Smith & Wesson 629 Talo 3"

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YankeeIronSights

New member
Hi everyone...

I am considering purchasing a used - in like new condition - Smith & Wesson 629 Talo with 3" barrel and would like your opinions about this revolver. I can buy it at my LGS for $690 out the door. I already own a few .357 revolvers and would like to own a .44 Magnum to enhance my collection. Please share your thoughts...
 
I'd love to add a 3" or 4" .44 mag to the collection. I do have a 6" Anaconda that does what it do, lol, but I love the look of the shorter barrel, and think they are more fun to shoot. I don't think $690 is a bad price, especially if it's in excellent condition, and would be on the side that says buy it!
 
With the shorter barrel you don't really gain the benefit of the .44 mag cartridge, so unless it's a woods carry gun I think you might like a .44 special better. I doubt if you could find a 3" 624 for anything like $690, however.
 
I don't agree that:
with the shorter barrel you don't really gain the benefit of the .44 mag cartridge
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...it's still a .44 Magnum, so I'm not sure what it's being compared to that a 3-inch barrel somehow neuters it so badly that it's not gaining the benefit...?

Sure, you'll have less bullet velocity than you would from a 6 or 8 3.8" revolver, or a 10 or 14" barreled single shot. But it's still a .44 Magnum.

My thoughts?!
It's going to pound the beejezus out of your hand if you use anything approaching full-bore loads, but felt recoil is a very personal and very subjective thing. It will likely be quite enjoyable if you handload some middle of the road or less ammo for it. I'd say the price is about right, not a steal, but the Talo guns usually carry a premium and it's rare that you see -any- Talo guns that aren't quite attractive in the looks dept., and this one fits there also.

If you aren't a handloader, I would suggest that it's going to be painful and not enjoyable to shoot, but this is different for everyone.
 
I have to admit to a bias against the ILS, so I would forgo the Talo and look for a 629 3" in some other, older edition, or else a non-ILS 4" 629 Mountain Gun if you are just looking to add a 3" or 4" to your collection.

I am not so worried about malfunctions of the lock, as I just find them ugly, and why add ugly if there is no functional, pressing need to do so?
 
Sevens -

I think you later inadvertently made a point supporting mine, in that a .44mag snubby is not a comfortable gun to shoot with full-power loads, hence the recommendation to either buy a .44 special, or engage in handloading. Of course, 3" .44 specials don't exactly grow on trees, and neither does .44 special ammo, which for some perverse reason costs more than .44 mag.

As a handloader I wouldn't hesitate to buy a .44mag snubby and shoot .44 special-level loads, but not all have that option. I personally have a 3" 24-3 and love shooting light .44 specials, it's deadly accurate to 25 yards and has enabled me to start winning our club's snubby matches.
 
.44 special ammo, which for some perverse reason costs more than .44 mag.
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Ahhh, it's nothing so perverse, :D, it's simply the economy of scale. They don't make a lot of .44 Special brass (in comparison) and they don't make a lot of .44 Special ammo (in comparison) and otherwise, all the components are just about the exact same cost. The difference in powder is miniscule.

There's no savings when producing .44 Special, there's just the fact that the sales market for it is incredible small in comparison, so it has to cost more. A lot more.

It's like pricing .32 Smith & Wesson Long factory ammo. It'll blow your mind.
 
Any way you look at it that is a good deal on a great gun. I love my 629 PC snubby. And it is a blast to shoot with full power loads.
 
Sounds reasonable to me.

It should be a fun gun to shoot. You state you already own (and presumably shoot) .357s so a step up to .44 mag is not a big step. If for some reason you find you do not like it. Selling it and getting your money back should be fairly easy.
 
I think it would be a cool gun to have.

But yes, with 44 Mags, stick with light weight bullets with fast powders. I wouldn't own this gun if I didn't load my own. I'd shoot full-house rounds though it just once for the novelty of the violent recoil. Then stick with Specials and light Mags.

Load Mag's with Speer 200g GDHP SB's with a light load of fast powder (10.0g W231), and it'd still deliver one hell of a punch to the target, without beating up your hand too terribly bad.
 
If you're going to shoot that 629 wearing those grips, you might want to buy some gloves to soften things a tad.

Or not. :eek:

While you will not take full advantage of the load in the shorter barrel, it will still deliver a lot of power downrange, just not quite as far as a longer barreled .44.

Below is my 629-6 and the older 29-6 Classic. Both, very fine revolvers. The 3 inch stainless became my camp gun when deer hunting just in case Bambi comes walking thru camp again... no one had their rifle handy (or my 29 on me for that matter).



The ILS and the MIM trigger/hammer seem to bother some people, maybe for just cause. Mine shoots fine. Love the fireballs whenever shooting near dusk from either of those 2. While the Hogue Monogrips ain't pretty, they sure do help my hands (even tho the backstrap is exposed) compared to shooting a friends 29 with the old wood target grips barehanded (ouch).

Reloading is your friend here and will save you money in the long run (well, your time reloading is worth something in that equation that few factor in officially, IMO).

Get it. Shoot it. It will put a big smile on your face every time, and just maybe, meat on the table (I said maybe).
 
I have found shooting full house .44s from a 3 inch snub to be awfully painful.

Now the .45 ACP versions, that is 625s, use .45 ACP are easy to shoot.

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The one of the right is my 625-1 snub. Using .45 Supers it gets more like a .44 magnum but still useable.

So if you do get the 3 inch .44 magnum I'd just hand load it down to sort of +p+ .44 special and leave it alone.

Deaf
 
You better snatch it up at that price while you can.

Here is my 29-2 after I bought a new 3" barrel and had it put on. This thing is so much fun to shoot and is a tack driver with mid power loads.

29-1.jpg
 
That is a great deal. I just bought a 4" M29 Mountain Gun and it is very nice handling and fun.

.44 mag or Special is expensive to shoot unless you handload. There are several excellent self defense loads in .44 special with 180-210 gr HP. Full power magnum loads will not get more than 1,100 fps with 240 gr or 1,000 fps with 300 gr loads. Expect large fireball!

I would jump on that deal. As another poster said, you can easily resell for that much if you change your mind, but I doubt you will.
 
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