[moxie]

Assuming both are .44 Mag., it's really up to which gun feels best in your hand. Which sights do you like. Which trigger suits you best. Both cylinder releases work perfectly fine. Both guns will last longer than you are willing to shoot them. Durability problems with 629s were cured by S&W many years ago, early 80s I think.

RE porting. Porting snubbies is really emasculating the .44 Mag. The snub already gives up 200 fps or so. The ports lose another amount. Getting down toward .44 Spl. territory. Forget porting. Bad idea with snubs. The idea with these guns is max firepower against large unruly targets, in a portable and handy package. If you give up the max firepower, you've defeated the purpose of the gun.