M&p 340

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mp340dude

The DPX is what I'm carrying right now. I became a little disenchanted with the Speer .357 135 gr. because of some things I heard about them being "overdriven" and loosing their tip when pushed to the speeds that the SB.357's were doing. Don't know if I needed to change. But I did.

I like a little less kick than the full house .357's. I enjoy shooting them in the 340. But for faster follow ups I'm going with the "mid-range" stuff. The other consideration was the Rem. Golden Sabers. But I went with the DPX as the ultimate in a lower recoiling .357 carry round.

At over $1.50 per shot after shipping they are too spendy to practice much with. I'm using Mastercast reloads in .125 gr. for practice. They are around $14 bucks for 50 with shipping.

They spec out at 1290 fps from a 6" barrel. From the snubbie, they should come awfully close to the 1100 fps or a little less that Camp says the DPX will probably be doing from a snubbie.

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/can_less_be_more.htm

I hope to get to the range this week to compare the POI for the DPX and the reloads. I'll report back. If they are close enough for government work, I'll have practice ammo that replicates the DPX.

A lot of people shy away from the excellent DPX because of expense. But it seems to me that it's worth the extra money that it takes to sight your carry round in if you plan to shoot it VERY occassionally. You don't have to spend that kind of money for practice. For carrying for that once in a lifetime incident - $30 for 20 rounds is a very small expense IMO. (And I know that $14 is a good price for replicating practice ammo from Mastercast.)

MARV
 
Marvin,

Hey thanks, great articles. I was looking but didn't get even close to these. I will shoot the 340 this weekend with these and see how she shoots.

thanks
 
I would like to introduce "angela's" big brother..... they are soooo happy together.
 

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Nice Partnership There angel

You know what would really make me crazy? :rolleyes:

The 340/360 without a lock!!:scrutiny: You don't suppose do you? With all these J Frames coming out lockless and in the standard catalog no less.
 
.357 DPX practice ammo

A few posts back I said that I'd post the results for using Mastercast reloads to approximate the recoil and POI of the very expensive CorBon DPX carry loads that I have been using.

At a buck and a half of so per shot - the DPX .357 125 gr. are obviously cost prohibative to practice much with. I've been testing the 125 reloads from Mastercast. They are hollow point and seem to match the velocities achieved by the DPX rounds, at least on paper (no chronograph).

The reloads cost about a fraction of what the DPX's cost. They give me the sound and feel of the carry rounds, which is what I'm after with them.

They give me about one misfire per box of 50 rounds. These few rounds have always always fired after a couple of extra clicks of the firing pin. Because of the very occasional misfire, I wouldn't carry them day to day even though they are nice hollow points and I'm sure they could do the job. Once should have complete trust when it comes to their carry round.

As I had hoped for - they give me approximately the same POI at 7 yards. They are plenty accurate for practice, although the DPX seem to be more so.

I have some .38 cal. 130 gr. American Eagles for the majority of my practice. But I'll fire a few cylinders of the .357's at the close of each practice session.

I'm happy and comfortable with my choice of the DPX for carry. Now that I have affordable practice ammo, I'm a happy camper .
 
I've spent several days reading this thread in sections, and it's been highly informative. A few weeks back I went pocket gun shopping and walked out of the store with a 340 SC. At the same time, I bought a couple boxes of FMJ .38 Specials, 1 box of 125 Gr .38 Special +P, 1 box Federal Low Recoil 130 Gr, and 1 box of Speer GDHP 135 Gr full house.

Figuring that I wasn't a nambie-pambie when it came to recoil, I disregarded the gun shop guy's warnings and took my new baby to the range. The FMJ .38 Special rounds were really no problem to fire. Same with the GDHP .38 +P rounds. The Federal 130 grain Low Recoil round tenderized my hand nicely for the 2 rounds of full house I fired immediately before setting the gun on the bench and wandering laterally into the woods so none of the young hunters would hear the string of curse words I let fly. I was a little miffed - I'd spent a lot of money for a J-frame .357 that hurt to fire .357.

That night I got on Midway to remedy the situation. One Hogue monogrip and a box of Short Barrel .357 GDHP rounds later, I'm happy as a clam. The GDHP Short Barrel rounds are much more mild on the hand than the equivalent offering from Federal. No problems with bullets coming unseated either, in the 40 rounds I tested so far.

The Hogue Monogrip works wonders on all categories of ammunition I tested, but full house is still not approachable for me. The grip has a negligible effect on ankle carry in boot cut jeans, but it does affect pocket carry noticeably. Still doable in most pants, but made me a little more conscious about that method of carry.

