I'm down to those two. It's not a cost issue, I've got enough "on account" at the gun shop from consignments to cover either.

I'm plenty familiar with S&W revolvers. My ol' 629 was no fun to shoot so I don't think the 329PD is going to be any better.

However, I don't know much about the Taurus guns, nothing firsthand. How well do the ports and the rubber grips handle recoil? How accurate are they in general? How much louder are they?

I know the S&W is a hair lighter, but maybe not enough to offset the ammo weight difference. Depends on how much I carry I guess. I have an idea the Taurus 5-shot cylinder might make it more concealable than the bulkier S&W 6 shot cylinder. Pretty sure the S&W will have a better trigger. I don't like the S&W fiber optic sights, those would have to be replaced.

What other factors am I overlooking?

What about the S&W M-357 in 41 mag? It is the same material as the M-329

If you are used to S&W quality I think you will be disappointed in the Taurus. I have a Taurus .38 that I carry when bowhunting and backpacking, but it is now where near the quality, fit, finish, accuracy, everthing but price of my S&W. I plan to trade it for a S&W M-60 someday.
Did you ever try your 629 w/ 8gr of unique and 240gr lead slugs. That is fun.

What do you mean by "packing revolver"? Concealed carry round town, or is this for while backpacking out in the boonies?

Ruger Alaskan?

I have the Taurus. in .41. It is ported and is loud. But it is wonderfully accurate with everything I have run through it and the trigger is great. Better than Dr. Ken Howell said it would be. Can't imagine the Smith will be any better. I did replace the Taurus 'ribber' grips with a set of Hogue's. Much better in my opinion.

I have several Taurus pistols and have been well pleased with them all.

I personally would go the Smith & Wesson route! I am sure it is of better quality than the Taurus you mentioned. Now a .44 or 41 mag caliber is NOT a CCW type of a tool and carrying one for 8 hours can be a hassel with the weight and barrel length.

Now even a 4 inch barrel in those mags is going to cause you a lot of muzzle blast and muzzle jump. I suggest if you want power in a "carry pistol" to check out the Glock in a 10mm caliber = 750-lbs energy and easy to shoot with much less recoil period.

You can also go the .357 mag route and shoot .38+P ammo for CCW use and mag ammo for the woods. All this in a 3 inch revolver carry pistol, Hogue rubber grips make it easy to shoot.

Find you a Smith 4 inch Model 19 or 66 357 MAG and you will have about the best you can buy for your needs.

I think your resale would be better on the S&W.

I also note that there is now a 325 model, in .45 ACP. That's probably a much easier round to handle in that revolver than the .44 mag. I'd have to shoot mid-range loads in the 329, I am afraid.

If one has a problem with a S&W 41 mag I seriously doubt that 10mm is going to solved the recoil muzzle blast delima. I find the 41 mag a pleasure to shoot and a hell of a lot more gun than a 357 mag

FPE is a rather poor way to rate terminal performance or to rate lethality

I have a S&W 329PD and think that is might be the best 44 Special that I've ever owned. The recoil is a little rough with firewalled 44 Mag loads, but the grips for the S&W 500 really tame the recoil. Did I say that the 329PD is an awesome 44 Special revolver?

I do carry an inexpensive Rossi 720 more than I carry the S&W 329PD, but only because I am prone to lose things and I'm shooting snake shot far more often than I'm shooting ball ammo. If I lived in bear/couger/drugdealer country, I'd carry the S&W 329PD with heavy 44 Special or light 44 Magnum load with a bullet in the 240 to 300 grain range.

I have seen used 4" stainless Taurus Trackers in 41 and 44 Mag in excellent condition around Omaha for $300+/- within the past 60 days and did seriously think about buying the 44, but then decided "why bother?".

JEff

If your 629 was "no fun to shoot," either of those guns would be much worse with full power ammo.
Do you really need that much power ? I'd seriously consider a .45 Auto Rim, or a .44 Special in that weight range. Even a .357.
I've owned and shot the .44 Mag quite a bit since 1967. I still have and shoot my old 4 inch 29. Frankly, my 24 oz., M60 Smith .357 is harder on me than my old 29. Weight makes a huge difference here.
From my own experiences, a decent 250 gr. 44-45 caliber bullet at 950-1000 fps will do great things against alot of threats.
Or you could buy the one you like and load it down. E

If I wanted an S&W for personal defense in the back country and Grizzlies weren't a problem I'd go with a 625 from the performance center.

Like Jeff says, the 329PD sucks with mags, but is about the perfect .44 Special. Don't underestimate the Taurus. Overall it's not as nice as the S&W, but don't be surprised if it's more accurate; that's one department where Taurus thrives.

