So thinking I need another option in the .44 Magnum carry gun rotation. Currently I have a Smith 629 Mountain Gun and a Smith 329. The 329 is great for it's lightweight but it is rather large especially with the Hogue X-Frame grips on it. It's also ammo sensitive; the Titanium cylinder can present some sticky extraction with certain loads. They're known for this the gun has been sent back to Smith and I've also done a light polishing on the chambers with Flitz.

Then there's the 629 Mountain Gun, love it, but it is a full sized steel N-Frame with a 4" barrel. Conceals a little better than the 329 since if has Hogue round butt grips on it, but it's still big and relatively heavy.

I also have a 3" Ruger GP100 in 10mm that is a great carry gun. But it's 10mm and I keep thinking a 44 Magnum gives a bigger warm and fuzzy feeling.

So been looking at a Smith Model 69 with the 2-3/4" barrel. It really is similar in size and weight to my GP100, it's 44 Magnum but I give up a round. Then there's the Ruger Alaskan. Yes, it's heavy and a full sized frame, but it's got a snobby 2-1/2" barrel to make it easier for carry. I don't think I'd ever have to be concerned with what loads were being used in the Ruger. The Ruger also has kind a beastly beauty to it...

Interested in those who have either one of these and their impressions of them. Please no comments, "If you're worried about bears get a rifle or a shotgun..." Yes, if out in the bush a rifle is at hand. This intent here is mostly for day hikes and road trips while carrying camera gear. Concealability is a plus. Again out in the bush it's not an issue, but around the Nature Center close to the house and some of the other state parks around, some of the progressives get a little uppity at the sight of a firearm.

So what says the all knowing oracle of knowledge that is SigForum.

Model 69...every day and twice on Sunday. The Ruger is a heavy pig that I wouldn't want to carry in the field, and while I hate to admit it as a lifelong Ruger fan, I've not been really impressed with their QC or customer service on my last few purchases.

I have a 2 3/4" Model 69, and I absolutely love that gun. At 34oz, it's not exactly lightweight, but it's more than half a pound lighter than the Ruger, and the slimmer profile makes for easy carrying. I wanted a gun I could carry on the trail and to the trail, so I didn't have to leave a gun locked in the unattended car at the trailhead for days. Loaded with some "light magnum" hollowpoint loads it works fine in an IWB holster in an urban environment, and I just switch it over to hard cast and slide it into my HPG kit bag when I get to the trail.


Mine has been 100% reliable, and incredibly accurate especially considering the short sight radius. If you look back through the postal match thread in the competition section, there are some examples of targets I've shot with it...the results are better than one would normally expect from a snubby, IMO.

Recoil....well, it's a .44 Magnum. It's pretty manageable for it's size, but if you're working through a whole box in one session, you'll feel it by the end. I didn't care for the factory grips...they were too long and thin. I played around with a few things...Pachmayrs that were poor quality and don't fit right, some wood boot grips from Altmont that I customized (ouch!), and finally settled on some Hogue Monogrips that I cut the finger grooves off of and trimmed down the pinkie rest. The Hogues give a better grip purchase, and with my mods allow me to position my whole hand on the grip without a bunch of excess making the gun hard to conceal.

Build quality is good. The lockup detent on the crane may piss off the S&W purists, but it works and locks the gun up like a bank vault. Because it's a 5-shot, the locking recesses on the cylinder fall between the chambers instead of directly in line with them, so there's more material between them and supposedly more durability. The DA trigger out of the box was very heavy...I replaced the mainspring with a Wilson Combat kit (kept the factory rebound spring), and it now has the best DA trigger of any revolver I own. I did have to shim the strain screw a bit to add some tension to overcome the occasional light strike, but since I've done that it's been 100% with a wide variety of primers.

Interesting that you mention your 329 being ammo sensitive. My son and I are going to AK this summer and the 69 is coming along. I'd toyed with the idea of buying a 329 for the trip, due to the lighter weight and better ballistics out of a 4" barrel, but I've always been a bit leery of titanium cylinders, and the fact that you have had issues makes me think that I'm probably money ahead to just stick to the 69. I like the gun enough that maybe I need a 4" model, too...


