Is the Smith 340PD that special?

H

HighValleyRanch

New member
All I know is that these are high priced, very lightweight and finnicky to the ammo selection. So are these specialized to the point of useless except for lightweight carry?

The reason I ask is that I have an opportunity to trade someone my rare glock gen 1 17 which are hard to find for a slightly used 340 PD. Not that I need another revolver other than my .357 LCR and 3" LCRX, but just investigating the facts.
 
You got it, super light carry. In .357 no less, just in case you like punishing your palm.

I have a S&W 337, which is even lighter than a 340PD and it's punishing enough with .38 +p. I also have a 442 and have discovered the weight savings of the Airlites is marginal in the real world over the Airweights.

Unless you find your LCR too heavy for CC, I'd skip on the trade.
 
I almost bought a 329PD, but after a little research most opinions of the Scandium guns is that the "PD" stands for "Palm Destroyer".

Check out the vids on the Tube, they are mostly unanimous that these guns have brutal recoil. They ARE neat, but I'd rather have a gun I enjoy shooting than one that is lighter.
 
I have a 342 (.38 +p) that I like but I sure wouldn't want to shoot .357s out of it. For me, it's not bad to shoot with the Speer 135 +p with the right grips on it. I can shoot it all day with my mild 130 reloads. I did take the cylinder assembly apart and used a stone to break the sharp edges of it to aid in reloading.

I like it for several reasons:

The pinned front sight let me easily change the sight I can see much better than the fixed sight on my 642.

The 342 is very resistant to corrosion. I have rusted some stainless guns from heavy sweating in the summer but not the 342.

The light weight is nice. It's by far the easiest firearm I own to carry.
 
The 340PD with crimson trace laser grips and a Kramer pocket holster is THE quintessential “always” gun. Mine is stoked with 140 grain Buffalo Bore short barrel formula 357 solid copper HPs. It’s not a range plinker. In fact, it draws blood at the web of my hand after a cylinder full of 357s of any kind. The only ammo in this recoil monster even remotely “plink worthy” that I’ve found is .38 special 148 grain wadcutters. And even they lose their friendliness after a few cylinders full. But that aside, if there’s a better “always” gun out there that I’d trust as much as this little savage beast, I’ve not found it.
 
As a .357........

Ok go out to your garage.
Open your car door.
Put your hand between the door and the frame
SLAM THE DOOR SHUT 5 times.
Ask yourself if you want to do this 5 more times?
If the answer is yes then you sir want a scandium Smith Jframe

Airweights or even steel 640s are no big deal to carry and don’t make you think you just pulled the pin on a grenade and are counting to 10.

I knew a guy who bought one of the early ones. When I asked if he still had it he said no. I asked why. His reply was......

“I figured one day I was gonna get mugged, and after he took my money I was probably gonna give him the Gun too and say take this damn thing too.”
 
An LCR in .38 special is almost as light, but won't punish you as bad and you'll save a lot of money.
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Take this advice and run with it. If you are really itching for this kind of revolver, the LCR 38 is very light but less punishing. If you need to ditch the cushy grips for something sleeker to get closer to the 340 PD's carry profile, you'll lose recoil mitigation but I'll doubt you'll end up worse than the PD. You can do that, upgrade the sights, stick it in your pocket and take your favorite girl out for a bite; and you still might end up with more cash in your pocket than if you bought a PD.

It might not be as novel since you already have the slightly larger, slightly heavier LCR 357 but hey, at least you'll be starting off ahead of the curve with practice on the platform.
 
Well one thing for sure, should you get in a real gun fight you will never feel the recoil of any handgun. So the only question [for me]is will you carry the “ others” at all times.
A cylinder a month to check accuracy and function for a close in SD weapon does not seem extreme.
 
I like my Ruger LCR357 .. The polymer frame and excellent grip absorbs some of the recoil ..
My Charter Alumium framed 38spl revolvers weigh 12oz .. so thats my choice for pocket carry revolvers..
 
It depends on the grip. I suppose some people could adopt the "carried a lot, shot little" POU, but I reject that. I shoot what I carry. Shooting a .357 in an 11 oz gun can do more than just hurt. With my hands, it will cause injury. When it "hurts" I can just work through it. When it's still hurting several days after I've stopped shooting, it's an injury. Recovery time interferes with my training.

I found Pachmayr grips work very well, but I wasn't able to buy one that wasn't defective. I also found the Crimson Trace grips work very well and the quality is excellent. I believe the key is a grip that spreads the recoil energy over a larger area with a wider backstrap, and that dampens the recoil to slow down the energy transfer with a soft material covering the metal grip frame's backstrap. Both of these features can interfere with concealment performance. The larger grip is harder to conceal or fit in pockets, and the softer materials are more likely to catch on clothing. So there is a trade-off.

Without the right grip, the 340PD is not practical except with lighter loads. If you only shoot lighter loads, you can use a 442/642. You can install a titanium cylinder on them to save 2 more ounces for hundreds less than a 340PD.
 
Having owned one for a lot of years I find it to be,

Perfect for pocket carry even in lightweight wool dress pants. Don't kid yourself a couple of ounces can make the difference if carry weight.

With practice, as accurate as you want it to be. I regularly shoot mine offhand at 75'

Recoil is subjective and I shoot handloads that equal factory loads, usually 50-75 per session with no painful after effects.

I save the last cylinder full for the laser on my Crimson Trace LG405 lasergrips which help a great deal in mitigating felt recoil.

I never shoot .357's as I may need a followup shot but I do like the thought of carrying something like Underwood's solid copper bullets. Currently I carry Gold Dot 135gr. Short Barrel loads.

I love that little sucker.

340pd.jpg
 
Cslinger, your post had me laughing, pretty accurate description with the car door scenario... LOL! My 642 and 638 with + P loads are quite harsh, the thought of an ultralightweight .357 Magnum is terrifying.
 
Aside from requiring bullets of 120+ grains to avoid bullet pulling and binding the cylinder... how 'finicky' can a revolver be?

Edit: It's apparently flame cutting of the top strap by still burning powder from .357 loads that is the problem, .38SPL seems to not require heavier bullets.
 
Well one thing for sure, should you get in a real gun fight you will never feel the recoil of any handgun.
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I absolutely HATE this statement. Its not about feeling the recoil, its about it interfering with your willingness and ability to practice enough with the gun to be proficient in its use under stress.

I have one of the Titanium framed 38spl guns. It is unpleasant thru the first cylinder. By cylinder #3... im done. Thats only 15 rounds. Not nearly enough to ingrain the skills needed to be efficient with these hard to shoot guns.

Ive always viewed the J frames as expert guns. Like, you REALLY have to know what youre doing to shoot them well. These ultra-light versions are the tip of that spear
 
My wife carries a 340PD. I agree that shooting it with traditional loads are brutal, but I saw no mention of anyone using the new ARX lightweight and high speed bullet loads. Any of you who actually own a light J frame pistol should indeed check these out. Never mind the stamping on the barrel saying to not use any bullet less than 125 grains. Bullet pull does not affect these lightweight copper/polymer based bullets. No pricier than any other commercial ammunition. Almost a pleasure to shoot and terminal performance is outstanding. Don't believe it will stand up to the FBI's ammunition tests, but if you don't practice because it's too painful, then you just don't practice.
Ralph
 
absolutely HATE this statement. Its not about feeling the recoil, its about it interfering with your willingness and ability to practice enough with the gun to be proficient in its use under stress.
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This is why I sold/gave away both of my J-frames.
 
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