That's really a tough call, because both are very nice guns. The S&W has the internal lock, which has caused problems on very light guns with heavy recoil. Taurus has had no such problems, so if I were in a place where I would have to trust my life on one of those two guns, I think I'd trust my life to the Taurus before the S&W. Hey, Taurus also makes a large frame ultralight .44 to compete with the 329 PD. The blued one's are ugly, but the stainless one's look pretty good. Just ditch the grips for something less hideous and you're GTG.

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

The current gun in this niche is a short Super Blackhawk. I want to lose some weight without losing noticeable punch.

Tom

Black bears and livestock. Our bears aren't very big but a nitwit lit into one a couple years ago with a 1911 and got his ass chewed most seriously. So ... no. Some years back we had a bull that got a little ... pushy. Dad plugged him. Our neighbor's scale read a c-hair over 2600 pounds. Try taking that on with a .45 ACP. I'd a LOT rather have a rifle, but where I run into the livestock, I'm already packin' a varmint rifle and I just can't pack 2 rifles at once.

Tom

Actually, need more, but there's nothing "bigger" that doesn't go way up in weight.

I think your question really boils down to how much you want to spend. The Smith will run you at least twice as much dinero. I personally think the Taurus is better looking too. YMMV on that score. They are both fine weapons by all accounts. I am not looking to get rid of my Mountain Gun.

I use to carry a long barrel 629 but now carry a 329. The recoil is impressive but not excessive. I doubt I would notice it if something big and toothy was coming my way. It is a joy to carry and goes with me almost everywhere I go outdoors.

I have a 329 also and am in your shoes when it comes to livestock and Bears. I have yet to use it on either but it would not surprise me in the least to use it on either within the next year. The 329 is a sure joy to carry!! You will probably not shoot it a ton with full powerhouse loads but is more than managable with 44 special loads. I am not a Taurus fan at all but have looked at the 41 mag a lot! If I could find a 357PD in 41 mag that was not crazy in the price dept I would buy it too. The scandium frame is nice when it is time to carry!!

I have the Tracker you mentioned in 45 colt (pre-judge). I only modified the trigger with new lighter springs and have the trigger pull close to what my smiths are--but not as nice, yet maintaining reliability. Factory DA pull was so heavy it was all I could do to pull it. It is a five shot and that makes it a little better to carry (thickness and IWB). The smith is a six shot, so may need to carry by another means besides IWB. But at 10 oz lighter--the smith may be the winner for me in the carry department. The Taurus is as accurate as anything out there--from my experience--and I really like the gun. Question for the 329 guys: How are they holding up to a lot of rounds? I would not mind having one--for a carry gun in non-urban environments--Which is the same roll my Taurus is filling now---May have to find a better excuse to buy this one.

Tom,

I own or have shot all the guns mentioned plus one that has not been...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=213932834

These are extremely hard to find and the last one that sold on GB just a few days ago went for over a grand.... I've had one for about 5 years as well as the very rare 6" version and a 4" stainless. All shoot very good. If you look on GunBroker there is a limited edition 3" stainless for sale right now...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=214595231



15 yards slow DA on the left and fast DA on the right...



The S&W PDs are great guns. I have a 357PD .41 Magnum and two of my friends have the 329PD .44 Magnum. No problems encountered with any of them. One of my friends has over 1000 rounds of 950 fps lead reloads through his as well as a couple of boxes of full 240s and it is still running right along.

327PD...




One of the Posters over on the S&W Forums makes "THE PLUG"...does away with any possibility of the lock activating when you don't want it to....



For the .41s there are several factory loads that work well if you don't reload.

Winchester 175 Silvertip
CorBon 170 Self-Defense
Federal 185 Barnes
Speer 210 Gold Dot
Federal 250 CastCore
Georgia Arms 210 hardcast SWC

Even in the lightweight guns these don't kick that bad...the standard 210s like the Remington SP will make you take notice.


If you go .44 THE load for personal defense against 2-Leggers would be the 200 grain Speer .44 Magnum Gold Dot HP Short Barrel load...at 1080 from a 4" it is a pussycat to shoot and the bullet expands everytine. For a penetrator the 300 grain Federal CastCore is loaded a lot lighter than the BuffaloBore or CorBon offerings.


Bob

Have you thought about a S&W 625 Mountain Gun? A big hard cast lead bullet from a 45 LC is strong medicine and the 625 MGs are kinda middle of the road, not too heavy, not too light, just about right.

