Traditions

Smith & Wesson is perhaps the biggest name in revolvers for as long as any of us can remember, perhaps only eclipsed by names like Colt. Today’s subject is one of S&W’s classic pistols and one I was excited to hold, the model 57 chambered in .41 Remington Magnum.

The Smith & Wesson Model 57-1 .41 Remington Magnum is a six-shot revolving double-action pistol, it uses a steel frame and an 8 &3/8’s inch barrel. The grip is made from traditional walnut. The whole unit is finished in a classical glossy blued finish.

My father has always had a similar pistol he was given by my grandfather;  a model 28 Highway Patrolman.  As a youth I was always enamored with what I thought was a handsome gun. His S&W was a .357 Magnum, but very similar proportions as this one. And for some reason the .41 Mag always seemed like an interesting niche cartridge. So as you can imagine the opportunity to play with this handsome old pistol was something enticing.

Unboxing

Like something from an old 70’s movie, the Model 57 came to me in a classy wooden box lined with a velvet. I opened it up to see the deep blue shine from old world traditions.

Picking up the pistol from the box seemed like a little walk down memory lane for me. The large size of the pistol was probably proportional in my hand as my father’s old Smith that I held with much smaller hands years ago.

Curiously, I cracked open the cylinder to see how it looked inside. Clean chambers and a smooth roll of the cylinder followed by a snap of the ejector plunger was all I needed. I was quickly becoming enamored with this pistol, but the crystal clean break of the trigger was what really got me excited. Something told me I was going to like this pistol with all these classic features and quality that’s harder to come by these days.

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The .41 Remington Magnum

It’s not a .44 magnum, but it’s a whole lot more than a .357 magnum for sure. The 41 has been around since the early 1960’s, a pet project you might call it with a specialist purpose to fulfill a law enforcement needs. The mighty 41 pushes 210 bullets as fast as 1500 fps when loaded to full power, though there are some lighter bullets, and softer loads.

Little did I know the hard part was going to be getting hands on some of these cartridges, as they sure don’t seem to show up at the local mercantile.

Part of me was beginning to think the .41 was going to be the .40S&W of the wheel-gun world. But luckily I found a box of HSM cowboy 210 grain loads at a store a couple counties over. The 210 grain wadcutters were loaded in Starline .41 Mag brass. I wish I knew what powder they had inside that produced some authentic smoke seemingly from a time long past.

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Rangetime

With my ammo and the Smith & Wesson Model 57-1 .41 Remington Magnum in my pocket, I headed to the range. I’d brought a sheet of cardboard to see how the pistol shot on a target, which I set up at about ten yards.

With the cylinder loaded full, I  snapped it shut. I’d never shot a .41 Magnum before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. But as it turns out the pistol felt like a kitten. Perhaps a little unsure of what to expect, my first few shots I was more focused on my grip and function than shooting well.

But after a few more rounds I became quite accustomed to the recoil and feel of the model 57, and got right back to aiming a little tighter. I was very happy with the performance of the pistol, it seemed like it would have been quite the potent pistol if you were in a spot that required one.

Pretending I was one of the lawmen at the famous corral, came pretty easy. And the smooth action and aiming of the model 57 was a great tool in the hands. The long barrel was a little longer to bring on target. But the wide sight radius sure made it easy to point and hit what you wanted to.

The incredibly clean trigger sure made it easy to break right where you wanted it to. The 210 grain bullets grouped around 2 inches at ten yards.  I’m curious if that is the best the pistol will shoot or if it would have liked a different load better.

One would get the feeling that they weren’t particularly hot loads, they were very easy to pop out using the ejector. And that’s how I spent the afternoon, stuffing chubby cartridges into the cylinder and turning them into spent brass.

Pros and Cons

I’ll be honest about this, I can’t imagine someone buying a pistol like this without wanting something just like it. So I’m not sure I can really come up with a downside to this pistol. If you twisted my arm real hard, I guess I could say the ammo sourcing is an issue. But if I was going to be a serious .41 Remington Mag guy, I would for sure load my own.

The good news is far more interesting, the excellent trigger and smooth operation are outstanding. Everything about the finish is classic and handsome, the old wood looks beautiful and feels great in the hand. Both the single and double action of the pistol allow you to shoot the gun well. The accuracy is just what I would expect from a pistol like this.

Let’s imagine this pistol would be a perfect companion for a mountain houndsman chasing cougars and black bears. It’s certainly big enough for the job, but it’s also much smaller than most any rifle. You could tuck the pistol into a holster under your shoulder while hiking and chasing the bay of hyper hounds.

Shooting a big cat or bear from a tree with the model 57 would be an easy chore. The accuracy would be handy, and those big bullets would make short work of most predators.

