S&W 929 or 627...decisions

[IHAVEGAS]

14 minutes ago, MikeyScuba said:

Because it’s totally illegal.  Handguns can only be shot on approved ranges, not even your own property if you got some.

 

Where do you think your northern states got their wacked out gun laws from? From your friendly neighbours  to the north.

 

Ick. 

 

Did not know that. 

[Squirrel45]

I'm new here and have no weight. However I am familiar with both. For me it boils down to two things, do you want power or speed. The 627 is great if you plan on shooting pins or require power for your application. The 929 is a plate gun. I bought the 929 my good friend bought 627. He now wants to buy the 929. Just my thoughts.

 

[missed it by that much]

I'll chime in.buy both that's what I did. You can never have enough revolvers. [emoji16]

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[pskys2]

5 hours ago, missed it by that much said:

I'll chime in.buy both that's what I did. You can never have enough revolvers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

Now here is the man with a plan!  I like it!

[S&W627shooter]

I have been running my 627 since 2006, and I love it.  However, I also had to add a fiber optic front sight and a Ti cylinder.  I then bought a 929 a while ago, but I was too lazy to convert to 9mm, and there wasn't enough of an improvement in my shooting to warrant a change.  So, I sold it to a friend.  However, if I were  buying my first n-frame competition gun, I would go with the 929 from the start.  It comes stock with the FO front sight, a Ti cylinder, and a longer sight radius!

My $.02

[SSGGlock]

14 hours ago, missed it by that much said:

I'll chime in.buy both that's what I did. You can never have enough revolvers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

Exactly what I did and sent both to TK.

[IHAVEGAS]

13 minutes ago, SSGGlock said:

Exactly what I did and sent both to TK.

 

Weird times. 

 

Was just thinking that there is a market for a revolver smith with an FFL to buy the off the shelf kits that they sell us as expensive 'competition ready' guns, make them right - including sending them back for what should have been done at the factory, and resell them as 'competition ready, really, we are not kidding this time' guns. 

[Distant Thunder]

Puts me in mind of an old cartoon that showed a plane with three engines on one wing and only one on the other. Two mechanics are scratching their heads while looking at the blueprints and the tagline below the cartoon reads, 'Do It Right The First Time'.

[SSGGlock]

1 hour ago, IHAVEGAS said:

 

Weird times. 

 

Was just thinking that there is a market for a revolver smith with an FFL to buy the off the shelf kits that they sell us as expensive 'competition ready' guns, make them right - including sending them back for what should have been done at the factory, and resell them as 'competition ready, really, we are not kidding this time' guns. 

I’d say yes, but I wonder, how many 929s are sold in a year.

[ysrracer]

Most it the people that I show my 929 think the long barrel and comp look stupid.

 

I wonder how many they would have sold if it had a five inch normal barrel. I had mine cut to five inches (by a tractor mechanic in Phoenix) with no loss in velocity.

[Mcfoto]

28 minutes ago, ysrracer said:

Most it the people that I show my 929 think the long barrel and comp look stupid.

 

I wonder how many they would have sold if it had a five inch normal barrel. I had mine cut to five inches (by a tractor mechanic in Phoenix) with no loss in velocity.

Agree. One of the deciding factors for me was I found the 627 more visually appealing and was thinking a 6 inch barrel would be a pain to draw. Plus, I was a little hung up about buying a useless “comp” that would have to come off the second I got home and get lost in the misc. parts bin.

Now that I’m all set with Short Colt, my next one’ll probably be another 627. But my recommendation to the OP stands, if I were to start again at jump, I’d buy a 929 and send it to TK.

[TeedOff]

I recently faced this choice. After shooting both 929 and 627, I decide to go with the 627 based on my experience shooting the 929 in the Mesquite Mayhem Revolver Classic. I struggled with the 929 getting the spinner over while guys with 627s shooting magnums seemed to have no issue. It came down to versatility for me...38 short colt for uspsa and icore, 38 special for steel challenge and an occasional 357 mag for stubborn targets like that spinner.

[WFargo]

I bought a 627 for IPSC Revolver. 

Everyone else in the Netherlands runs a 929 and I wish I did as well. 

