desert gator
Member
Well yesterday I went ahead and picked up a Smith & Wesson 342. In looking for advice and people opinions on them. I saw that people seemed to be divided about 50/50 if its worth owning due to the strong recoil. This is my first Revolver (I own 3 autoloaders). I went ahead and picked it up because I thought it was a good deal, I got it $400 from a single mom who has just had it laying around for a while. It looks in almost perfect condition and does not have the locking key mechanism for the trigger and hammer.
Looking at the weight the 342 is 10.8 oz which seems really light, but heck the 340pd airlite is 11.4 oz, only .6oz heavier and people by those up, and the M&P 340 is 13.3oz only 2.5oz heavier and it seems like a million people have those. Does 2.5 oz really make a huge diff on felt recoil?
At first I was thinking man maybe I made a bad purchase, all this negativity about how hard it kicks. So this morning I woke up bright and early and went out to shoot it. I was expecting the worst. I was expecting to fire one shot through it and lay it down and say yup that was a stupid purchase. Surprisingly I didnt. Does it kick hard....yes, is it a little uncomfortable and slightly painful to shoot....yes, but is it still fun to shoot....yes. However was it as terrible as I thought it was going to be and as bad as some people made it out to be? Definantly not.
The only pain I really got from it was in the palm of my hand, but to be honest I played catch with my brother the other day tossing the baseball around and that honestly left my hand more sore than this did. I shot a box of 50 125 grain reloads through it at standard pressure, then a box of twenty corbon 125 grain +p through it and had fun.
All and all I will hang onto the gun at least for now. I carry a kahr pm9 so this wont be my main carry weapon, just when the mood strikes me. To be honest it will probably spend most its time in the glove box and gym bag.
I plan on adding a ctc grip to the gun which adds 1.9 oz to the gun bringing it to 12.7, also it will give me allot more rubber in the palm and webbing of my hand instead of leaving it exposed to the metal on the back of the grip right now. This should increase the shooting pleasure of this gun.
A question I have being new to revolvers is if I should chose to in the future could that titanium cylinder be switched out for a steel one like what on the M&P 340? That would add some recoil reduction and I here that the titanium is delicate when it comes to cleaning it. Anyway any advice on how to take care of this revolver would be great. Tell me what a new revolver guy needs to know.
Looking at the weight the 342 is 10.8 oz which seems really light, but heck the 340pd airlite is 11.4 oz, only .6oz heavier and people by those up, and the M&P 340 is 13.3oz only 2.5oz heavier and it seems like a million people have those. Does 2.5 oz really make a huge diff on felt recoil?
At first I was thinking man maybe I made a bad purchase, all this negativity about how hard it kicks. So this morning I woke up bright and early and went out to shoot it. I was expecting the worst. I was expecting to fire one shot through it and lay it down and say yup that was a stupid purchase. Surprisingly I didnt. Does it kick hard....yes, is it a little uncomfortable and slightly painful to shoot....yes, but is it still fun to shoot....yes. However was it as terrible as I thought it was going to be and as bad as some people made it out to be? Definantly not.
The only pain I really got from it was in the palm of my hand, but to be honest I played catch with my brother the other day tossing the baseball around and that honestly left my hand more sore than this did. I shot a box of 50 125 grain reloads through it at standard pressure, then a box of twenty corbon 125 grain +p through it and had fun.
All and all I will hang onto the gun at least for now. I carry a kahr pm9 so this wont be my main carry weapon, just when the mood strikes me. To be honest it will probably spend most its time in the glove box and gym bag.
I plan on adding a ctc grip to the gun which adds 1.9 oz to the gun bringing it to 12.7, also it will give me allot more rubber in the palm and webbing of my hand instead of leaving it exposed to the metal on the back of the grip right now. This should increase the shooting pleasure of this gun.
A question I have being new to revolvers is if I should chose to in the future could that titanium cylinder be switched out for a steel one like what on the M&P 340? That would add some recoil reduction and I here that the titanium is delicate when it comes to cleaning it. Anyway any advice on how to take care of this revolver would be great. Tell me what a new revolver guy needs to know.
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It would be nice though to have some reduction in the recoil from it. I wonder how complicated this process is, maybe I could just order the right stuff and take it to a local gunsmith?? It would essential become the equivalent of a smith and wesson M&P 340 having the same frame and a ss cylinder, minus not having the night sight.