Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns shopping for a packing revolver: .41 Taurus Tracker vs .44 S&W 329PD

I have the Tracker you mentioned in 45 colt (pre-judge). I only modified the trigger with new lighter springs and have the trigger pull close to what my smiths are--but not as nice, yet maintaining reliability. Factory DA pull was so heavy it was all I could do to pull it. It is a five shot and that makes it a little better to carry (thickness and IWB). The smith is a six shot, so may need to carry by another means besides IWB. But at 10 oz lighter--the smith may be the winner for me in the carry department. The Taurus is as accurate as anything out there--from my experience--and I really like the gun. Question for the 329 guys: How are they holding up to a lot of rounds? I would not mind having one--for a carry gun in non-urban environments--Which is the same roll my Taurus is filling now---May have to find a better excuse to buy this one.

Tom,

I own or have shot all the guns mentioned plus one that has not been...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=213932834

These are extremely hard to find and the last one that sold on GB just a few days ago went for over a grand.... I've had one for about 5 years as well as the very rare 6" version and a 4" stainless. All shoot very good. If you look on GunBroker there is a limited edition 3" stainless for sale right now...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=214595231



15 yards slow DA on the left and fast DA on the right...



The S&W PDs are great guns. I have a 357PD .41 Magnum and two of my friends have the 329PD .44 Magnum. No problems encountered with any of them. One of my friends has over 1000 rounds of 950 fps lead reloads through his as well as a couple of boxes of full 240s and it is still running right along.

327PD...




One of the Posters over on the S&W Forums makes "THE PLUG"...does away with any possibility of the lock activating when you don't want it to....



For the .41s there are several factory loads that work well if you don't reload.

Winchester 175 Silvertip
CorBon 170 Self-Defense
Federal 185 Barnes
Speer 210 Gold Dot
Federal 250 CastCore
Georgia Arms 210 hardcast SWC

Even in the lightweight guns these don't kick that bad...the standard 210s like the Remington SP will make you take notice.


If you go .44 THE load for personal defense against 2-Leggers would be the 200 grain Speer .44 Magnum Gold Dot HP Short Barrel load...at 1080 from a 4" it is a pussycat to shoot and the bullet expands everytine. For a penetrator the 300 grain Federal CastCore is loaded a lot lighter than the BuffaloBore or CorBon offerings.


Bob

Have you thought about a S&W 625 Mountain Gun? A big hard cast lead bullet from a 45 LC is strong medicine and the 625 MGs are kinda middle of the road, not too heavy, not too light, just about right.

JEff

I don't have the taurus line but i do have a number of .44magnums and .41's including a four inch 29, a four inch 57 a six inch 57, a four inch 58 and a ruger redhawk in .41 magnum and a ruger blackhawk in .41magnum.
Come to think of it also a super redhawk in .44magnum.
just shooting the six inch 57 a couple of weeks ago and it is mild to shoot with the reload i was using 210grain bullet at about 1000fps.
of all of them, i kind of like the 58 four inch. Easy to carry but you are really not giving up much of anything to the others.
the 29 is one of the new keylock versions, where i replaced the to skinny grips with rubber pachmeyers, and put the 329 front sight on it. Works pretty good. But the .41 is really a reloaders gun due to cost of ammo i would think.

+1
The 45LC mountain gun loaded on the warm side.

How much "snot" will a .45 LC in a S&W handle? My experience with the LC is at traditional levels and at top end Ruger Blackhawk levels (say 28-30K PSI) that make a .44 mag look tame, not much in the middle.

Where does the "new" Vaquero fit?

I guess while I'm asking, what about the .44 spl Blackhawk and Vaquero? How far past factory can you ... if you can ... push them?

I can give you a lot of info on the 329pd, but very little on the Taurus line. The only Taurus I handled was the 5 shot 44 mag Tracker - seemed pretty well built. I was never able to find a 444 to handle - seemed like they only existed in catalogs. The discontinued Titanium 41mag tracker seemed interesting.

S&W329pd Information

For a packin 44, I really like my Alaskan. Not enough sight radius for a serious hunting handgun, but for putin holes in things out to 30 yards or so its great.
My heavy duty load for it is a 310 gr hardcast at 1200fps. If that aint enough gun, I shoulda brought a rifle.

Have you chrono'ed that load, or is the1200 FPS just an estimate?

Yep chrono'ed. 1200 average. No over pressure signs. I could probably get more out of it, but thats about all the recoil I can tolerate. Muzzle blast is impressive, recoil not too bad, accuracy is good enough to hit a pop can every time at 30yrds. I like it.

I would go Smith & Wesson if cost isn't a factor. I tested a 329PD rather extensively recently and never found it objectionable from a recoil standpoint even with 320s at 1,300 fps. Hard to beat a Smith.....really hard to beat a Smith.

Its easy to just say Smith, because that are VERY good and they are the standard that all are measured by
I have a S&W 57 in 41

and
a tracker in 41

I like them both when I carry a large revolver I carry the Tracker I do really like it.I like the grips on it but I am curious about the Hogues that someone else talked about earlier.I have a few Taurus revolvers I have not had any problems to this point.

In my little fantasy world I would like a Colt DA (a Python with a bigger set of holes) with a 2 or 4inch barrel in 41mag

OK I am back to reality HAHA

Hank

.45 Colt in the S&W 25-5 can be run fairly warm but nothing to the extent they can be in a Ruger...

As to the .44 Special, here is an article that should answer your questions...

http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/ross-seyfried-lipseys-ruger-flattop-44-special-bisley-revolvers/


Bob

I just emailed the shop owner that does my consignment and special orders and told him to get a 329PD coming. Thanks for all the input. Woo hoo!

TOM-
When you get it and have a chance to wring it out some, please post your impressions and thoughts about the 329 with various load levels and bullet weights. You just completed a search I have been playing in my mind for some time...good power without so much weight for field carry. Considering several of the options mentioned here...629MT, 329, 625MT, 357PD (?) in 41, 10mm M-20 & 29 Glock, etc. I appreciated reading the many serious comments/suggestions folks offered you. Hard to make the call. Good luck with it.

I'm curious, what was the load you used to get that velocity out of the 4" tube of the 329pd? Also, what grips did you have on it? I'm wondering partly because I've been too timid to push much past a 270gr WFN loafing along at ~1150fps - I've wondered just how much pounding the 329pd can take.

Will post, sure. The shop expects 2-3 weeks wait. They're often a wee bit optimistic on their estimates.

Over the years I've found some loads that work in most .44s, not just one specific gun. I'll probably start with those then think about load development if none of them work.

I think for starters, 'til the weather warms up, I'm just going to pick one of those loads, sight in the gun, and pack it. I don't much like doing load workup in revolvers when the weather is cold and my hands are stiff. I picked up a Ruger .44 bisley hunter about Christmas I haven't shot, either. I have 2 other .44s sighted in .. spring will be here soon enough. Hard to imagine the day I'd have ever bought a new gun and not shot it within the first hour I had it home. I must be gettin' old.

Tom