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Introduction

There is a soft spot in my holster for big wheel guns, there is something romantic about their husky built cylinders and the intimidatingly large muzzle. With so many things you can do with them as well, which makes them not just fun but useful. Today’s review is the Smith & Wesson Performance Center® Model 629 Competitor.

As we take a look at one of Smith & Wesson’s big Performance Center Competitor pistols built on an N frame. You might be thinking the same thing I was when I first saw the pistol; who competes with a .44 Magnum?

But I stopped asking questions that start with “I wonder why people…” a long time ago. The Performance Center model 629 Competitor is a robust and impressive handgun, so I guess whoever has it in their hands can do whatever they want.

This Competitor is built from stainless steel all the way around, which helps it build up the weight to over 57 ounces. Big pistols like this are a lot easier on the hand with their additional weight.  And the Competitor also includes a weighting system to add additional weight to the gun to better balance it.  Smith & Wesson’s big pistol is just over 11 inches long, which gives it a large sight radius. But it also has a rail for optics mounting across the top of the barrel, which gives you even more sighting options. Different rubberized grips make it very easy to hold onto, which is definitely a plus with this big pistol.

Unboxing

When I opened the box containing the Competitor, I wasn’t exactly ready for it.  Immediately impressive is the size of this handgun, it is certainly not for the faint of heart. As is typical with Smith & Wesson revolvers, it felt fantastic in the hand. All controls of the pistol all worked smooth and without taxing effort. Every part of me wanted to feel the trigger, as I wondered just what a competitor’s trigger would feel like.

Drawing back the hammer for that satisfactory click as the trigger set, I rested my finger on the smooth chrome trigger and started pressing. The smooth crack of the hammer dropping was extremely clean and the gun barely moved as a result. A smile to came over my face thinking this gun was going to be a blast to shoot.

Curiously I inspected the sights which looked very high quality, and easy to pick up. But like a real optics weenie I really wanted to get a red dot mounted to the pistol, since I don’t have a pistol scope.

We started putting together some supplies to take the gun to the range and get it warmed up. I had some Hornady Lever Revolution 225 grain ammunition to shoot in the gun. In addition I also had some handloaded 240 grain semi-wadcutter handloads that I figured I’d try out as well. I also had the proper mounting devices to incorporate a red dot to my shooting, so I grabbed that as well to see how the gun shot using the optic.

On the Range

With ammo, tools, red dot, and the weight system for the Competitor all in tow I hit my favorite shooting spot. I spread it out on the tailgate of my truck, and started my process of evaluation.

The large size of the revolver definitely reduced to feeling of recoil some, and it wasn’t bad at all to shoot. My initial concerns about why someone would want to competitively shoot a caliber this big were immediately resolved.

Shooting the big Competitor was actually very fun and enjoyable, the trigger felt immaculate, even the double action pull felt better than I expected. Though I don’t know how accurate I would be able to shoot with it that way.

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The Competitor came with a set of various weights that you can add to a vacant bore that runs underneath the barrel itself. The system allows you to add or take away the cylindrical weights to tune the recoil of the pistol. While the system seems to have a good purpose, I didn’t notice a significant change in my ability to shoot it much better. This could just as easily been me, and nothing to do with the S&W.

Shooting the pistol at 10 and 25 yards to see how accurately I could shoot the gun was actually pretty impressive, even without the fine aimpoint of a red dot sight.

Pros and Cons

The 629 Competitor definitely has some good features, the high quality of its parts and function are surely at the top of my list. I can’t get excited about guns that aren’t accurate enough to be useful, and this one is certainly very useful. While I am not competitive pistol shooter material, I still found it easy enough to hit just what I was aiming at with this pistol I’m more of a hunter, and I could easily see myself taking down a deer or elk in the deep dark forest of these Rocky Mountains with just such a pistol.

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The weight system I could take or leave, it didn’t seem to make a difference for me. But the smooth rolling cylinder and crispy clean trigger sure go a long ways. The sights are perfectly suitable for most of my kind of shooting but the added bonus of being able to mount an optic only increase my affinity for this gun.

If you are a competitive shooter then you surely might find the weight of this pistol to be an asset, whereas if you aren’t a competitor you might find it a bit heavy. The good news is that either way it’s going to shoot well for you.

I really wish I’d of had a pistol scope, so I could try shooting the Competitor with a scope. As it was I tried shooting it with a red dot mounted to the rail, which turned out to be pretty interesting. I like the fine aiming point and the ability to keep my eye focused on the target and not worry about the sights.

Smith & Wesson Performance Center® Model 629 Competitor

Click here to read the conclusion on Guns.com 

-CBM

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