A Look at the S&W Model 29 44 Magnum

(Image: Screenshot from video)

Some coincidences really aren’t coincidences at all, like when you’re imagining the buck of a lifetime and suddenly there he is! And some coincidences just happen. Which one is it when your wife spends a few nights at her sister’s and you have yourself a Dirty Harry marathon, and the very next day you see a brand-new video posted about Unclean Harold’s favorite handgun, the Smith & Wesson Model 29 44 magnum?

To tell you the truth, the answer is irrelevant; I just love me some 44 mag — and one of these days if I ever stumble across the right deal, I might own a Model 29. In the meantime, I’ll watch Clint Eastwood and George of Target Suite use ’em and I’ll stick to my other 44 wheel guns.

The video opens with a promise to pick off each full soda can one at a time… then they all go up in a big blast of fizzy soda with the first shot. And while I can never condone such wasteful practices as blasting beverages, I confess I did enjoy the graceful spiral of the can which decided to imitate a rocket. Nice!

The 29 he’s using was borrowed (okay, I’m slightly less jealous now) and was made in 1979. With a barrel 1/2″ shorter than Dirty Harry’s classic, this six-inch version is a real beauty.

Anyone who cites Elmer Keith is very likely someone with whom I can get along well, and George does just that in this video.

He’s shooting 240-grain Hornady XTP bullets, which look great and are well-made but which have provided me with questionable hunting performance in the past; I’ve gotten poor expansion on both deer and hogs with these and have come to prefer a jacketed soft point for those chores. He’s using my favorite 44 powder for hunting loads, which is 2400. Love that stuff! He also uses Unique powder, which is great for target loads.

George has a nice slow-motion camera and he’s using the heck out of it on this one.

Speaking of slow, this video isn’t super speedy, but it’s still cool. At least, until a tad past the 12-minute mark when he calls a cartridge a “bullet.” For shame!

All in all, this is a fun look at the 44 Remington Magnum and the most well-known double-action revolver ever chambered for it. Enjoy!

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.