Reeder Custom Guns - S&W Endurance Package

Found the below info on the internet, what exactly is the "endurance package"? I'll have to check mine and see if it has been upgraded. Probably won't matter as I stick to factory 240-255 gr. loads anyway.

You can safely shoot ANY .44 mag load (SAAMI pressure approved) in a 29 of any vintage.

You get into trouble when you go for the +P stuff intended for Ruger/TC.

Any weight bullet is OK if the pressure does not exceed SAAMI pressures.

If it's a 29-4 or later - or a 629-3 in SS - it will have the 'Endurance package', offering even more insurance of a long life with standard .44 Magnum fare.

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The endurance package was developed to address shortcomings in the design that became apparent when the M29 was used extensively for Silhouette matches. You must remember that the S&W M29 came out in 1955 and withstood the test of time all the way until the mid 80's when the Silhouette Match shooters started sending a lot of "healthy" loads down range through them.

Stuff started happening as a result of that steady and frequent diet of "full house" (and then some) loads... the internal hammer, trigger and bolt stop pins started to shear from the frame, the cylinder locking bolt would drop and allow the cylinder to unlock from the heavy recoil, where it would rotate backwards to a previously fired chamber.

With the 29-3, S&W started to address those issues and continued making improvements with the release of the 29-3E (Endurance), 29-4, and 29-5.

Among the endurance upgrades were a deeper cut bolt notch on the cylinder, new style cylinder bolt, and a radius(flare) was put at the bottom of the internal pins so the were bigger/thicker where they attached to the frame, instead of being the same skinny size throughout its length.

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to check his dates. The silhouette matches started in 1975 with the first real big one in '76. I shot in silhouette for 3 years or so, '77 to late '79 before getting into combat shooting. I had an 8 3/8" model 29 that I used and every year when the matches slowed down in November or December I would send it back to S&W for a total overhaul. Back then they would do it free.

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IN THE 1980s WITH THE HEAVY 300 GRAIN BULLETED LOADS

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265 grain soft point for hunting. For my silhouette I used the 240 grain hard cast gas check bullet. That was before I ever found out about the 220 and 250 grain Sierra silhouette bullets.

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would shoot the 185 grain Sierra bullets in one little group but wouldn't shoot anything over about 220 grain. The other liked the heavier bullets but wouldn't shoot the light bullets. Mostly the heavy bullet M-29 was my silhouette gun while the light bullet 29 was my hunting revolver. To tell them apart in a rush I had the smooth Goncalo Alves target grips on the silhouette gun and rubber Pachmayrs on the hunting gun, Every gun is different.

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I don't have it in front of me, but I think Mr. Taffin addressed this in his "Book of the .44".

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any 29 or 629.

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hard cast load. Seems to be a standard .44 load with a 255 gr bullet vs a standard 240 gr. We all know it is "reduced recoil" because it does not recoil as much as the 300 gr. and bigger loads. Never shot any, just curious.

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S&W Endurance Package

Bet JT can answer this one...

Here is what it is: read on -

Good job Woody

the info is pretty much right on except he needs

YES BUT THE REAL PROBLEMS BEGAN

yep, the heaviest I ever ran was the Hornady

I actually had 2 of them identical except one

Taffin on S&W Endurance Package

NO REDHAWK LOADS IN ANY S&W NO MATTER WHAT THE VINTAGE

I would also stay away from Corbon and Buffalo Bore in

Curious, even the BB "reduced recoil"

you roll the dice, you take your chances