Range report for S&W 340PD

[Old Dog 19]

Just picked up a gently used, or as I like to call them, broken in, S&W 340PD for $800 with fairly new CT laser grips. Guy who owned it shot it a few times and never shot it again. He was not what I call a Shootist. Finally decided to sell it to get something he could shoot at the range. Gun is like new but then again I find a lot of guns like that in my retirement community. People with guns die, ammo is too expensive on a fixed income and old age makes shooting difficult. This gun is the 11.4 ounce J-frame that is made of Scandium and Titanium.

For some reason people buy this gun and insist on shooting hard recoiling .357 magnums in them and when they cannot take the recoil they trash the gun. I do not even load my heavy Ruger Gp100 with hot .357 loads. No need to unless you hunt or may come across some wild animals. There are many good .38 spl +P loads out there that do a fine job and in fact, some regular .38 spl pass the FBI Denim protocol.

First off, the gun is light. Feels like a toy, even when loaded. It is a dream to carry in your pocket or on belt. Has the typical back notch sight and mine uses a fiber optic front which I prefer. Mine came with CT laser grips which I promptly removed as it stays light late these days and I rarely am out when it is dark. If I go out in the dark I usually take one of my 9mm Sigs with night sights. Quite frankly if you need something to see where you are aiming, it is too dark to be shooting anyway. Carry a penlight flashlight. I do.

Trigger is typical S&W J-Frame although mine has been smoothed out by the former owner. I replaced the CT grips with Hogue Bantam mono grips which tend to reduce felt recoil. It seems to direct it to the sides of my hands rather than into the web. I started off with some Golden Saber .357 magums. I already know that they are mild recoiling as I have used them throughout the years in my .357 revolvers. I shot two cylinders full and while they did make their presence known, it was far from what I read on gun forums about it taking off your hand or refusing to shoot more than one round, etc. I can understand though how it would not be pleasant to shoot a lot of them. I did not want to shoot more than two cylinders full myself but it was no deal breaker. If I wanted to shoot .357 magnums in a J-frame I just use a heavier J-frame. Apparently a lot of gun owners do not know about the effects of recoil in relation to weight. So many keep buying lightweight guns and then act surprised when the recoil is stout.

I liken the recoil of a .357 in this light J-frame to be about the same as slapping the helmet of the offensive tackle opposite me when I used to play football. It stings but nothing you cannot suck up and do again the next play. The pain is not really the problem because in defense you are not going to be shooting more than a cylinder full, unless you carry .357 as reloads which I do not advise. The .357 rounds were very accurate but the problem was that the muzzle flip made follow up shots take longer than I like. The muzzle flash was there but only a problem indoors in confined areas.

 

 Some talk about losing night vision without qualifying it. I fought a war and was in the artillery and between my m16, 1911 and the big 175mm guns, there was a lot of muzzle flash at night and we were not blinded and were able to see and shoot the enemy attacking us. Do not accept as fact every thing that you read that sounds logical. Sure if you were in a small enclosed room, it may be a problem and therefore not recommended for home defense. I will grant you that, but typical ccw outdoors defensive use should not be a problem at all. Also remember that if you are blinded by the muzzle flash just think how the guy who has the fire ball heading his way is affected.  At least you are prepared for it.

Next up were Golden Saber .38 +P. Very mild round in this gun and from what I have seen, penetrate deeper than similar short barrel Gold Dots on most gel tests. No problem shooting a few cylinders of these. After that I put 50 rounds of practice .38 spl through the gun and was very happy with the groups when I shot groups. I shot mostly one handed and some left handed. Before I left the range I shot the Hornady 110 gr. FTX loads. They penetrate 12" through 4 layers of denim into ballistic gel. They will penetrate as well as many +P rounds without the flash and recoil and are *****cats in the 340PD.

I was very impressed with this gun. Having shot close to 100 rounds I did not notice any soreness in my hands. Heck, after 25 rounds of .45 in my XDs my hands are shaking from being battered by the recoil and I am not recoil shy at all. I do not enjoy shooting small calibers because there is not enough recoil to satisfy me. With a proper grip recoil should not be much of a problem. Jeff Copper once said that recoil is 80% mental and I tend to agree with that. If you think it will hurt; it will.

I bought this gun because I was looking for a sub 12 oz. gun for pocket carry in the summer. There were no good choices other than the LCP and its ilk and I consider those guns as BUGS or as guns for those times when you cannot carry you regular defensive handgun. I went into this knowing full well that I would not be shooting .357 magnums. I considered it a great lightweight .38 spl that I could also shoot .38 +P for defense, type of gun. However I still read a lot of post by people who insist to put wooden grips on their gun and load it up with 158 gr. .357 magnum loads and then complain about the recoil. If only they would teach physics and ballistics before you buy a gun it would save a lot of people a lot of money.

 

The gun was very accurate and I knocked out the X on a few targets at 7 yards. Head shoots using slow fire of about 1 second per shot were also very doable at that range and even out to 10 yards.

In short, I recommend this gun for experienced shooters who understand how to make this kind of gun work for them. It is not for the person who thinks they can have their cake and eat it too.

[Maksim 1,504]

Nice report.  I was going to say, why do you carry it... but then I realize you are in Florida.... more and more people on our forum are from out of state... =)

 

$800 for it, isn't that a tad high?  I never priced these guys out.

