Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Why Do I Have To Choose?

That's the title of my favorite Willie Nelson song but it also describes my predicament this morning. A friend wanted to trade me a S&W Mag for a SBH 45 Colt. I was expecting a 629 but he had a 329 PD, which I'd never heard of.

I told him it was worth a good deal more than my BH, but he insisted on trading and even threw in a box of shells, less 6 rounds.😊

I had some 240 gr loaded to 1150 fps in the pickup so I stopped and a County road and shot a couple. I was surprised that the recoil was manageable, if not pleasant. The back of the grip is exposed with the finger groove rubber grips on it and I think there is probably something better.

But...... my CC gun is a Titantium Taurus Tracker in 41 mag and I've had it since they first came out and I'm real attached to it. This 429 is actually a tad lighter than the Tracker.

One of 'ems fixing to get jealous.

I'll wait until I get some different grips, like I did for the Tracker, before I choose and send one down the road.

First dibs on the Tracker!

Sorry, but after David,aka Paladin, was ringing steel at 160 yards with it at Q a couple years ago, I had to promise to let him have it if it ever left home.

I had a both the TiTracker and a 357PD....I could shoot the Tracker much better and the PD went down the road about a year ago for a lot more than I paid for it...

Also understand that all Airlites are living on borrowed time... See that little metal flash gap protector at the frame barrel intersection...guess what, that blows out in 500-1200 rounds.... S&W replaces it free but you are out the gun while they do...

https://sites.google.com/site/hobbyhintstricksideas/Home/s-w-329pd-info

Bob

...here is for your friend...

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/618363119

This is the third one in the last two weeks that I have seen sell.

...here is another one...

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/618363119

Thanks for the links...... the guy really took his testing seriously.

There is no comparison between the triggers on the two guns. The Smith is fantastic, but I have a 686 and a xpected this one to be good.

The Taurus trigger was lousy and my gunsmith changed the spring which helped a lot. BUT..... in SA mode it doesn't time properly every time and the firing pin misses the primer. I'm used to it now and just nudge the CHL with my finger to make it lockup right. It works fine in D A.

What we need is an L-frame Smith (perhaps in Ti), NO DUMMY Lock, NO MIM, in 41 Mag with 4" and 5" bbls - that would be a nifty package.

Speaking of that, are the 610s an N-frame? I suspect so.

I'm all in on the L frame Smith...especially in .41mag!!

The last two new S&Ws I purchased were the 357 PD and NG...and both are now gone. My new gun revolver money has since gone to Ruger and Freedom Arms. They would have to come out with something very special for me to buy one of their new guns again...

...and yes, the 610 was a N-frame.

Bob

I got the X frame grip for the 329 PD and I've been bumping up the charge weights with different powders using a 240 gr cast bullet from a local guy.

They've quit being fun at around 1100 fps but that's a lot better than with the standard grip.

The Taurus Tracker now belongs to mi amigo, Paladin, along with everything I own related to 41 Mag. He will pick it up when he comes fishing this Spring.

I bought my first 41 at least 25 years ago and the little Tracker was number five in my string of them.

It is a great cartridge but bigger is better........right? 😀

"It is a great cartridge but bigger is better........right? 😀"

Blasphemy...APOSTATE....consider yourself expelled from The Cult....

...and when your are stricken with suddenly carpel tunnel and the flashgap protector blows out...I'll be standing right next to you saying...I told U so...

Bob

The .44 mag 329 is a handful with full power loads. I have a 357PD, which in spite of the "357" is a .41 mag. It's not bad to shoot with full house .41's.

Convenience of course, easy to find a variety of loads for the .44 mag, reduced loads, shotshell loads, etc. I need to round up original grips for mine, even though I prefer the Hogues. The 357PD's are pretty rare, and S&W collectors are already calling them "grail" guns.

Of course both of them have the blast shield, which needs regular replacement. Unless I come up with a permanent solution

😀😀😀😀😀

You're just jealous that my 41 mag stash never made it to the Classified forum.

If the choice had been between cartridges, I'd still have the Tracker. But the choice was between platforms.

This is the first DA revolver I can shoot pretty good in DA mode and for concealed carry, that's kinda important. The trigger is fantastic.

You coulda sold me that Model 60 and saved me this agonizing choice.

LOL! still after that M60! Let me see how I do making shotshell loads for the .41 mag

...I don't have any more room for reloading "stuff"...I have been selling off...