It is extremely difficult to get short colt brass in the Netherlands so I had to trim down a bunch of .38 special cases. Not a nightmare, but still had to do the work. (and if you can't borrow / don't have a case trimmer... you're gonna have to buy that as well. )

- the 929 has a titanium cylinder and therefore a lighter trigger pull is achievable. ( my revolver was tuned by the same smith as almost all the other 929's in Holland. Mine has a heavier trigger pull in comparison to the 929's...)

- the clips for the 929 / 9mm are thicker and therefore give a more 'sturdy' package which aids in faster reloads. 

- you get a longer sight radius with the 929. 

- the rim on each .38 special brand is different, which is annoying because you definitely have to stick with one brand. 9mm rims are a bit more uniform, if I'm not mistaken? Could be wrong here. 

 

If I could do it again, I would have definitely bought the 929. 

[revoman]

6 hours ago, WFargo said:

 

- the 929 has a titanium cylinder and therefore a lighter trigger pull is achievable. ( my revolver was tuned by the same smith as almost all the other 929's in Holland. Mine has a heavier trigger pull in comparison to the 929's...)

 

What are the pull lbs on your 627 compared to the 929? Apex Tactical could achieve 4 lbs with steel cylinders on 627’s. 

[MikeBurgess]

26 minutes ago, revoman said:

What are the pull lbs on your 627 compared to the 929? Apex Tactical could achieve 4 lbs with steel cylinders on 627’s. 

the lighter cylinder should not change the actual pull weight as measured with a trigger gauge, but will change the feel of the trigger when running it quickly as the lighter cylinder has less inertia thus takes less pressure on the trigger to accelerate it. 

[pskys2]

12 minutes ago, MikeBurgess said:

the lighter cylinder should not change the actual pull weight as measured with a trigger gauge, but will change the feel of the trigger when running it quickly as the lighter cylinder has less inertia thus takes less pressure on the trigger to accelerate it. 

Ed McGivern always stated shooting a revolver had a flywheel effect from the cylinder rotation.  And he could shoot faster with a revolver, all steel cylinders at that time, than with a 1911.  Don't know about the last but the flywheel effect may have some merit.  BUT, a lighter cylinder would be easier to start, have less mass to strain the bolt & possibly less torque(?)  

I have a PC 625 & a PC 627, the 625 cylinder is lighter.  I've noticed that I used to be able to get .18 and less splits with the 625 whereas now, with the 627, I struggle to break .20.  I thought it was just age.  Maybe not?

I also had an Apex 4.5# trigger on that 625 at one point.  I never could get used to it, the feel of a 4-4.5# action kept my finger twitching as if it was a 1911 and I ended up short stroking too much.  Then as the gun wore in, it developed the occasional light strike.  Jacked the action up to 5.5# for both and have had no more light strikes.  And am more confident in my stroke, leading to almost no short strokes (I can still brain fart and do it though).

I ran that light trigger for almost a year before changed.  But some do benefit from them.

[MikeBurgess]

1 hour ago, pskys2 said:

Ed McGivern always stated shooting a revolver had a flywheel effect from the cylinder rotation.  And he could shoot faster with a revolver, all steel cylinders at that time, than with a 1911.  Don't know about the last but the flywheel effect may have some merit.  BUT, a lighter cylinder would be easier to start, have less mass to strain the bolt & possibly less torque(?)  

I have a PC 625 & a PC 627, the 625 cylinder is lighter.  I've noticed that I used to be able to get .18 and less splits with the 625 whereas now, with the 627, I struggle to break .20.  I thought it was just age.  Maybe not?

I also had an Apex 4.5# trigger on that 625 at one point.  I never could get used to it, the feel of a 4-4.5# action kept my finger twitching as if it was a 1911 and I ended up short stroking too much.  Then as the gun wore in, it developed the occasional light strike.  Jacked the action up to 5.5# for both and have had no more light strikes.  And am more confident in my stroke, leading to almost no short strokes (I can still brain fart and do it though).

I ran that light trigger for almost a year before changed.  But some do benefit from them.

