tanaka. smith and wesson m29 .44 magnum

[iratecabbie]

I bought this gun late in 08 from a retaiiler based in essex. the gun is the 4 inch barrel version rather than the 8inch that Clint uses in dirty harry, but is otherwse the same. i opted for a shorter barrel primarily out of conveniance. its easier to fit in a holster and far better balanced in my opinion than the longer barreled version.

overall the guns exterior finish is fantastic with the finest metal effect exterior i have ever seen on an abs gun, with a glossy blued sheen to it, the only let down being the rather obviously plastic grips. (i keep meaning to swap them out for real wood ones that are easily avaialble off the net)
weight is just right with enough mass to give it heft but not enough weight to make it hard to hold in the aim.

performance and mechanics.
like pretty much all tanaka revolvers it uses the pegasus sytsem where the gas is stored in the chambers along with a clever little magazine that hold 13 rounds. generally i get about 3 chamberfulls (39 rounds) before needing to re-gas. re gassing is a bit fiddly with tanaka supplying a tool to make it easier. it isnt essential however and you can just gas it direct from the can so long as you dont mind getting cold fingers.

performance is something you need to work on before skirmishing this gun. out of the box it shot at a measly 220 fps however there is an adjustor for the main spring located in the lower part of the grip (you need to remove the "faux" wood panels first) tighten this up and it suddenly starts to become a monster.. i have my one shooting at about 320 fps but i am pretty sure that with a stronger spring fitted i could easily make it tap the 500's
Another issue it had was the adjustable hop. this is located ontop of the frame just infront of the cyllinders. its a screw type hop that is simple to use but very hard to get right. it took me a long time of fiddling and several hundred rounds to get it shooting just how i like it. I suspect that the hop rubbers possibly not of the highest quality, but again its something thats easy to put right.

Shooting.
this is a double action revolver (meaning you can fire just by pulling the trigger without first cocking the hammer) this is good for emergencies and rapid fire but for the best accuracy and in certain circumstances pyschological effect its better to cock the hammer first. this makes the trigger pull very light and pleasant and makes the gun very much more accurate. there is a satisfying snicking sound and the chamber turns smoothly before locking in place. on firing the gun makes alow pufft noise, barely audible from over 10 feet, making it a good gun for stealthy kills.

accuracy,,,, sadly quite average. I can hit a man size target out to about 50 feet most of the time but over that your wasting your time. I plan at some point to fit a better barrel and hop and i am sure this will make a big difference but stock its not the best.

where this gun comes into its own is on night games or for taking prisoners. I used this gun at the nag weekender in november and during the night game there I clocked up a staggering number of kills without me being touched once, the vast majority of the kills were made on the magnum on one load of gas and about 30 rounds. all you need to do is be stealthy and get in close... even when it was out of gas and ammo just the sound of it being cocked from behind and up close was enough for me to secure several bang kills.

overall, not a gun for everyone, and compared to an auto its not a great combat weapon, but if your willing to work with the gun and use its strengths its can be awesome.

[iratecabbie]

Re: tanaka. smith and wesson m29 .44 magnum

these are the only pics i currently have of my M29, taken while being used as movie props.

[sparrowhawk]

Re: tanaka. smith and wesson m29 .44 magnum

seriously,the review was very good,i have a couple of tanaka revolvers,so it was useful for me,i knew a realy good supplier of cheap wooden grips off that e-auction site,they were from tailand, i think,but i cant find it anymore,will look for you again,also hogue has a auction site for rejected grips,which have small imperfections,but can be very cheap


edit...i found the tai grips...log onto eb,and type S&W grips

[iratecabbie]

Re: tanaka. smith and wesson m29 .44 magnum

Hi hawk,, thanks for the linkage! i thik i have a set of real wood grips for a colt peacemaker laying around somewhere,, yours if you want em.

[tmanturner]

Re: tanaka. smith and wesson m29 .44 magnum

can you tell me if your still selling the gun

my email is [email protected]