What is my Smith & Wesson Model 29 worth?
The .44 Magnum, and a revolver whose value turns on two small manufacturing details that anybody can check in about a minute with the cylinder open.
Made 1955–present.
No page can price your gun, and one that offers to is guessing. What this does is show you which one you have — because that is where the money is.
How to tell which one you have
- Look for a pin through the frame above the barrel. A pinned barrel indicates earlier production.
- Swing the cylinder out and look at the chamber mouths. Recessed chambers, where the cartridge rims sit flush, indicate the same earlier period.
- Find the model number stamped on the frame inside the crane, visible with the cylinder open.
- Check the barrel length and whether the presentation case and tools are still with it.
The versions that change the number
| Version | What it means for value |
|---|---|
| Pinned and recessed | Production before the early 1980s. This is what collectors mean when they distinguish the early guns, and it moves the number meaningfully. |
| Later production | After the pinned barrel and recessed chambers were dropped. Good revolvers, priced below the earlier ones. |
| Nickel finish | A separate market from blued guns, and condition-sensitive since nickel shows wear and flaking clearly. |
| With presentation case | The wooden case, tools and papers are a real part of the value on this model. |
What actually drives the price
- Pinned and recessed versus later production.
- Original finish and whether the gun has been refinished.
- Barrel length, and whether the stocks are numbered to the gun.
- The presentation case and paperwork.
And the two that apply to every gun on this site: do not clean it, and keep the box and papers. Removing original finish is permanent, and on the right gun the packaging is a real part of the total.
"It is just an old revolver"
The Model 29 sits in a frame and profile shared with far more ordinary Smith & Wesson revolvers, and families regularly price it as one. Early production in original condition with its case is a different gun from a later one in every way that matters to a buyer, and the difference is two details you can check yourself.
What does pinned and recessed actually mean?
For decades Smith & Wesson pinned the barrel into the frame and countersunk the chambers so the cartridge rims sat flush. Both were dropped in the early 1980s as manufacturing changed. Collectors use the phrase as shorthand for the earlier, more carefully made production, and it is visible without taking anything apart.
Getting a number for yours
Send photographs and we will tell you what we will pay for it. We buy nationwide — a single firearm ships to us prepaid and insured, and for a collection we come to you. More on what separates one Smith & Wesson from another.