Good luck with the 329.... I have two friends with them and they are good shooters with reduced loads. One to try that expands every time and doesn't have excessive recoil is the Speer .44 Magnum 200 grain Gold Dot Short Barrel Load... It runs the made for the .44 Special bullet at 1080 from a 4" barrel. The Speer #14 loading manual has a whole page of loads just for that bullet.

tex...nice looking holster...who made it?

Bob

Shot shells for the .41... Use Lyman checks...

Put a little larger than normal bell on the brass.

5.0 grains of Unique or 4.0 of 231/HP38. Put a gas check cup up over the powder pushed into place with a dowel. Fill up the case with shot and the put a Lyman gas check over the shot cup down. Crimp into place...or..

Instead of a the top gas check leave a little shot out and put a .410 ball 2/3s of the way into the case mouth and crimp into place...gives a snake a big headache....

If you need some gas checks PM me and I'll send you some...

Bob

ETW holsters of North Carolina. A 329 Holster will work on the 357PD. I bought it at Ebay, but they seem o/s now.

Thanks for the shotshell tips!

Welcome to The Illuminati! Now go shoot a 45 Colt and find Nirvana

Tex - I have a book by G C Nonte IIRC which covers 41 shotshells.

PM me if you want and I can dig it out and text photos.

Sarge - the 45 might be politically correct and on a surge given our new administration

Long live the 41

Y'all can give me a cyber kick in the butt for posting this question in the wrong forum, but ain't nobody in the casting forum:

I cleaned the Taurus Tracker yesterday to ready it for it's new owner and after at least a couple hundred moderately loaded cast bullets since last cleaning, a couple passes with a brush cleaned the bore right up.

Then I cleaned the 44 mag 329pd I just traded for. I expect I put around seventy wimpy loads of cast bullets...... 6.5 gr Unique under 240 gr from a different maker ...... and I had to scrub hell out of it even after using the foaming stuff from Hornady, Barnes Copper cleaner, and new stuff called Gunblaster. I finally got all the leading out, but it was a chore.

I know from experience that even custom barrels on rifles can take a good bit of cleaning the first go round and that may account for some of the fouling, but I wonder if the drastically reduced velocity in the 44 had something to do with it.

I've upped my plinking load to around 1000 - 1100 fps using CFE. I haven't shot em over a chrono but the manuals pretty much agree on that range.

I hate cleaning guns!

Reckon this one will slick up?

Sounds odd, always felt higher vel increased fouling. FYI, sometimes I have found firing jacketed bullets thru a lead fouled bbl helps. Other's might chime in. Bullet hardness sure affects fouling. Not sure how low speed affects it, that variable alone other than perhaps sealing gas?

Other's will perhaps add more.

Any other ideas on the barrel leading so badly?

One more thing comes to mind, what diameter those bullets are, compared to your bore dimensions, and I suppose whether you have lubed bullets or not. Gas checks can perhaps help seal off gas from passing the base, and that may help but others can confirm.

On the bore "breaking" in and getting slicker, yes, after a few hundred jacketed bullets - often one gets a bore that gets a bit smoother like a lapped bore.

One other thing is the forcing cone, some have their forcing cone worked on to either improve accuracy and/or perhaps reduce fouling. Someone else may can confirm, I'm not up on that topic. Hope those bits get you in the right direction.

Get a caliper and see what the diameter of the lead bullet is that is causing the leading. Can it be pushed through the chamber throats? It could be too small and skidding down the barrel.

I've usually found that leading is caused by a rough bore. To smooth them out I use FINE automotive valve grinding compound on a tight patch pusher works very well. I finish it up with 30-40 micron diamond lap that the knife makers use for polishing their knives. It will usually leave the bore like a mirror and no more leading.

It could also be that you have a constriction where the barrel screws into the frame causing a choke point. I don't know if this happens on the new S&W 2-piece barrels but than can cause a lot of accuracy and leading problems if it does have it...

Never had any leading problem with the 357PD or NG. Most of the bullets that went through the PD were Berry's plated bullets. The NG did gut quite a few of my home cast 180s...

Bob

If they're hard as rock that might be your problem.



Dave

The bullets can't be pushed into the chamber throats.......there is .003 to .004 difference in the diameter.

Cutting them with a knife blade, it seems the suspect bullets are about the same hardness as the 41 and 45 cast bullets I have.

For all I know, all the leading may have come from the first half dozen rounds thru a new barrel and it may slick up now.

If it doesn't, I'll try the polishing deal mentioned.

I hate cleaning guns.

Gene,

Order some Dyna-Bore Coat from Midway. Clean down to bare metal (yes, that sucks) per instructions, coat, cure, and carry on. The stuff works.