first, welcome to the forum.....
4in and 6in are standard...... doesnt mean its not a performance center gun, BUT i looked over the job sheets for the center and didnt see re-barreling.... could be a custom piece or that your eyeball is off.
I saw a nice Model 29-10 at a pawn shop recently. The seller has it listed as having a 4" barrel, but it looks shorter than that to me although I didn't measure it. Also, it appears to have a tapered barrel, but I am going on memory here. Did S&W make this with a 2.5 or 3" tapered barrel?
BTW, my first post. I am a longtime military rifle collector who has also owned a couple of Ruger revolvers in the past. I currently own a Model 586 and absolutely love it. So, now I am looking to purchase its big brother.
daveboy
first, welcome to the forum.....
4in and 6in are standard...... doesnt mean its not a performance center gun, BUT i looked over the job sheets for the center and didnt see re-barreling.... could be a custom piece or that your eyeball is off.
daveboy,
The Model 29 Mountain guns come with a 4" tapered barrel instead of the standard bull barrel. In the past there have been special runs of distributor guns (usually have to commit to 5000 guns for the factory to do that) with 2 1/2" and 3" tapered and bull barrels. I have a Model 24 (N frame .44 special) made back in the early 80's for Lew Horton with a 3" tapered barrel. Horton has made a couple of runs with the 29s as well and I believe Davidson's did a similar gun on the 29. If they are factory barrels then all the roll marks (or laser etching) will be complete. Cut downs normally screw that part up. It should have a round butt and either Pachmayr or finger groove wood combat grips if it is original. Most of Horton's guns came with a matching belt holster in either black or brown.
It must be a Mountain gun, because I am quite certain that it is a tapered barrel and all the factory engraving is there. It is also wearing Pachmayr grips. I'm guessing the only reason for the tapered barrel was to shave off a few ozs.? I wonder how that affects muzzle jump?
Seller is asking $599 and it appears to be in excellent condition (through the glass as I haven't held it yet). I will get a closer look at it tomorrow.
Thanks for the replies.
daveboy