Anyway, I'm incredibly happy with the 12 oz. bundle of joy I brought home, and glad that I was able to glean so much info from a single thread. Thanks to everyone who's pitched in!
 
Mastercast

I don't think that I ever posted the site for Mastercast since I started ordering practice ammo from them. I could be wrong - but:

http://www.mastercast.net/amo.htm

Lots of .38/.357 stuff to choose from from cast to hollowpoint to full jackets.

Nice range of velocities as well.

It would be nice to be into reloading like Jim H. is. But, if one is not, he could probably find a practice round here that replicated recoil and POI for his chosen carry round.

The price gets really good once you've saved up a few hundred or so fired casings to trade in.

They will mix and match orders for several kinds of boxes and do very large or very small orders as well. Obviously the prorated shipping costs are less with larger orders. But I just ordered a half dozen or so of various kinds to start with (for experimentation) and the price was still only 12-14$ per 50.

I couldn't buy practice ammo for that around here.

Just posting his for information. Cheap practice ammo is good to come by and cheap replications of carry rounds is really nice IMO.

MARV
 
Mastercast

By the way (just to save anyone from having to call them to ask) - they arrive at their published velocities for .38/.357 ammo by firing and chronographing from a 6" barreled Smith and Wesson. 340 guys could just subtract fps to account for our short barrels.
 
Anybody tried Pachmayr Compac grips on a J-Frame? These look like they may be a good compromise of concealability and comfort.

The factory Hogue Bantams aren't quite enough grip area for my taste, and the Hogue Monogrip, while comfy, destroys the whole reason I got the gun - pocket carry!

If I want to carry on the belt I go straight for my Glock 19...
 
Photos of Pachmyr Compacs on a 340. Please post em if you got em.

I agree the Hogue Ultra Bantam's are too small and do not cover the backstrap.

My old hands need some cushion back there when I shoot .357's.

It sure is fun though!
 
:) Just ordered a set of Pachmayr Compac grips for my 340. Really looking forward to trying them out!

I am hoping these strike a balance between the minimal Hogue Bantam and the too-much-for-pocket-carry Hogue Monogrip.
 
how do you hold on to one of these?

Picked up my m&p 340ct a couple of days ago and I love it!

Amidst my excitement I have thrown around 200 rounds down range in the last two days!

Needless to say my hand is sore. I know this probably just comes with the territory, but I am looking for any advice as to proper grip techniques to minimize the carnage.

Thanks,

scjfly
 
I've got the Pachmayr Compacs installed, they're perfect for my needs. Much nicer to hang on to than the skimpy Hogue Bantam, and the Pachmayrs cover the back strap which really helps comfort.

The Hogue Monogrip I had installed for a while was certainly comfy, but ruined any hope of pocket carry, which IMHO, is where the Air Lites shine to begin with!

Bottom line, the Pachmayr Compac works for me.

I carry .38+P SB Gold Dots but am ready to tackle the .357 SB Gold Dots and .357 Golden Sabre now to take a step up in power. :)
 
how do you hold on to one of these?

scjfly

I'm not the most experienced guy here. But I'll give my ideas to you, anyway.

I have put a thousand or so rounds downrange, about half of them .357's. I had my share of knicked knuckles and whatnot along the way, especially early on.

Develope a grip that keeps you right thumb away from the cylinder release.

Keep your support hand index finger away from the trigger guard by placing it in the "pocket" made by your right ring finger and your right middle finger.

Use a support hand grip that places your left thumb on the knuckle or web area of your right hand and not along side the gun as you would when firing an automatic. You'll have to remembeer to not use the same grip on your automatic, if you shoot one. (I cut my left thumb knuckle badly twice before I "learned to remember" - once on a PM9 and once on a Springfield).

Since you have a CT (like mine) practice dryfire until you are able to build enough "muscle memory to not put so much side pressure with this strong support hand grip that it pulls or pushes the gun sideways either way as the trigger breaks.

I find that a stance "straight on" to the target, using my muscles to push in an "isometric" way - works better for me than any kind of sideways stance.

Avoid the "cup and saucer" kind of two hand grip that you may use with a lighter recoiling gun. This one jumps too much for that.

What you want is a "gorilla grip" - but at the same time avoid so strong a grip that it builds fatique rapidly at the range.

Jim H. put me on to the idea of using an hand grip exerciser to build hand gripping power and trigger finger strength. It sounds like overkill and some my find it silly. But I found it to be of great help and the progress in building strength was amazingly rapid - probably because we seldom exercise the grip and finger that way. The dfiference was noticable just after a couple of weeks. My dryfire and livefire laser jump was much less than early on. I also rapidly moved to more powerful rounds as my "hand conditioning", as Jim calls it, paid off.

