.44 magnum airlte

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Avalanche2082

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What do you guys think of the S&W 329pd .44mag airlite, hows the recoil compared to the 340sc? Thanks for your inputs.
 
I've heard its the hardest kicking gun made. What do you plan on using it for?
 
I have one, but I've never fired full house magnums through it. I consider it a great 44spl that can handle magnums in a pinch. Like the other N-frame scandium guns, it has a super-smooth action. With lighter springs you'll think you have a factory action job. The gun is fun to shoot with factory specials, though the 200gr Blazers (great defensive load) sting a little bit. I handload 240gr bullets at 850-900fps, and they're no problem. 240gr at 1100fps is a handful, but will take care of most anything except a Grizzly. The 1100fps load isn't anywhere near the misery of hot loads out of my 360PD. Lots more to hold onto with the big gun.
 
Man I'd love one. I think the above poster has it right. You handload mild 240's-255's mags or shoot specials, and you only shoot the heavies when you need to.
 
I would rather shoot a box of factory .44 Mags thru the 329PD (only with the Hogue grips mentioned below) than 5 rounds of factory 357s thru the 340sc. This is just me, and others will probably disagree.

The factory grips provided by S&W on the 329 PD are pure torture, the wood ones more so than the rubber. I added a set of Hogue 500 Mag grips that you can only get from S&W. They have a soft rubber cover over the backstrap that really makes a difference for me.

This is one gun where you definitely need to work your way up the power ladder. It will be clear when you reach your max comfort level.

These are great carry guns but as the man said, you've got to know your limitations. It takes a considerable amount of practice to maintain proficiency with magnum level loads.

I carry one every day. I have two of them so that one is always in service. I shoot one or the other almost everyday. I use a 250 gr CSWC that chronos right at 1,100 fps for practice (this is not a light load in the 329). I was shooting practicing with hotter loads (in the 1,200 fps range) which have noticibly greater recoil. I have shot 4,600 rounds of the above mentioned loads since the beginning of the year.

Depending on what your intended use for this gun is, you need to be familiar with the internal lock on these revolvers. Be sure to read this thread on the S&W forum re the lock.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/500103904/m/228102718

FWIW,

Paul
 
I'd like to shoot one with a Garrett Hammerhead round. One time, and one time only!!
 
I worked up some loads with the 325gr WLNGC (Beartooth Bullets), 300gr LBT WFNPB (local), and 300gr Keith from Mt Baldy. These chronoed 1,043 fps, 1,052 fps, and 1,064 fps respectively with the same charge of H110 in the 329. The recoil was very fast.

The Garrett 44 MAG DEFENDER HAMMERHEAD AMMO is rated at 1,020 fps with a 310gr bullet from a 4" bbl.

Paul
 
I have the 360sc, the 500 4", and the PC 460 5". In my opinion the 329 is the worst of all my revolvers as far as recoil. The 500 and the 460 give you more of what I guess you would call "push" where the 329 is, well as a close friend of mind put it after shooting it for the first time "that thing is violent". This is my first post. Love the site. Look forward to posting more. I hope this helps you Avalanche.
 
Not me

I wouldn't even think of shooting one. I have a 360PD and have shot it once with the 357 Magnum factory rounds that I carry. The recoil was so bad that my finger was hitting the front of the trigger guard. After 4 rounds, I needed to ice down my finger.

I will not be ordering a 329PD ( I do shoot 44 Rem Mag through a Desert Eagle with no problems, but it is a HEAVY gun)
 
I have one and I've shot lots of Mag through it. It's a hard hitting thing no question.

That said, it is VERY light on the hip when you are out and I wear it constantly when hunting or camping on private land.

Stuffed with some nice .44 Specials it has become my favorite wilderness handgun. It's SWEET shooting the Special out of this thing.

And I agree with others, I'd rather shoot a box of .44 Mag through this thing than a cylinder of magnums from a 360pd.
 
I've never shot a 360pd, so I can't really make a comparison. I do have a 329, and it's an awesome pistol. I love mine.

