Unusual S&W Long Tom sports 10.5" barrel and adjustable front sight

I don't usually get tempted by Long Tom revolvers, but I just listed the longest of Long Toms I've ever seen and I gotta admit, it is tempting.

I generally like 4" or shorter barrels on wheel guns, but this S&W 29-3 .44 Magnum has a 10.5" barrel with a micrometer click-adjustable Patridge front sight. There's two firsts for me, the barrel length and the front sight, never seen either one before.

BlueBook makes no mention of a 10.5" barrel for the 29-3, but here it is. There is also no mention in the BlueBook listing of an adjustable front sight, but this one has no manufacturer's stamp on it so it leads one to think it is a factory sight. Who knows?

BlueBook on SMITH & WESSON : NUMBERED MODEL REVOLVERS (MODERN HAND EJECTORS)
MODEL 29-1 & LATER VARIATIONS (3 SCREW)
- .44 Mag. cal., 4, 6 1/2, or 8 3/8 in. barrel, eliminated top screw on sideplate and screw in front of trigger guard. Disc. 1999. 

I shall resist temptation for a couple of reasons, mainly because I'm flat broke. But if I was gonna buy a Long Tom, this one sure is tempting, plus it's even priced pretty reasonable for a S&W 29-3, a mere $700 buy-it-now price on gunbroker.com.

Let's retroactively call this one the Smith of the Week since I have no other candidates in mind so far.

Classic S&W revolver recessed chambers: A bug, not a feature?

Working at a gun shop for the past 16 months has been quite an education for me on firearms, particularly handguns and even more particularly, on classic Smith and Wessons and Colts.

When describing a classic Smith & Wesson revolver in a gunbroker auction, it always helps if it has "the big four T's", target sights, target trigger, target hammer and target grips, like this S&W 29-2.

And an even bigger plus for S&W collectors and I presume shooters, too, is a classic Smith which has recessed chambers and a pinned barrel. Just what advantage a pinned barrel is, I have no clue. Seems to me a barrel screwed into the frame would be stronger than one pinned in place.

But the mere words "pinned barrel" will definitely help sell a classic Smith, like this Model 29-2 .44 Magnum with a 6" barrel, the classic "Dirty Harry" sixgun made famous by San Francisco Police Department Inspector Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood's most famous role.

And most models with pinned barrels also have recessed chambers, another prized "feature" for S&W buyers. But Massad Ayoob sticks a pin in that balloon in his article about the S&W 27 in his new book, Massad Ayoob's Greatest Handguns of the World.

The recessed chambers, which began in 1935 and continued late into the epoch of the Model 27, were prized by revolver aficionados. The reason was the exquisite machining that went into them. They served no actual purpose, according to most firearms engineers and experts, other than creating an illusion of more steel support for a high-powered cartridge.

In field use, they actually had a downside. Particles of unburned powder could find their way there as spent casings were ejected, creating a buildup that could prevent full insertion of the next cartridge. This could potentially lock up the gun.

Now ain't that a pip? Sorta the reverse of the famous Microsoft saying, "it's not a bug, it's a feature." Those prized recessed chambers are actually a bug and not a feature. Whodathunkit?

Maybe next I'll be finding out that pinned barrels ain't such a big deal either.

Confessed 'Gun Slut' makes for hard choices on carry duty

Massad Ayoob is one of my favorite gun writers, and lo and behold, I learned today he has the same problem I do, too many handguns and not enough time and opportunity to carry them all as often as he likes. So Mas says he's a gun slut.

True confession time: I'm a gun slut, too.

I'll let Mas explain, quoting his article in the current Guns magazine issue:

You’ve committed the cardinal sin of not always using the same handgun? Well, say three “Hail John M. Brownings” and share a confession here. So, I was reading one of my favorite electronic gun forums, Gun Rights Radio Network, and one member chided another for often changing firearms. The term “gun slut” was used. I gasped… and said, “Hey! Hey! Hey! I resemble that remark!”

My old friend John Bianchi is credited with “Bianchi’s Law,” which holds, “Carry the same gun, in the same place, all the time.” It makes a lot of sense. Alas, there are those whose jobs require them to violate it, and I fear I am a serial offender.

I don't have a good excuse like Mas does for changing my carry guns often. He teaches various handgun classes and competes in various divisions of handgun competition, which requires him to carry whatever suits the activity he's going to be participating in.

My excuse, pitiful I admit, is trying to keep peace in the "family" of 20-some handguns I own. When I'm deciding what I will carry as I start off for a day's work at the gun shop, I hear this chorus in my head, "Take me, take me!" "No, it's my turn, take me!" "Wait, what about me?"

Last week I carried my CZ P07 Duty 9mm just because I hadn't carried it in a while, with the Charter Bulldog .44 Special as backup. I must confess, the Bulldog gets more than it's fair share of carry in the rotation as primary or backup most of the time, just because I like it and I shoot it well. And my other smallish revolvers get their call frequently also, Charter .327 Magnum, S&W 65 and Taurus 65 .357 Magnum, with the former as backup and the latter two as primaries.

Then it's whether it's a .357 Sig day for one of my two Sig P229s or the S&W M&P Compact or Commander size, or Para P12 .45 ACP day, of Glock 29 10mm day, or Steyr M9A1 day.

But that leaves my three full-size handguns out in the cold for carry duty. I've carried my Glock 20 10mm for a day or two, but it's just too big and heavy for regular duty. Ditto my S&W 29 .44 Magnum. With its 4" barrel, it's handy enough, but it's pretty heavy like the G20 and has yet to be called. But I love shooting the Model 29 so much there's no way I will ever part with it.

And I also have a full-size Para P14 .45 ACP which I really like but have yet to carry.

Which brings me to a tough decision. I've got a .22LR slide conversion kit for my P229s that I had to pay for with credit, plus a .45 ACP slide kit coming in soon for my Sig P220 .22LR Classic.

So to pay off that nut, I've decided the G20 is odd man out. I'm packaging it up with it's 17-round mags and 9x25mm Lone Wolf extended ported barrel plus three boxes of 9x25 ammo and taking it to the shop tomorrow for posting on gunbroker.

I've been keeping the G20 on nightstand duty, but I'm promoting the P12-45 to that role because it's easier to shoot than the G20, which is a hard kicker with full-house 10mm loads.

I got on a Baddest Tactical Pistol kick a couple of years ago and bought the G20, but it's come down to it or the Para 14-45 and the Para wins for being as deadly and easier to shoot. For the past year since I started work at the gun shop, I've concentrated on carry pistols and I just don't have the room for two huge full-size pistols at this time. Adios G20, it's been fun but it's over.