S&W 929 Review and thoughts

[GrumpyOne]

Welcome to the forums, QualityGuru. Might I suggest that you carefully read the forum guidelines? They can be found by following this link.

 

https://forums.brianenos.com/guidelines/

 

Specifically, 

 

Posting Guidelines

Attitude
Please be polite. Or if not polite, at least respectful.
No bickering. Regardless of the subject matter.
Antagonistic, offensive, or quarrelsome tones are not acceptable.
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And this,

 

Brian's Forums is not the place to resolve customer service issues or disputes you may have with a manufacturer, dealer, gunsmith, or individual.

 

[ysrracer]

On my new in box 929 the cylinder was hard to spin. When my gunsmith did an action job on it, he said a collar was in backwards, or something like that.

 

And from the factory the double action trigger pull was 12 - 14 pounds, at least.

Edited January 17, 2020 by ysrracer

[Prange]

I would not waste my time sending it back to S&W. I would send it to Pinnacle and have Mark make into exactly what you want.

 

Nowadays, If I buy a new gun, I fully expect to send it out and have it worked on. 

 

Craftsmanship is a thing of the past with factory guns. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Prange

[MikeBurgess]

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

Smith revolvers (and in truth most guns) should be bought with the expectation that you are buying a gun kit. the kit includes all the parts to make it work and it most likely will fire as purchased, but beyond that it is not ready for any type of competition. you have a choice to have it worked on by a reputable smith or do the work yourself but work it will need. a follow on to this is there are very few smiths in the country that you can send it to to get a competition tuning work done, yes your local smith will sell you a trigger job and cylinder chamfer but when you pick it up it is likely to have a 9lb trigger and the cylinder holes will have the sharp edge broken but not a real chamfer.  

[ysrracer]

8 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

your local smith will sell you a trigger job and cylinder chamfer but when you pick it up it is likely to have a 9lb trigger and the cylinder holes will have the sharp edge broken but not a real chamfer.  

 

I guess it depends on who your local gunsmith is

 

Mine is pretty good.

[RangerMcFadden]

9 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

Smith revolvers (and in truth most guns) should be bought with the expectation that you are buying a gun kit.

I’d be stoked if I was able to buy a 929 “kit” that was just the frame and cylinder. No barrel, sights, or action.

[MWP]

11 hours ago, RangerMcFadden said:

I’d be stoked if I was able to buy a 929 “kit” that was just the frame and cylinder. No barrel, sights, or action.

You can. I do it all the time. Usually 900-1100.

[revoman]

1 hour ago, MWP said:

You can. I do it all the time. Usually 900-1100.

I was going to say the same thing but was going to add that you get extra parts thrown in for free. 

[shoots100]

Qualityguru,

A little research in this forum would've show'd that almost all 929's needed work to make them function to a competitive standard.

With some guidance from this forum, quality parts and some elbow grease, my 929 is rock solid and has been so for the last couple of years.

Your not alone and we understand your frustration, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

SJC

 

 

[Distant Thunder]

And, hopefully, that light is not a train headed your way.

[ysrracer]

I bought a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner. I had to put headers, cam, carb, and manifold on it to get it race ready.

 

There ought to be a law

[cking]

That's why I bought a Taurus 692 for half the price and in my opinion it is a better gun

[AzShooter]

My 929 must have been the exception.  Other than blowing my cylinder apart with a double charge there was nothing wrong with the gun that I didn't expect.  All my S&Ws needed action jobs and the Michulek (SP) video helped me get the action I wanted along with replacing the hammer with an Apex.  My trigger pull was 5 lbs and accuracy was outstanding.  I did use .358 coated bullets with VV N320 to get a 132 power factor.

 

I also used it a lot for Steel Challenge Matches and put a C-More Railway on it and Hogue Big Butt grips

 

 

[shoots100]

2 hours ago, cking said:

That's why I bought a Taurus 692 for half the price and in my opinion it is a better gun

Better or not, It's one shot less than the 929 and that 8th shot is worth the extra $$$.