Yes, shooting one with the factory grip is like hitting your hand with a hammer. I put the S&W 500 grip on mine, and it's like night and day. It's actually shootable with the new grip. Heavy, but shootable. Keep in mind that I'm by no means a recoil junkie.

I've also found that shooting the blazer 240 gr. .44 Mags are a lot easier than other brands. They're just a tad slower, and the 100 fps difference puts them below the threshold of pain, whereas Federal and others were above the threshold.

Although I've shot a couple of boxes of magnums through my gun, I reload 240 gr. LSWC to about 950fps, basically hot .44 spls, and it's the perfect gun. Accurate, hard hitting, and versatile. I'd get another one in a heartbeat. If I suddenly came into money, I'd get a 4 inch 325, for a companion in .45 acp.

-John
 
The lock should be a non-issue except for esthetics. Takes half an hour to disable. And John C, if you win the lottery try the 2 3/4" 325. You'll like it.
 
The 340PD is less pleasant to shoot than the 329 but there's not a world of difference. Neither is fun with full power loads. The 329 with the X frame Hogue grip is the better setup.
 
Ouch! That's gunna leave a mark,

The 329 with standard pressure magnums and the wood grips sting quit a bit- Something like hitting a tree with a baseball bat. The +p+ 305+grain bear defense rounds will have you in blisters the first few sessions. If you can handle it, great. Too much recoil for me. After all, a man's got to know his limitations.

Shooter429
 
Yes, shooting one with the factory grip is like hitting your hand with a hammer. I put the S&W 500 grip on mine, and it's like night and day. It's actually shootable with the new grip. Heavy, but shootable. Keep in mind that I'm by no means a recoil junkie.
Click to expand...

Stuffed with some nice .44 Specials it has become my favorite wilderness handgun. It's SWEET shooting the Special out of this thing.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I was thinking of starting a new thread just to get some feedback on just these two ideas. Now I'm seriously thinking of acquiring a 329PD with the Hogue Tamer Monogrip and loading it with .44 Specials. I'm thinking it might work better for some purposes than the equivalent 629.
 
Amper;

I don't think you'll need the Hogue tamer grip if you just plan to shoot .44 spl through it. And, keep in mind that unless you have quite large hands, the Hogue tamers won't allow you to use the pistol double action.

-John
 
Thanks for the advice, it's good to know. I don't think I have particularly small hands, but I'm not sure I would say I have particularly large hands, either. I do wear a size L glove, though. I just think that anything that reduces felt recoil is a good thing, so I'm really interested in the Tamer grips ever since I found out recently that they fit the N and K/L frame revolvers.

Hopefully, I'll have the chance to check a 329PD out with that grip before I spend the money...
 
The S&W Model 329PD .44 Magnum

WoW~! Its mighty light, and I can only imagine how bad the recoil would be.
Two of my co-workers bought large caliber S&W AirLite revolvers a few
months ago; one bought the S&W 329PD, and the other bought the S%W
325PD snubby. Both, say that those weapons are absolutely brutual when
firing full power loads. The guy with the .329PD ask me to handload some
reduced recoil loads for him (as the .44 maggie is one of my calibers); so
he could learn too shoot the dang thing. I might just do that, in order to
gain first hand experience for myself~? :banghead: :uhoh:
 
Paul, just to be nosy, I'd be interested to know how come you shoot that much .44M out of your 329, and why you find it so important to have one available you have 2? Don't get me wrong, I have 2 of lots of S&W revolvers, but nothing quite so specialized as the 329PD. I mean, I have backups for backups as far as J-frame, K-frame revolvers are concerned, but if my 6" 629 became unservicable, I'd feel well armed with a 4" 29, or 5" 625 or something a little less... authoritative, as it were. Do you spend lots o' time out in the boonies with nasty critters about? Again, no offense, but you've obviously been training and practicing for some reason, and it would be interesting to know.
 
Well

If you can handle it, why not?

I do understand what you mean. On paper the gun sounds a bit over the top. However, in hand the gun is actually quite pleasing. I thought it would be horrid to shoot, but it actually isn't really all that bad all.

It does have a pretty good macho manly man thing going on. Good times. One of the more amusing handguns I've shot in a while.
 
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