountain Gun.

In going over information from friends and data, it looks like the 45 LC and 44 Special are very similar. Have been shooting a 45 LC (Taurus 450) but have not had much experience with either the .44 Special or .44 Mag.

Thinking I could load the 629 with .44 Special and then work up to the .44 mag and get the best of both worlds.

Make sense?

Sure, but you could do the same if you handloaded for the .45 Colt within the limits of the N-frame. I wouldn't let the cartridge be the main deciding factor. Personally I'd look for the smothest action and/or best price in a .44 or .45 caliber Mountain Gun first.

Agreed, and keep those 30,000CUP loads out of a Smith, my opinion.......

Thanks Bill and Mike for the advise!

Only a few $ difference in price for either.
I don't reload yet, but do have access to a friend who does (or did). Was going by what I could buy over the counter.

Can get the .44 mag NIB or used in Stainless Steel.
Can get the 45LC NIB box Blued or used in Stainless Steel.
All in the $600 range + or - a few $.

Any preferences on SS versus Blued?


Mike, N frames and 30,000cup? Can you go deeper?
I am seeing 36,000+ ratings on most of the .44 mag over the counter.

Thanks

Bob

Thanks Bill and Mike for the advise!

Only a few $ difference in price for either.
I don't reload yet, but do have access to a friend who does (or did). Was going by what I could buy over the counter.

If you're limited to factory ammo, go with the .44. If your friend is an experienced reloader and understands the limitations of the .45 Colt in an N-frame, either is a good choice.

Can get the .44 mag NIB or used in Stainless Steel.

Used only. It's been a couple years since there was a 629 Mountain Gun in the catalog.

Can get the 45LC NIB box Blued or used in Stainless Steel.

Blued only new.



Any preferences on SS versus Blued?

I prefer blue. In my experience it will give a slightly smoother action than the same gun made of stainless.


Mike, N frames and 30,000cup? Can you go deeper?
I am seeing 36,000+ ratings on most of the .44 mag over the counter.

I'm sure Mike will agree, the thinner cylinder walls of the .45 Colt demand a lower maximum average pressure than the .44 Magnum. Neverthless, you'll still get plenty of oomph! with a 30k .45 Colt handload.

Yes, I meant don't use the 'Ruger only' .45 Colt loads in your Smith. Even if they don't hurt the gun, they'll hurt you. They are not common, so if you don't go out of your way to look for them, should not be a problem.

There is some difference of opinion in the firearms community on just how 'hot' a Smith should be loaded in .45 Colt.... keeping in mind that Smith isn't going to sanction anything over SAAMI spec (14,000-16,000CUP, or around there), anyway.

Anyway the one N-frame in .45 Colt that I have shot was quite a handful with a 255gr. SWC at about 1,000fps. That's only a bit above SAAMI spec, and about all I wanted. It's definitely not going to handle recoil like a Bisley Blackhawk.....

The .44 Mag factory loads should be fine. It has a higher pressure limit, but a lot more steel around the chamber. If you are sticking with factory ammo.... the .44 mag is a far better choice, just find what is comfortable to shoot and affordable, and go from there.

I would definately go with the 629 with the 4". If you are not planning on reloading the 629 is a lot more versatile than the 625 in 45 colt. If you want the plinking rounds the 44 specials are vertually identical ballisticly to the 45 colt cowboy loads, and for hunting or animal defence you can use full power 44 mag loads. I have the 4" 629 and it is extremely managable even when very heavy cast loads. I carry it with 300gr WFNGC @ 1300+fps when out and about here in alaska. I would opt for a set of nice smooth wood grips too. I am quite partial to Ahrends finger groove grips.

Thinking I could load the 629 with .44 Special and then work up to the .44 mag and get the best of both worlds.

This works very well. I have done it in a Contender. The 44 mag can be a handful while the 44 Special is very pleasant to shot. As for self-defense with the 44 Special, there have been some good low velocity loads out there from the factory. These are more powerful than a 45ACP and that is a seasoned defense round (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc.). You do not need a Magnum for that.

I have a 629 Mountain Gun. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I like it. Full power (ie 300Gr bullets) Magnum loads are a handfull, but bearable. I shoot a lot of 44 Spl and mild Mag loads thru it. I truly believe this is very close the the perfect Big Bore S&W (this would apply equally to the 41, 44, and 45 versions.) Light, powerful, and full of little features (all black sights, front of cylinder relieved for easy holstering, smooth trigger, etc) I prefer the looks of the blued Mountain Guns, but I can't bear the lock S&W put on the newer guns and there were not many of the older blued guns made.
Andy
On edit, I would consider the .44 and .45 equal for defense, the 44 is easier to find defense ammo for, I think, but any big bore round will put a hurtin' on a bad guy. The Mountain Gun, in any caliber, is a great gun to handload for, because you can adjust the load to your recoil tolerance.

Having a 629 Mtn Gun for almost 10 years now I can say a few things about them.
1. Skip full house loads! Unless you are a fan of carpal tunnel or really like the way your wrists throb and ache after a range session.
2. THe 629 Mtn Gun makes a really nice .44 Special. My 629 lives on a diet of Skelton loads. 7.5 Unique w/ 250 gr Keith LSWC. Anything hotter than this can get downright agravating.
3. A tuned Mtn Gun in any caliber can be one of the best sidearms around. Handy, accurate, reliable and and and....
4. Mine has so many miles on it that the laser engraving is just about worn off.

I'd recommend sending the pistol off to one of the better smiths for a proper trigger job, specify a duty tune. If I had to pick one smith it'd be Milt Morrison of Qualite' Pistol and Revolver. http://www.qpr-inc.com

Good shooting.





Looking to pickup a S&W 625 or 629 Mountain Gun.

In going over information from friends and data, it looks like the 45 LC and 44 Special are very similar. Have been shooting a 45 LC (Taurus 450) but have not had much experience with either the .44 Special or .44 Mag.

Thinking I could load the 629 with .44 Special and then work up to the .44 mag and get the best of both worlds.

Make sense?

I recently bought a Smith 629 Classic with the 6 1/2" barrel...hands down the most versatile and fun to shoot handgun i have. Ive put about 1500 rounds of full house 44 mag handloads through it and havent seen any signs of wear, loosening up or any other problems. The trigger is smooth, zero creep, breaks cleanly at about 3.5 pounds with just a little overtravel. The sights are great and are very visable in even the earliest morning and latest evening hours. Becoming quite the shot with it too...with full power loads, i can pretty consistantly(on average 8 out of 10 times) hit a basketball sized target at 100 yards. Not sure if im going to scope it or not...i think the open sights are fine for most anything under 100 yards. Im hoping to do some deer hunting later this year with it...hopefully my darned knee will get better before the season is over!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v126/Jeffro426/131_3196.jpg

I'd chose stainless steel, Smith, 4 inch or longer barrel, .44 if I were in your situation. Just my .02; if you reload then I'd go for the .45 Colt, but one of the Ruger offerings, also in stainless.