JEff

I don't have the taurus line but i do have a number of .44magnums and .41's including a four inch 29, a four inch 57 a six inch 57, a four inch 58 and a ruger redhawk in .41 magnum and a ruger blackhawk in .41magnum.
Come to think of it also a super redhawk in .44magnum.
just shooting the six inch 57 a couple of weeks ago and it is mild to shoot with the reload i was using 210grain bullet at about 1000fps.
of all of them, i kind of like the 58 four inch. Easy to carry but you are really not giving up much of anything to the others.
the 29 is one of the new keylock versions, where i replaced the to skinny grips with rubber pachmeyers, and put the 329 front sight on it. Works pretty good. But the .41 is really a reloaders gun due to cost of ammo i would think.

+1
The 45LC mountain gun loaded on the warm side.

How much "snot" will a .45 LC in a S&W handle? My experience with the LC is at traditional levels and at top end Ruger Blackhawk levels (say 28-30K PSI) that make a .44 mag look tame, not much in the middle.

Where does the "new" Vaquero fit?

I guess while I'm asking, what about the .44 spl Blackhawk and Vaquero? How far past factory can you ... if you can ... push them?

I can give you a lot of info on the 329pd, but very little on the Taurus line. The only Taurus I handled was the 5 shot 44 mag Tracker - seemed pretty well built. I was never able to find a 444 to handle - seemed like they only existed in catalogs. The discontinued Titanium 41mag tracker seemed interesting.

S&W329pd Information

For a packin 44, I really like my Alaskan. Not enough sight radius for a serious hunting handgun, but for putin holes in things out to 30 yards or so its great.
My heavy duty load for it is a 310 gr hardcast at 1200fps. If that aint enough gun, I shoulda brought a rifle.

Have you chrono'ed that load, or is the1200 FPS just an estimate?

Yep chrono'ed. 1200 average. No over pressure signs. I could probably get more out of it, but thats about all the recoil I can tolerate. Muzzle blast is impressive, recoil not too bad, accuracy is good enough to hit a pop can every time at 30yrds. I like it.

I would go Smith & Wesson if cost isn't a factor. I tested a 329PD rather extensively recently and never found it objectionable from a recoil standpoint even with 320s at 1,300 fps. Hard to beat a Smith.....really hard to beat a Smith.

Its easy to just say Smith, because that are VERY good and they are the standard that all are measured by
I have a S&W 57 in 41

and
a tracker in 41

I like them both when I carry a large revolver I carry the Tracker I do really like it.I like the grips on it but I am curious about the Hogues that someone else talked about earlier.I have a few Taurus revolvers I have not had any problems to this point.

In my little fantasy world I would like a Colt DA (a Python with a bigger set of holes) with a 2 or 4inch barrel in 41mag

OK I am back to reality HAHA

Hank

.45 Colt in the S&W 25-5 can be run fairly warm but nothing to the extent they can be in a Ruger...

As to the .44 Special, here is an article that should answer your questions...

http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ross-seyfried-lipseys-ruger-flattop-44-special-bisley-revolvers/


Bob

I just emailed the shop owner that does my consignment and special orders and told him to get a 329PD coming. Thanks for all the input. Woo hoo!

TOM-
When you get it and have a chance to wring it out some, please post your impressions and thoughts about the 329 with various load levels and bullet weights. You just completed a search I have been playing in my mind for some time...good power without so much weight for field carry. Considering several of the options mentioned here...629MT, 329, 625MT, 357PD (?) in 41, 10mm M-20 & 29 Glock, etc. I appreciated reading the many serious comments/suggestions folks offered you. Hard to make the call. Good luck with it.

I'm curious, what was the load you used to get that velocity out of the 4" tube of the 329pd? Also, what grips did you have on it? I'm wondering partly because I've been too timid to push much past a 270gr WFN loafing along at ~1150fps - I've wondered just how much pounding the 329pd can take.

Will post, sure. The shop expects 2-3 weeks wait. They're often a wee bit optimistic on their estimates.

Over the years I've found some loads that work in most .44s, not just one specific gun. I'll probably start with those then think about load development if none of them work.

I think for starters, 'til the weather warms up, I'm just going to pick one of those loads, sight in the gun, and pack it. I don't much like doing load workup in revolvers when the weather is cold and my hands are stiff. I picked up a Ruger .44 bisley hunter about Christmas I haven't shot, either. I have 2 other .44s sighted in .. spring will be here soon enough. Hard to imagine the day I'd have ever bought a new gun and not shot it within the first hour I had it home. I must be gettin' old.

Tom