I have a K frame with a 9lb trigger (I tuned it heavy to use up some crap primers during the Obama shortage) and it is noticeably easier to pull it fast than my 5.5lb 627 my im pretty sue its because of how much easier it is to accelerate the cylinder. 

on being able to slipit your 625 faster it could be age or it could be that the recoil f the 45 helped you reset the trigger faster. 

[pskys2]

21 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

I have a K frame with a 9lb trigger (I tuned it heavy to use up some crap primers during the Obama shortage) and it is noticeably easier to pull it fast than my 5.5lb 627 my im pretty sue its because of how much easier it is to accelerate the cylinder. 

on being able to slipit your 625 faster it could be age or it could be that the recoil f the 45 helped you reset the trigger faster. 

I am a year away from Super Sr.!  Some of it could also be not having seriously practiced for a bit.  Trying to remedy that now!

[Pnut]

On 6/17/2020 at 8:21 PM, Jory45acp said:

Comparing your 2 pistols do you think the 929 requires more "gunsmithing" to make it run correctly and reliably vs a new 627? Also if you take the speed of reloading out of the equation does that change your answer? Sorry if those sound like oddball questions.

The 929 requires very little gunsmithing. 

 

I did most myself. Change springs, longer firing pin = 5min of work.

 

Then polish a few parts, I sent that to a smith. 

 

I replaced the hammer to make it DAO. This is not required, I had a great 6lbs trigger pull before that, but I like the look and I read on this forum that the lighter hammer had more mass on the top which meant I could mess around with the trigger a little more. Or something like that. 

 

If I wasnt competing, the spring change would have been enough to have a great DA pull. 

 

Edit to add: I also replaced the front sight, I had a smith do that. My eyes are great and I didnt mind the factory sight, but a Dawson front sight is just amazing. But, I dont think I would have touched the sight if I wasnt competing. 

 

I wish the 929 had a shorter reset. The trigger is smooth, but I had to go through a learning curve when shooting fast. 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Pnut

[PatJones]

I wish the 929 had a shorter reset. The trigger is smooth, but I had to go through a learning curve when shooting fast. 

Did you fit a longer over travel stop to the gun when you installed the bobbed hammer? The trigger does not need to move as far to the rear in double action as it does when cocked in single action. If your finger is used to a standard Smith, the gun does feel a little short-stroked.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO
USPSA #A79592

[Pnut]

On 7/14/2020 at 12:41 AM, PatJones said:

 

 

Did you fit a longer over travel stop to the gun when you installed the bobbed hammer? The trigger does not need to move as far to the rear in double action as it does when cocked in single action. If your finger is used to a standard Smith, the gun does feel a little short-stroked.

--
Pat Jones
Firestone CO
USPSA #A79592
 

 

Hmmm... that is interesting. I did not. But I will take a look at that tomorrow when I go to the range. 

[gnappi]

For me I got a 627 and 327 R8.  The 327 solves the problem of a heavy cylinder but the 327 takes more getting used to the trigger.  With lighter loads it's a dream to shoot. 

[Jory45acp]

I found a in stock NIB 929 and made a deal for it. I've talked to 2 different smiths about what they have seen needs to be done on 929's. Head spacing came up as a common problem for that model in particular from the factory. We're in the early days of a great primer shortage and without Federal primers I won't be loading for this anytime soon unfortunately. I'm browsing forums and asking questions getting as much info now so hopefully this winter that project can get started. Appreciate all the replies and help given on this thread.   

[IHAVEGAS]

1 hour ago, Jory45acp said:

We're in the early days of a great primer shortage and without Federal primers I won't be loading for this anytime soon unfortunately.

 

Lots of folks buy a spare spring & adjust tension to work with harder primers when Feds are not available. 

[MWP]

3 hours ago, Jory45acp said:

I found a in stock NIB 929 and made a deal for it. I've talked to 2 different smiths about what they have seen needs to be done on 929's. Head spacing came up as a common problem for that model in particular from the factory. We're in the early days of a great primer shortage and without Federal primers I won't be loading for this anytime soon unfortunately. I'm browsing forums and asking questions getting as much info now so hopefully this winter that project can get started. Appreciate all the replies and help given on this thread.   

I haven’t seen any head spacing issues with 929s. What info did you find on that?

Edited August 21, 2020 by MWP