[Myrddin]

All of those rounds look pretty effective for the given firearm. I've limited my 629 to 240 gr rounds as some of my buddies managed to damage their S&W 44 mag revolvers with 300 gr ammo. I leave the heavier rounds to my Ruger revolvers. They are beefy enough to handle the heavy rounds at the expense of a quality S&W trigger. Even the Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull is not invincible. I rented one in at the range in Oceanside, CA that had been fired with 300 gr Hornady so often that it ceased to operate correctly. My "plinking" round in that firearm is a 200 gr plated FN over 37 gr of W296. That is very similar to the preferred round in the S&W 460 Magnum. Lots of zip with less hammering of the firearm. I'm in the market for a 5" S&W 460 Mag revolver. I have the 10.5" Hunter version. It's nice, but not terribly conducive to carry in a holster. The 5" 460 will be carried in favor of the 629 in the future.

[Hazcat]

As long as your 629 is a -3 or higher you really shouldn’t have a problem with “shooting it loose”.

[claudiustg]

I don’t shoot much of the hardcast; they’re for bears, which we have in great numbers around here. My 29 is one of the last of the regular production blued ones a 29-6. I wouldn’t mind having a .454 to shoot, but I probably wouldn’t carry anything larger than the 44.