ETA: A few pics and some chronograph results:


This was left-hand only, 7 yards...recent picture with the Hogues on it:



With the wood boot grips on it and it's companion carbine:



Turkey Shoot (IIRC this one was 7 yards, too)



Fits decent in the "Snubby" HPG Kit bag. I've since upgraded to the medium-sized bag for hiking and fishing (to enable carrying more "other stuff" besides the gun), so there's a ton more room...but it's nice to still have the option of the little bag when I want it.



Some chronograph data (Sorry, all handloads not factory ammo, but it'll give you a rough idea of what to expect with the snubby barrel)

240gr JSP Over a stout load of H110:

1786 fps out of the 16" Marlin, 1151 fps out of the Model 69.

240gr LSWC over Unique

1437 fps out of the 16" Marlin, 1133 fps out of the Model 69.

200gr LRNFP over Unique (My targetload)

1472 fps out of the Marlin, 1094 fps out of the Model 69.

240gr XTP over 2400 (My "on the way to the trail" carry load)

1006 fps out of the Model 69.

I owned a Ruger Alaskan in .44 Mag for the reason you mentioned. I live in grizzly bear country and carried it while fishing.
Heavy. Too heavy to carry with all my fly fishing gear. Sold it.
Now carry a S&W 3" 29-4.

PC

Slight thread drift….
A few years ago I had a chance to buy a Ruger Toklat in 454 Casull and decided to sleep on it for a day. Went back to get it and it was gone. Pretty awesome gun for a serious hiking or backpacking gun in areas where something can eat you, lol.

After living in Alaska for several years I found out that almost any where in the state can and could be considered "the bush" buy a lot of the critters be they great and or small that would want to eat me or challange me for accidently getting too close to their young off spring.... My observation is to carry as large that you can comfortably carry and can accurately shoot... And shooting on a range is not the same as "in the bush" with something trying to attack you. ................................... drill sgt.

I’m a huge Ruger fan but for your purposes I’d say the Smith 69 is what I’d get. It doesn’t hurt that it’s damn sexy too.

While I've wanted to, in theory, buy a 69 since they came out, I haven't. In part because I already have things that do what it would do.

The other reason is, at one time I had a 696.
And while I liked it, I decided it wasn't that much smaller or that much lighter than my Mountain Gun, and couldn't do what it could do shooting wise, so we parted ways.

The newer barrel shroud / MIM guns just don't move me either.

A) G20/29
B) I still have my 329NG - any n frame grip works.
C) Sold my Alaskan after dumping a huge amount on custom work. It just was always kludgy.
D) I have a Clark Custom in the hopped up 45 ACP caliber they have. It’s not too bad,
E) My brother carries on of those really hot pistols from Eastern Europe but the price on them has gone nuts - good for pigs.

All of the high pressure stuff will really damage your hearing if you shoot before you get plugs in.

I would think some kind of heavy bullet in a flat nose 45 colt would be better.

quote:

I would think some kind of heavy bullet in a flat nose 45 colt would be better.

My dream trail gun is a 2.5-3" 5-shot L-Frame in .45 Colt with a scandium frame and a steel cylinder. I have a 360J in .38+p in that configuration (J-Frame, not L), and I think a slightly larger big-bore version would be excellent. .45 Colt gives you the mass and diameter without all the overpressure of a .44 Mag, and the combination of a scandium frame and steel cylinder cut weight where you can afford it but maintain the durability and ease-of-maintenance of traditional materials where you need them.

I don't see it happening, but I'd love to see Smith produce such a gun. The closest thing out there is the now discontinued Taurus 450 Titanium. They're not easy to find, they're expensive, and it's a Taurus....3 strikes kinda kills it for me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 92fstech,

I got a 69 with the 4” barrel for my 20year anniversary. Love it.

I can’t comment on the Alaskan.

A bit off topic, but does anyone carrying for bear protection use a pistol lanyard? I’ve read accounts of people getting “ran over” or even just swiped at, sounds like an easy way to lose your grip on your pistol.

That Toklat looks neat. I kind of want one although I live nowhere near bear protection territory.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
A bit off topic, but does anyone carrying for bear protection use a pistol lanyard? I’ve read accounts of people getting “ran over” or even just swiped at, sounds like an easy way to lose your grip on your pistol.

I have the 4 inch 69 with Hogue grips and a lanyard loop. I used the grip attachment loop from Hogue. Works great. I made a lanyard from 550 cord but commercial ones are easy to find.

