Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns S&W 329

Great carry revolvers in case something nasty and large is around. I wimped out, Mine is a 357PD 41 mag. It is the best of both worlds. Not near as heavy to carry as my (now son's) 629 4". I often forget it's there. Recoil a bit less than the 329PD, and about the same energy.

I bought mine in 2005 from a guy who shot less than a box of full power .44 Magnum factory loads. I didn't care for the sharp recoil, so I replaced the grips with a set from either a .480 or .500 S&W and that helped to tame the recoil. I don't have any need for full power .44 Magnum loads, so I load a 240 grain SWC, hard alloy with a gas check, at around 1,000 fps.

You really fractured your wrist? I have one and can’t imagine it doing that although it kicks like hell. Did you have a previous injury?

No. These were specialty, heavy for caliber, bear loads. I fired all six, and on the last one felt the pain in my wrist. Could hardly use the hand for a month. I think, if I remember right, that I had the wood grips on it. After that experience, I bought a set of the X-Frame grips, i.e., the ones with extra padding over the backstrap.

My comparison would use the Taurus Titanium Tracker vs the Smith MG. Only in this case I am shooting 41 mag.

Just for giggles, I shot ONE round of 250 gr cast over 20 gr H110 through the Titanium Tracker. I did not giggle after the shot, and it ain't happening again.

I have shot the same load through the MG, it is barely tolerable. But it is punishing to a fine revolver as well as my wrist. So that was also a one time thing. Heavy loads like that are best relegated to Rugers.

I stood and gazed upon a S&W 357 at Sportsman's one day, for about half an hour. $700!

I sure wish I had bought it, and put it in the safe unfired.

The LW titanium Revolvers are great to carry. But for actually using them, load should be held to midrange bullet weights and less than 900 fps. My Tracker is an absolute joy to shoot with 170s at 750 fps using Universal or Titegroup.

If I am going where I will interface with predators, I load it with Hornady 210 gr XTP at 900 fps.

I have the 329PD, so it had the steel cylinder opposed to titanium, so it is a bit heavier. Full loads are very snappy.
I also have the SW 360 all alloy J frame, and with 357 loads it plain hurts. I think it is 11 ounces unloaded.

I’m still liking mine. So light to carry, I don’t notice it. I don’t think I’ve carried anything else outdoors since buying it and posting on here. Anecdotal, but I believe recoil is less than stout .454 loads my dad used to load in his Freedom Arms and I think also less than max loads with heavy bullets in my .480.

I’ve been having some carpal tunnel symptoms when I spend too much time at the keyboard. I shot 40 or so max loads through the 329 the other day plus shot some other handguns and noticed symptoms like I’d been at the keyboard all day. At that point, I decided to keep it to 5-6 shots or less should I choose to shoot it.

Hard to beat for a handgun that is powerful enough for deer or large hogs but light enough you never notice it on the hip. Mine shoots really well with a 250K and 2400 so that’s what’s in it plus one round of snake shot for the rattlers I see every couple of weeks on the place we most hunt.

I'd wanted a 454 Casull since I was a kid. Taurus brought out the Raging Judge and I bought one. Actually, IME a much better gun than the Judge. Touched one off and was fully prepared for a broken wrist or some such. Very bad recoil. Painful even. I know there are a lot of guys here that shoot the Casull and even more heavily recoiling handguns, but a heavy 45 Colt is enough for me. I've always wanted a 329. They just feel like a hunk of Balsa Wood. Very cool. Very much feel like recoil would be painful though with anything but about 44 Russians. lolol

Immediately prior to firing all six bear loads in my 329 I had fired a cylinder full of my friend's .500 S&W Magnum. No comparison. The .500 was stiff, but it was a massive, all steel, gun, so the weight absorbed a good bit of the recoil. The 329 with the bear loads was MUCH worse in recoil.

I think a "bear load" in a 329pd is a 270gr WFN at a max of 1200fps, or 300gr at a max of 1100fps. Anything beyond that is for those 2 digit IQ Ruger owners.

You own a lot of Rugers?

I owned one, in the 2.5" version. Carried it for several years. It seemed to suffer pretty sticky extraction which I disliked. Then it locked up on me when I was in a pretty bad spot after firing two rounds. A couple of the unfired rounds had jumped crimp. I tested several factory loads after this and most measured increased o.a.l. after firing a few rounds. I kind of lost confidence in it and it went down the road. A buddy still owns the 4" version and really likes it and has had no issues.

I had the same combination...4" 500 and the .41 Magnum 357 PD and a NG... Found that even with moderate loads the .41s were just not pleasant to shoot even compared to the 500....still have the 500 and both of the .41s went down the road.

That said I have two Taurus Titanium Trackers in 4 and 6" barrels that I love. Don't run full loads through them but with the same loads as I used to run through the Smiths are more accurate, more pleasant to shoot and I don't have to worry about when the flashgap protector is going to give out and the gun have to be returned to the factory... They make the perfect .41 Specials...

Bob