Magnum Research BFR and Smith 629

[res308]

Picked up these two jewels in the last few months.

Top one is the Magnum Research BFR .44. Six round and 5” barrel. Bisley style grip. The hottest load I’ve shot out of it so far is the Underwood 255 grain Keith. Feels like I’m shooting a .38.  I do need to find a shorter front sight blade for it. This thing seems to be built like a Swiss watch. I bought some 260 grain hard cast Keith bullets from Rimrock Bullets. I need to work up some good loads. 

Second one is a Smith 629-6 .44 with a 3” barrel. Haven’t been able to find much info on it and I don’t feel like paying for a Smith and Wesson letter. It has the Magna-Port style barrel porting. In other words instead of a hole or holes, the ports are the Magna-Port style slots. As you can tell, I’m every bit as much of a Smith and Wesson expert as Slingblade was. So, if anyone has any info on this model just feel free to educate me on it. 
 

Both of these are a joy. 

[hipower]

WAG. Could the 629 be a Lew Horton? I tried to find one back in the days of Rabbi and Eastside. It sounds vaguely like what I remember of it, especially the 3" barrel.

Edited March 30, 2023 by hipower

[FUJIMO]

5 hours ago, res308 said:

Picked up these two jewels in the last few months.

Top one is the Magnum Research BFR .44. Six round and 5” barrel. Bisley style grip. The hottest load I’ve shot out of it so far is the Underwood 255 grain Keith. Feels like I’m shooting a .38.  I do need to find a shorter front sight blade for it. This thing seems to be built like a Swiss watch. I bought some 260 grain hard cast Keith bullets from Rimrock Bullets. I need to work up some good loads. 

Second one is a Smith 629-6 .44 with a 3” barrel. Haven’t been able to find much info on it and I don’t feel like paying for a Smith and Wesson letter. It has the Magna-Port style barrel porting. In other words instead of a hole or holes, the ports are the Magna-Port style slots. As you can tell, I’m every bit as much of a Smith and Wesson expert as Slingblade was. So, if anyone has any info on this model just feel free to educate me on it. 
 

Both of these are a joy. 

Love the bisley style grip on whatever they put it on. And even though the shorter barrel means more pain I like it versus the 7.5. 

Your 629 is basically the "trail boss" they produced without the badging. Your dash model was the first 629s with the internal lock . Obviously the porting was to account for the 3" with full power loads. Judging from the pic you have the later hammer and trigger vs the TB model. Some TBs had the smooth cylinder. The grips are most likely aftermarket to the gun. Originals would have been a Hogue finger groove grip as this gun was mfg for go not show. 

2 nice ones Res

[Choatecav]

9 hours ago, res308 said:

Picked up these two jewels in the last few months.

Top one is the Magnum Research BFR .44. Six round and 5” barrel. Bisley style grip. The hottest load I’ve shot out of it so far is the Underwood 255 grain Keith. Feels like I’m shooting a .38.  I do need to find a shorter front sight blade for it. This thing seems to be built like a Swiss watch. I bought some 260 grain hard cast Keith bullets from Rimrock Bullets. I need to work up some good loads. 

Second one is a Smith 629-6 .44 with a 3” barrel. Haven’t been able to find much info on it and I don’t feel like paying for a Smith and Wesson letter. It has the Magna-Port style barrel porting. In other words instead of a hole or holes, the ports are the Magna-Port style slots. As you can tell, I’m every bit as much of a Smith and Wesson expert as Slingblade was. So, if anyone has any info on this model just feel free to educate me on it. 
 

Both of these are a joy. 

Beautiful.  Almost bought a Bisley original a while back.  Have always wanted to shoot one to see how that grip felt compared to a standard Colt grip.  

[res308]

Thanks for the info fellers. That’s a big help right away. 
Next step, soon as my broken wrist heals up, is to make a good leather holster for both. Then the grips! Both look beautiful to me but both grips are as slick as a greased catfish! I’ll have to work on replacing those. It’s easy to find grips for the Smith, but not so much for the BFR. I’ve been told that the grip frame is a touch different than the Ruger Bisley. I’d still like to try a set of Ruger grips just to see what the difference is. 

[DJTC45]

Nice pair. That BFR looks great contact them and see if they can tell you what Grips will fit, they may have something. The 3" S&W looks good also, the 3" mod. I have with the unfluted cylinder I haven't shot it yet, my hands are still a bit more numb from my Chemotherapy Treatments. Great buy thanks for posting them, enjoy those two.

[pop pop]

I have a 629-1 w 4" brl. Had it for years. Purchased it from a guy needing money for a divorce probably 25 years back. That always bothered me. Anyways, you picked two peaches. They are very nice. Hope you enjoy them and sounds like you are. 

My Son-in-law loves the 629 and wants me to give it to him. I have been thinning my collection as of late. Just turned 75 and need to dispose of my guns so my wife will not be bothered with that if I go first. Two of my grandsons hunt so the guns will go for use which makes me glad. I had close to 55 guns when I started and now have about 25 left. I inherited 7 from my father and it has been hard to send them on. My grandson in S Carolina is into hunting ducks, rabbits, squirrels and quail so I gave him dads Remington 1148 16 Ga. Also gave him my Stevens single shot 410 that dad purchased for me on my 8th birthday in 1956. Had a 20 Ga Mossberg pump and also gave it to his sister. They have put all of them to good use last fall. 

O well, it was great fun collecting them and now time for my grandchildren to enjoy them.  Enjoy your guns res308. I sure did the ones I collected. Still shoot quiet a bit but not like I once did. Much too costly now. 

[Choatecav]

31 minutes ago, pop pop said:

I have a 629-1 w 4" brl. Had it for years. Purchased it from a guy needing money for a divorce probably 25 years back. That always bothered me. 

Isn't it odd how we feel this way, in some cases, as we get older??  I own a Colt Python that I bought from a fella nearly 35 years ago, who needed money badly.  Given the current value of those older originals, I have felt a bit strange at times.  

But, then again, he passed away several years ago and would not benefit from value now.