 

 

[mchapman]

2 hours ago, AzShooter said:

My 929 must have been the exception.  Other than blowing my cylinder apart with a double charge there was nothing wrong with the gun that I didn't expect.  All my S&Ws needed action jobs and the Michulek (SP) video helped me get the action I wanted along with replacing the hammer with an Apex.  My trigger pull was 5 lbs and accuracy was outstanding.  I did use .358 coated bullets with VV N320 to get a 132 power factor.

 

I also used it a lot for Steel Challenge Matches and put a C-More Railway on it and Hogue Big Butt grips

 

 

Steve, yours is not the only one, mine is just like yours pictured and it has run great since I got it and did a bit of work that I knew would need to be done to it. 

[mchapman]

7 minutes ago, shoots100 said:

Better or not, It's one shot less than the 929 and that 8th shot is worth the extra $$$.

 

 

I will agree with you about the extra shot, plus the fact that most Taurus revos have ported barrels and no place to play in most of the gun games we partake in.

[xen0ph0n]

6 hours ago, AzShooter said:

My 929 must have been the exception.  Other than blowing my cylinder apart with a double charge there was nothing wrong with the gun that I didn't expect.  All my S&Ws needed action jobs and the Michulek (SP) video helped me get the action I wanted along with replacing the hammer with an Apex.  My trigger pull was 5 lbs and accuracy was outstanding.  I did use .358 coated bullets with VV N320 to get a 132 power factor.

 

I also used it a lot for Steel Challenge Matches and put a C-More Railway on it and Hogue Big Butt grips

 

 

Did you do all the action work yourself? Did you find that it was difficult, or was it fairly simple following the video?

 

I'm looking at picking one up, but I don't have a local gunsmith I'd trust with a revo. 

[Prange]

23 hours ago, MWP said:

You can. I do it all the time. Usually 900-1100.

You guys beat me to it.

I really like the titanium cylinders. They spin SO easily.

 

[AzShooter]

11 hours ago, xen0ph0n said:

Did you do all the action work yourself? Did you find that it was difficult, or was it fairly simple following the video?

 

I'm looking at picking one up, but I don't have a local gunsmith I'd trust with a revo. 

I've done a lot of my own work on my revolvers and it's not that difficult using the right stones and watching the video.  Just take your time and leave the Dremel out of your hands.

[GrumpyOne]

33 minutes ago, AzShooter said:

I've done a lot of my own work on my revolvers and it's not that difficult using the right stones and watching the video.  Just take your time and leave the Dremel out of your hands.

Dremel's commercials should be "Keeping real gunsmiths in business ever since we invented the Dremel!"

[xen0ph0n]

On 1/19/2020 at 11:40 AM, AzShooter said:

I've done a lot of my own work on my revolvers and it's not that difficult using the right stones and watching the video.  Just take your time and leave the Dremel out of your hands.

 

I think that's good advice for most people...

 

Thanks for the info - I'm looking forward to doing some of my own gunsmithing.

[QualityGuru]

Great intel from everyone.  I needed it, since this is my first Competition Revolver.  I did send it back to S&W to have them look at the internals and pitting on the frame which had rust residue.  I want to make sure that I actually purchased a new revolver.  After I get it back, I will heed the advise of Prange, and have Pinnacle take a look at it.

[Prange]

On 1/19/2020 at 1:40 PM, AzShooter said:

I've done a lot of my own work on my revolvers and it's not that difficult using the right stones and watching the video.  Just take your time and leave the Dremel out of your hands.

I did my 986. It came out better than I expected. Jerry's video helped alot.

 

Nowhere near Mark's, but not bad. 

 

The Dremel's are for the pros.

[pskys2]

On 1/23/2020 at 12:04 PM, QualityGuru said:

Great intel from everyone.  I needed it, since this is my first Competition Revolver.  I did send it back to S&W to have them look at the internals and pitting on the frame which had rust residue.  I want to make sure that I actually purchased a new revolver.  After I get it back, I will heed the advise of Prange, and have Pinnacle take a look at it.

when did you send your 929 in?  I sent my 627 in for a broken Trigger Stud in early November and haven't heard anything from them?

[MWP]

2 hours ago, pskys2 said:

when did you send your 929 in?  I sent my 627 in for a broken Trigger Stud in early November and haven't heard anything from them?

They had mine 2 years ago for 6 months and several hundred dollars for a trigger stud. I wished I would have not sent it to them.