Just saw this thread.... I didn't read all posts, but have had a 329PD for a number of years. Its a bit rough with 300 hard casts... but I am now running 270 hard cast pretty warm. I zero the gun for 240 lead with 11 of Unique, and carry it with 270s in it, they hit a few inches higher. Its not nearly as bad as folks think in recoil. Though I don't shoot 270s often, I shoot the 11 of Unique a LOT in the gun and its about 1 inch or so at 25.
I wouldn't trade or sell the 329 ever, its so light that I carry it all the time or my wife carries it if I have a rifle and she is along with the camera.
IMHO unless you are carrying a heavy rifle you are going to be hard pressed to stop a bear quickly with any handgun. THat being said we hope they will bleed out(chance of a CNS hit in stress in my real world with any handgun would be luck)before killing someone... With that being said I've had some of the big pistols, and they are so bulky/heavy they used to stay in camp a lot instead of the added weight.
Hence the use of the 329... I was about to drop the coin on a mountain 629 when the 329 came out, glad I waited that long.
Jeff
