Picking up a S&W 629-1 4" in a few days! Who has a -1? and anything to watch out for on the -1?

[RickyB]

I am new to S&W revolvers so help me out with this one please.

I will be picking up a stainless S&W 629-1 4" in a few days! I have read on a few sites that the -1 are not as strong as the newer -6 models and such. Has anyone had any issues with their 629-1? Or am I trying to overcomplicate this strength warning/issues. I reload so I plan to shoot mostly mild with a some full power hard cast loads.

Are their any upgrades that should be done that I should know about?

Thanks in advance

 

[cddogfan1]

I think you can send it to Smith and Wesson and they will upgrade it to the endurance pacgage the newer ones come with.

 

[RickyB]

I will check into that, thank you.

 

[fishfryer]

I think you can send it to Smith and Wesson and they will upgrade it to the endurance pacgage the newer ones come with.

I'm curious about endurance package you mentioned. What do you think is included in it?

 

[frankwright]

I found this in a search from "gunhacker" on the S&W Forums "
he endurance package was developed to address shortcomings in the design that became apparent when the M29 was used extensively for Silhouette matches. You must remember that the S&W M29 came out in 1955 and withstood the test of time all the way until the mid 80's when the Silhouette Match shooters started sending a lot of "healthy" loads down range through them.

Stuff started happening as a result of that steady and frequent diet of "full house" (and then some) loads... the internal hammer, trigger and bolt stop pins started to shear from the frame, the cylinder locking bolt would drop and allow the cylinder to unlock from the heavy recoil, where it would rotate backwards to a previously fired chamber.

With the 29-3, S&W started to address those issues and continued making improvements with the release of the 29-3E (Endurance), 29-4, and 29-5.

Among the endurance upgrades were a deeper cut bolt notch on the cylinder, new style cylinder bolt, and a radius(flare) was put at the bottom of the internal pins so the were bigger/thicker where they attached to the frame, instead of being the same skinny size throughout its length."

I also read that you cannot send a gun to S&W for the package but others said you can depending on who you talk to at S&W.
I would be interested to see what happens here. Good Luck!

 

[frankwright]

I found this in a search from "gunhacker" on the S&W Forums "
he endurance package was developed to address shortcomings in the design that became apparent when the M29 was used extensively for Silhouette matches. You must remember that the S&W M29 came out in 1955 and withstood the test of time all the way until the mid 80's when the Silhouette Match shooters started sending a lot of "healthy" loads down range through them.

Stuff started happening as a result of that steady and frequent diet of "full house" (and then some) loads... the internal hammer, trigger and bolt stop pins started to shear from the frame, the cylinder locking bolt would drop and allow the cylinder to unlock from the heavy recoil, where it would rotate backwards to a previously fired chamber.

With the 29-3, S&W started to address those issues and continued making improvements with the release of the 29-3E (Endurance), 29-4, and 29-5.

Among the endurance upgrades were a deeper cut bolt notch on the cylinder, new style cylinder bolt, and a radius(flare) was put at the bottom of the internal pins so the were bigger/thicker where they attached to the frame, instead of being the same skinny size throughout its length."

I also read that you cannot send a gun to S&W for the package but others said you can depending on who you talk to at S&W.
I would be interested to see what happens here. Good Luck!

 

[RickyB]

I called and spoke to a lady at S&W support, after a brief explanation about my concerns, and put me on hold. She checked all records, and asked the service technicians and told me this.

• My 629-1 S/N: shows mine as being built in 1980, it also shows no recalls, or upgrades available for the -1 by S&W.

• She said "Some" guns built in 1985 had recalls on the cylinders and were eligible for warranty repair if sent in to them.

• Being a -1 it puts mine in the "Non" +P rated ammunition category, and said do not shoot +P ammunition. She recommended to stay with 240 grain standard loads.

I may try sending an e-mail to S&W to see if I get conflicting information on the endurance package upgraded available on the -1 models.

That's it for now