It kind of became a moot point tonight. Went out to the range to try out Grizzly Ammunition's 260gr WFNGC load in the 329. Good accuracy and absolutely no problems with ejection.

Part of the joy of living in Alaska, Midway, Natchez, etc. won't ship ammo here. So we're kind of dependent on what shops stock. Underwood was providing sticky extraction in the 329 which I wasn't comfortable with. Buffalo Bore I've had bad luck with in the past with blown out primers. I'm just happy I've got another alternative for a dedicated bear load that functions in my 329.

Curious...how is that 329 to actually shoot? The concept of a scandium .44 really appeals to me as a backpacking gun, but also kinda scares me, lol. Have you ever shot it over a chronograph to see what kind of muzzle velocity you're getting?

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Curious...how is that 329 to actually shoot?

Go down to your garage, open your car door, place your shooting hand in the door jamb, now slam it shut.

In all seriousness, it's a handful. I've got the Hogue X-Frame grips on it, they do make full magnum loads tolerable, but they also lengthen the reach to the trigger. However, I've got some of my, "Cowboy" loads for .44 Magnum back to when I first started Cowboy Action Shooting, I've found they make excellent practice loads. Basically a 240gr. LWSC moving at 950fps out of a 7-1/2" Ruger Bisley. I have no problem shooting them in the 329. The 329 makes a great .44 Special revolver.

What I've found with the 329 is bullet weight has a huge effect on perceived recoil. Shooting the 305gr Underwood loads in it was painful. I would have to set the gun down on the bench after each round, step back and take a few minutes before firing the next round. But their 220gr Penetrator load in it was much less recoil and manageable I could get through a full cylinder without having to put the gun down between rounds. Two loads with similar energy levels with vastly different perceived recoil.

Problem with both of the Underwood loadings I tried was that neither one would eject the spent brass. I'd have to use a punch and a gunsmith hammer to eject, not an option that I want to undertake in the field. The 260gr Grizzly loading I can get through a cylinder without setting it down.

I bought the 329 a few years ago when I was planning for a guided photographer's trip for Brown Bear in Haines, Alaska, then Covid hit. To get to Haines from Anchorage, I've got to drive up to Tok, AK and then clip off corners of the Yukon Territory and British Columbia Canada and then back into Alaska. The only other ways to get t Haines are to charter a flight after flying commercial into Juneau or fly commercial into Juneau and take the ferry over. Canada at the time had a 4.1" minimum barrel length for handguns that they would be allowed to transported through the country. My 629's barrel is 4.0", the 329 is 4.125" making it legal and the original reason I bought it. That's now a moot point since Canada has banned bringing any handguns into the country.

The 329 does carry very well. A lot of the time I packing camera gear when I'm hiking around so weight does become an important consideration. The other thing is I look at is being utilitarian. I'm not going to shed a tear with scratches or wear on it like I would with some of my other Smith & Wessons.

So for ease of carry in the backcountry, I'd recommend it. Just realize what you are getting into. There's a lot of recoil with full magnum loads and extraction with some loads may be finicky.

I think the ultimate question for considering what to carry out in the wild albeit the mountains or the streets is what in reality is more practical... what looks and sounds cool or what is actually going to work if the time comes that you need it. I have no experience with a 44 mag in an extremely short barrel but I honestly think it will probably be a hell of a gun to try and shoot reliably.

quote:

Go down to your garage, open your car door, place your shooting hand in the door jamb, now slam it shut.

That's a very relatable description, Lol!

I imagined it would be something like that, but it's always good to get confirmation. Finding that balance between weight and shootability is tough.

quote:

I have no experience with a 44 mag in an extremely short barrel but I honestly think it will probably be a hell of a gun to try and shoot reliably.

I had exactly that same concern, so I took the 69 out a week or so ago and spent some time shooting a steel silhouette at 25 yards. It hurt, and the pain was definitely cumulative as the session went on, but I was able to put hits on steel consistently, including followup shots. I wasn't as quick or as precise as I would have been with a service caliber in an automatic, but pushing 240gr at 1150fps the .44 delivers a lot more energy (and hopefully penetration) than those do. Is it the best tool for the job? I don't know, every option has its advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully I never have to put it to the test, but if I do I'm confident that it's at least viable.