FreeMe, If the RIA and P3AT match your personal needs you are the only one who has to rationalize your choices. Go to S&W's websight and read their description of the 329PD and you will be able to use facts to support your theories. No, I don.t get out much but I do work at 1 of the world's busiest commercial gun ranges and see a variety of guns in actual use. The RIA and P3AT fail their owners at a depressing rate. YMMV.
mike r
I have spent a lot of time at the range too, over the years. And I notice that an awful lot of people can take what in competent hands would be perfectly reliable and render it totally unreliable for anyone. You have no idea what someone has done to their personal gun, and the 1911 is probably the most dinked-with handgun of all time. The entry-level price of the RIA almost guarantees that it will be the most dinked-with 1911. Doesn't surprise me that you would see some of them not work. If you knew the 1911, you might figure that out.
As far as what S&W says about the 329pd on their website - a little reading comprehension is in order.....
Smith & Wesson combined a Scandium alloy frame with a Titanium cylinder to build the strongest and lightest weight .44 Magnum revolver made. The result...maximum power in a small, lightweight, easy-to-carry package. Smith & Wesson's large frame revolvers are a favorite choice among handgun hunters, competitive shooters and revolver enthusiasts. These revolvers are available from production, Night Guard, M&P, Classics, Champion Series and Performance Center in a variety of chamberings in .357 Magnum�, .44 Magnum� and .45 ACP. Offered in several different barrel lengths, Smith & Wesson provides the user plenty of options for a variety of shooting applications.
Need I explain to you that the text is pretty generic, and about S&W large-frame revolvers in general? If you read into that some designation of the 329pd as a "hunting revolver", I am sorry about your reading disability. Those of us who were around for the introduction of this model and were paying attention
know what it is meant for.
eta: Oh - the little P3AT also gets a lot of dremel time on the kitchen table. Just spend a little time on the K-T forums, and you can see that. People like to tinker with their cheaper guns. Many of them should not.
