S&W 325 PD Recoil Control

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ranger7

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Background - Have a 625 5" that I love to shoot. Everything about it is great except that I considered using it (somehow) for concealed carry. Finally came to the conclusion it was too big and heavy. Considered looking for a 625 with a 3" barrel but I wondered if that would be enough improvement.

A few weeks ago I looked at a new 325 PD and thought it might be what I need but it was much too expensive. A little later I came into some unexpected cash and I found a very nice used 325 PD which I bought. I didn't think I was very recoil sensitive, but I found shooting more than a few rounds of personal defense ammo (Golden Saber 185 gr.) rather painful. An angle on the nice looking Ahrends cocobolo stock grips cut into my thumb just above the lowest joint. Got a bruise and a blister.

Read here or on another forum that the special Hogue/S&W rubber grips on the 500 Mag might help and I ordered a set. They are great for reducing felt recoil. Cut it in half, at least. The problem with these is they are too large and "grippy" for effective concealed carry.

Current/Future - After getting used to shooting this with the Hogue/S&W grips, I'd like to find some nice looking wood grips that are not too big and distribute the recoil energy across more of my hand than the original Ahrends. Any specific suggestions or am I stuck with experimenting with possibly several different grips (at $60++ a pop) to find some that work?

Also, it looks like I found a great holster for this and have it on order: http://www.hoffners.com/inn07.jpg

Alan
 
The original factory finger groove combat grips work great. I have also used Herretts Detective stocks on the 625 as well.
Here is a pic of the Herretts, which are listed on E-Bay.
f69a6767.jpg
 
Agreed...

I like the 325, but the grips let it move around too much.

I put the Hogue round to square butt rubber grips on it (stock with the 627) and that made a huge difference as you've noted.

Unfortunately, I shoot the heavier 627 better with that grip, so I put it back on the 627, and put the finger groove wood grips (stock on the 327 / 627 ) on the 325. I haven't shot that gun yet, but I love them on the 327.

I might take the 325 to the range this week, thanks for reminding me !
 
ranger7, did you ever find some stocks/grips for your 325pd? I am also shopping for some new ones to fit, am in the same predicament. Funny I also got the hoffner holster, those guys are great over there. I think the Herretts are $95+? I know they make great grips that really fit you, like on 1911s. happy holidays everyone.
 
Last edited:
3006mv said:
ranger7, did you ever find some stocks/grips for your 325pd? I am also shopping for some new ones to fit, am in the same predicament. Funny I also got the hoffner holster, those guys are great over there. I think the Herretts are $70+? I know they make great grips that really fit you, like on my 1911. happy holidays everyone.
Click to expand...

This isn't a happy story for me. I had high hopes for making the 325PD a good carry gun I finally decided the 325 wasn't for me. It was just overall too big for me to conceal well, no matter what grips I used. I can have more rounds in a very reliable semi-auto that's a much smaller, easier to carry package. Since the 325 wasn't a good range gun either, (liked the 625 much better) I sold it.

The rubber Hogue grips for the X-frame got moved to my 629 Mtn Gun. I also use the Hoffner holster for occasional use with the Mtn Gun. The holster wasn't a complete success either. I read a review, on some forum, that said this holster held the butt close to your body. I found that with pretty much only the 2.5 inch barrel below the belt line, the butt kinda sticks out. I sent Hoffners several notes asking for advice and they ignored me. Wouldn't deal with them again.

The 325 was an expensive experiment that didn't work out well. If it had been more moderately priced, I would have kept it because it was kinda cool. At least at the time, I couldn't see having that much tied up in a revolver that had no real use for me. YMMV
 
Ranger Sorry to hear that

but thanks for your reply. I solved my grip problem by shaving down the factory Ahrends grips taking all the angles out and refinishing with Tru-Oil (Birchwood-Casey). But now I have a sight problem. My Hi-Viz broke off, due to weak, thin, metal and poss. from holster snag/draw. I replaced it w/ an SDM gold bead, but that bead, however nice is really huge and I don't get a good sight picture, even w/ the V notch. I am going to order a taller rear blade and try to file a U notch or maybe go w/ the Cylinder & Slide fixed rear sight like above, if I can figure it will give me good POA.
 
I'm sorry you sold yours, I'm more sorry I wasn't there with cash when you did. I know the contour on the Ahrends grip that bit your thumb, I chopped that off of mine before the grips ended up on my 625. To make it more concealable I found an old set of what I think are K-Frame stocks that just fill the hole of the 325's frame and come flush with the outer edge of the frame. I bobbed the ridiculously large hammer too. For me it is a wonderful carry gun.
 
I haven't thought of putting the Ahrends on my 625JM, I took off the wood and put on some Hogues. I also have cheap rubber concealment Detective style grips for the 325PD that I use when I carry. P1200210.jpg I use the Ahrends at the range. The JM grips are too nice, I don't want to ruin them, the Hogues are really comfy but don't conceal, not that I could conceal 4" N frame too well. PB140010.jpg I have the rubber detective grips on my 7 shot .357 which is a K frame. Wish these were still available pix638905671.jpg
 
S&W 325 PD Recoil Control and Ammo Thoughts

I recently acquired a S&W 325PD and replaced the factory wood grips after the initial firing session with a pair of Packmyr Compac grips. These conceal well and offer a firm and cushy grip on the revolver. These are the grips S&W plan to furnish on the soon to be released Night Guard 325.

As for ammunition, I fired several strings of ammunition types to find out what the lively little gun liked to digest. Because of the light weight and added recoil energy generated, I needed to know what cartridges would have the bullets "pulled" due to recoil.

I fired a strings of 5 rounds of CCI Blazer 230 gr FMC, then opened the action nd compared the 6th round. I repeated several times and in all cases, the bulled had moved forward nearly 1/8th inch. I tried some hot handloads with 200 grain Speer JHC and some +P commercial loads. The last cartridge's bullet had moved about 5/64 to 3/32 inch in the case. I next tried some light target loads I had made up for my Colt Lightweight Commander from a recepe I developed over 20 years ago based on 231 and Brock hard cast 185 grain SWC. The hand loads were assembled with a RCBS taper crimp die. None of these loads had any bullet movement. Also, I saw no movement with standard military hardball loads nor with standard commercial loads assembled with brass cases.

Apparently, my revolver does not like ammunition made up with aluminum cases nor does it like hot loads which tend to "pull" the bullets. Anyone using this lightweight should confirm for themselves what happens with various cartridges before carrying it for persional defence and base their selections accordingly. One thought...why use +p; it's a .45 after all and standard loads are a proven manstoper.

One additional thought...Galco makes a great pancake style holster called the Speed Master to carry this wonder. I use it paired with one of Galco's 1-1/2 inch wide double thickness gun belts under a very light weight and loose fitting fishing vest that I found on sale at Walmart. This keeps the revolver up tight and from flopping around. The vest is loose enough that I can almost hide my Ruger Alaskan under it. I also came across some 1/3 moon clips so I can pack one of Galco's flat 2x2x2 ammo carriers on my belt and have 6 rounds available independent of the full moon clips I also carry.
 
I have a 325PD and a 2" 625-10. My self-defense ammo is 200lswc, Fed primer, OAL 1.225, 10.7gr AA7 (well below max, by the way). This clocks 944fps in the PD, 900fps in the -10 and is easy to shoot in both guns. I set a Lee FCD to the point where the taper crimp is just transitioning to a roll crimp, and the bullets do not move. Most factory ammo doesn't suit the guns at all. Peformance is miserable out of the short barrels, and recoil excessively sharp. The load above out-performs anything you can buy, but with a good bit less felt recoil.
 
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