All it takes is keeping the gripper near your favorite T.V. chair and gripping it a little while watching the news or whatever. It may not be something that most shooters would find necessry. But this is my one and only gun and I carry it a lot. Working hard to master it is a priority for me.

I'd be very interested in the input of others. I'm willing to revise my way and learn from others, more experiienced than I. But that's my 2 cents worth.

Good luck!

MARV
 
Marvin,

Thank you for your response. I'll give your suggestions a try tomorrow! Is there any information as to how many rounds can be shot before there is any appreciable wear to the gun? I know this sounds ignorant, but can this gun be wore out? Can I shoot too many .357 rounds out of it?

Thanks in advance for your patience!
 

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Wearing out a 340:

Well, I can tell you that at 1800 rounds--most of which have been the reload equivalent of the GDSB38+P (860+ fps, 140-gr. bullet)--there is no sign of inappropriate wear.

Earlier in this thread I showed the condition of my M&P 340 after a nominal 1000 rounds. It remains the same, AFAICT. Possibly, the BC gap has opened up .001 or .002 since it was new, but I doubt it.

I now generally consider the 340 as strong as the 640 I own (357 SS version)--that one has had about 18,000 rounds through it now, and the BC gap is about .003 bigger than new--and it also has the finest j-frame trigger I have felt.

All firearms will wear out--just as an automobile will, even when driven 'easily' and even when religiously maintained. However, the internals of my M&P 340 still are like new, and the only wear has really been a bit to the finish.

There's now a scandium-frame 38+P-only j-frame available: the S&W 360. Bud's has them, c/w with two grips (UM boot and combat, IIRC) for about $422.00 (CC) shipped. I've bought one and am just starting to wring it out--but I am as favorably impressed with it as I am of the M&P 340.

Although Marv has noted the benefits of hand conditioning, and my hand is now very well-conditioned, I still do not enjoy shooting "FBI900" reloads (a 158-gr. LSWC running at 900+ fps) through it. I can do it, and do it in rapid fire, and reload--but ten rounds is enough.

Do regular maintenance on your 340--and be sure to remove the cylinder assembly to clean it as well.

Use the (S&W-recommended) Hoppe's "elite" product line--especially the bore cleaner, and CLP--with nylon and bronze brushes and you'll keep it in good shape.

Jim H.
 
The longer I own the 340 M&P, the more I'm impressed with the durability of the DLC finish. Easy to clean, and it keeps its look. Very durable! I spend less time fussing over the finish than with my blue or stainless guns, which is fine with me. :)
 
Has anyone used Hornady Leverevolution 140 grain FTX .357? I bought some as a defensive round thinking it would expand better than regular hollow points given this is a snubbie. I'm sure it will be hard on the hand, but I used to have a S&W 500 short barrel that I liked to shoot one handed, lol.
 
Angel1216, that wood grip looks pretty good on there, who makes it and where can I get one?
 
I've had a few guns before this one and I cleaned them religiously. I've had lots of rifles and shotguns. Mostly my handguns were automatics and used for target - not carry.

IF HE CARRIED AN AUTOMATIC, ONE WOULDN'T WANT TO GO LONG WITHOUT CLEANING HIS GUN IF HE EXPECTED IT TO BE THERE FOR HIM IN A PINCH.

I had a Ruger revolver that I carried for years when I was a bush pilot in Alaska. Shot a lot of stuff, from fish to grouse. Plinked a lot between assignments in the field. Never cleaned it once . It didn't seem to phase it in the least.

I don't clean this one much either, even though it's a carry gun. As long as it works well, why work too hard at it? If I saw some crud in it, I'd clean it right away. But I use jacketed ammo and I seldom see any crud to speak of.

I drag a "bore snake" through it every couple of hundred rounds or so - just because. I put a little "Rem oil" in it once upon a time, just because I was feeling guilty.

When I had the gun-smith open her up a while back for a 1000+ round check up and to have the trigger smoothed out as much as I could - he swabbed it out, buffed up a couple of places, put a little lube in it and closed it up. Good as new. He told me, "Whatever you're doing - keep doing it, there's no wear that I can see."

It's had a mixed bag of .38 and .357 mags through it.

The trigger is just getting good and just keeps gettbng better every day. After a few more hundred rounds, I dragged the bore snake through it a couple of times and wisked it up with a nylon toothbrush. I haven't lubed it again yet - but I'm starting to feel guilty, so I probably will right after writing this post.

If the trigger feels the same when you click it - if nothing is loose - if no crud is visible in or on the gun - and, if it pretty much hits where it always has when I go to the range - I figure the 340 is good to go.

"Heresy", I suppose, in some circles. But I figure that if it aint broke - don't fix it.
 
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