Too hot for my S&W 44 mag?

FOTIS

Range Officer
Staff member
Oct 30, 2004
24,030
2,491
I have a beautiful 629 44 magnum. It is a pre-dash pinned and recessed early gun. One of my favorite loads is straight out of the hornady manual. 19 gr H110 behind a 300 XTP. This load is not considered +P and one can find it listed in several books. Actually some sources recommend up to 22 gr.
Is this too much for this revolver since it has never seen any S&W enhancement packages?

Thank you in advance.

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Shoot it with no worries.
Back when IHMSA was all the rage S&W shooters found a few short comings in the 29/629 and the guns where updated.
Unless your shooting hundreds of rounds a week for years it will last you a lifetime.
I shoot the same load but with a Nosler 300gr JHP and I have almost the same gun, Sent mine back and had a longer barrel installed.

Randy
 
Just caught this thread Fotis and I agree. The S&W will handle the H110/300 gr load just fine.

It is not as robust a design as the Ruger, but it's plenty strong enough to take a fair bit of shooting with the 300's - I've done so for years with no problems from my Smiths - then again - I doubt if I fire the .44's more than 500 - 1000 times a year. Certainly not high volume shooting.

Back in the days when handgun silhouette was a big thing, I remember hearing guys talk about S&W's shooting loose, even having the cylinder pop open while they were firing.

If you want a great .44 experience, treat yourself to a box of .44's from Garrett. Not only are they loaded stout, they're accurate.

http://www.garrettcartridges.com/
 
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