 

How long is the gun rated to hold up shooting 357 mag?

 

I can definitely see the appeal to this revolver as a carry revo.

 

Is it an aftermarket fiber optic sight?  

[High Exposure 5,666]

Nice review. This gun is on my short list as a BUG. I shot it while at S&W Armorer School on Springfield a few years ago. It was a little stout with the .357 but manageable. The .38s were fine.

 

Maks, the FO front sight is standard on this particular model.

[Old Dog 19]

Nice report.  I was going to say, why do you carry it... but then I realize you are in Florida.... more and more people on our forum are from out of state... =)

 

$800 for it, isn't that a tad high?  I never priced these guys out.

 

How long is the gun rated to hold up shooting 357 mag?

 

I can definitely see the appeal to this revolver as a carry revo.

 

Is it an aftermarket fiber optic sight?  

They are going for $700 normally but this one had new CT grips on it that the previous owner put on in an attempt to shoot it better. When that did not help he sold the gun. I actually did not buy it. I traded a pair of LCR revolvers I was not using. The .357 version is a tad too heavy for my tastes and the .22 mag is no longer cheap to shoot and difficult to find ammo for. Plus I got two boxes of Federal .45 ACP ammo to even it out. This was not a private sale either. I have been looking for this gun locally for a few years and finally found it in a pawn shop. Down here there are pawn shops every few miles and they all sell guns. It is a gun buying paradise but right now the prices are high due to demand. So not bad as the LCR's cost me about $960 new last year.

 

My birthday is coming up next month and my wife told me to pick out a gun and I saw an M&P Shield in my LGS yesterday. He wanted $550 for it. The last one I bought cost me $369 so I refused to pay that price. I have more guns than safe room so I can wait for things to get back to normal.here already. The one I bought is like new and they are going for more than I paid for mine with the CT grips.

[Old Dog 19]

Nice review. This gun is on my short list as a BUG. I shot it while at S&W Armorer School on Springfield a few years ago. It was a little stout with the .357 but manageable. The .38s were fine.

 

Maks, the FO front sight is standard on this particular model.

I was surprised that I was able to go through a full box of .38 spl and still wanted to shoo it more. Yesterday my hands were good. No arthritis pain at all so I went shooting. I normally go on Fridays but I try not to shoot lightweight guns when my hands are hurting. The Golden Saber .38 +P are a nice mild shooting load and have very impressive ballistic gel results. Since the Horndady FTX 110 grains penetrate 12+ inches in Ballistic Gel with 4 layers of denim, there is no reason not to use that very gentle round. The +P rounds penetrate the same but expand a little bit more. We are talking fractions of an inch though and I rather have the milder round so my follow up shots are faster. My testing at the range yesterday confirmed that . I was able to shoot fast and keep them all in COM.

[Old Dog 19]

Nice report.  I was going to say, why do you carry it... but then I realize you are in Florida.... more and more people on our forum are from out of state... =)

 

$800 for it, isn't that a tad high?  I never priced these guys out.

 

How long is the gun rated to hold up shooting 357 mag?

 

I can definitely see the appeal to this revolver as a carry revo.

 

Is it an aftermarket fiber optic sight?  

 

Not only am I in Florida but on a Saturday I was the only shooter at the local gun range. I had the place to myself and when they are not busy I can stay there all day for just $9 because I am their second largest customer.

[High Exposure 5,666]

Best of luck with it OD. Reading your posts, you seem to flip guns quite often in your quest for the perfect Florida carry peice. If you ever decide to part with it, give me a holler.

 

I can't find one up here to, quite literally, save my life.

 

Cheers!

[alec.mc 180]

How much lighter then the 357 LCR is it ? I don't think my LCR has the Ti cylinder .

 

Nice review

[Old Dog 19]

Best of luck with it OD. Reading your posts, you seem to flip guns quite often in your quest for the perfect Florida carry peice. If you ever decide to part with it, give me a holler.

 

I can't find one up here to, quite literally, save my life.

 

Cheers!

I average 14 new guns a year. Most guns only last a few months with me before I flip them for something new. However I have hit the wall. My birthday is in a few weeks and there is nothing that I want to buy enough to pay the current inflated prices for. Even my Local Gun Store does not call me anymore when they get new guns in and I am their second biggest customer. As they said, there is little that I have not owned before. I have gone through my bucket list of guns and now have what I consider a great carry and home defense collection. See if you agree:

 

Carry

 

- Sig P238

- Sig P938

- Micro Desert Eagle

- NAA .22lr mini revolver

- S&W 340PD

- Springfield XDs

- Ruger Wiley Clapp .357 Magnum revolver

- HK P2000SK

 

Home Defense

 

- FNH FNX-9 9mm 17 rounds.

 

It took me over 30 guns to settle on these as the core of my collection. Each has a niche in my defensive strategy. When I lived in NJ all the guns I bought were for competition or range use. Now all the guns I buy are strictly working guns used for defense.

 

I carried the 340PD again today and it is by far the most comfortable gun that I own to carry in a major caliber. I truly forgot that it was in my pocket. I have a feeling that I may be trading off some of my other carry guns as I see me carrying this every day.

[zoid 24]

Excellent write up! I like this J frme lot but it's kinda pricey.

Even though we can't carry in NJ I'm still fascinated with the idea of

a lightweight revolver.