Commander Fan
New member
This was the order I mentioned in last week's "Titanium Internals?" post. Thanks again for your answers.
Having owned the 342PD(38+P) prior, I was already familiar to the revolver's appearance, but was surprised to see the safety lock feature in the area of the cylinder release. It's a .200" circular-shaped entity, that's mounted flush with the frame, and seems to match the titanium cross-pin's colors fairly well. This might be why I overlooked it during a recent test fire, or it could have ben a prototype, lacking the safety.
Of course, I could do without this feature myself, but the engagements seem very positive. Once I gain access to my hollow-ground screw-drivers I'll go inside, I just don't want to take the chance of messing up the side-plate screws with a tapered driver.
FWIW-With the ignition turned in the 'lock' position, the cylinder release operates as normal, and the cylinder will still swing out, but the trigger cannot be moved rearward to fire. It sounds like there's an audible 'click' when turned to the 'fire' position, so I'm thinking there's a spring/ball detent system within. I'll find out later.
Within 20 minutes of the purchase, I was sitting on DPMS's new testing range. As mentioned last week, I had already put 15 rounds of .357 158gr Blazer through a test model and hadn't received the reported 'massive' recoil that many speak of, but yesterday I found loads that were just TOO much for myself to handle. I'll start with a description of these.
These were some Cor-Bon loads that I had found in my ammo collection. The only reason I know they are CB is because of the 2 'stars' on the headstamp, but the bullet weights are unknown to me. While shoooting these, there were a couple times when I thought a nose-bleed was on the way. If anyone else has ever came down 'hard' in an Airborne jump or Air Assault repel(or been in a bar fight), you've probably experienced that feeling at the top of your nose where you swear you can smell blood, this was the same feeling I got while shooting these loads. It's surprising how much shock is transfered through your arms and into your cranium.
As far as standard velocity .357 goes, the recoil is heavy, but nothing that would make make choose to download to .38+p for carry. I fired Remington, CCI, and Federal 158's through it, and all seemed to perform the same. At 10 & 20 yards, the POA-to-POI ratio was DEAD ON, and seemed extreamely accurate for it's intended purpose(defense), but they are guarenteed to fire 1.7"(or less) at 7yds anyways.
With .38 or .38+P ammo, shooting is greatly tamed, and most shooters could probably handle several boxes if they wished. The only +P ammo I had was Federal's 158 Personal-Defense, but it printed the same as the magnum loads. And although there has been warnings of using non-jacketed lead bullets, it was all I had in standard .38spl loadings, so I fired a box of the CCI 158gr lead round-nose. Again, accuracy was the same, but lead build-up was noticable.
The trigger is very heavy, and I run out of travel on my 10# scale, but my estimate would be around 12-pounds, since it breaks as soon as I run out of numbers. It seems no different than my prior S&W 342 or M65(before rework), but a big change from my 1911s.
All in all, I am very happy with the purchase and will be carrying it everyday. I presently have it loaded with 158gr(.357) aluminum cased Blazer, and it's riding in a light-weight GunMate IWB holster(1.14oz.). This is about the lightest I can make the entire system, and that's what I was after.
So fully loaded, including the weight of the holster, the total comes to 15.42oz.
I had carried my Pro Eclipe 1911 since September, and had recently dug my Beretta .32 Tomcat out of the closet, due to weight issues. I just didn't feel comfortable with the power of the Tomcat and the 340 is still 2.5oz lighter, while offering magnum performance.
Sorry about the 'weak' review. I was mostly addressing the recoil issues. If anyone has any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them. Because I still have several hundred$$ on store credit, I'm planning on ordering a standard grey 340 this week also. I like pairs.
BTW-It's the MN State Fishing Opener today and it's thunderstorming
. This is the main reason for this report(cancelled plans & frustration).
Take Care!
Having owned the 342PD(38+P) prior, I was already familiar to the revolver's appearance, but was surprised to see the safety lock feature in the area of the cylinder release. It's a .200" circular-shaped entity, that's mounted flush with the frame, and seems to match the titanium cross-pin's colors fairly well. This might be why I overlooked it during a recent test fire, or it could have ben a prototype, lacking the safety.
Of course, I could do without this feature myself, but the engagements seem very positive. Once I gain access to my hollow-ground screw-drivers I'll go inside, I just don't want to take the chance of messing up the side-plate screws with a tapered driver.
FWIW-With the ignition turned in the 'lock' position, the cylinder release operates as normal, and the cylinder will still swing out, but the trigger cannot be moved rearward to fire. It sounds like there's an audible 'click' when turned to the 'fire' position, so I'm thinking there's a spring/ball detent system within. I'll find out later.
Within 20 minutes of the purchase, I was sitting on DPMS's new testing range. As mentioned last week, I had already put 15 rounds of .357 158gr Blazer through a test model and hadn't received the reported 'massive' recoil that many speak of, but yesterday I found loads that were just TOO much for myself to handle. I'll start with a description of these.
These were some Cor-Bon loads that I had found in my ammo collection. The only reason I know they are CB is because of the 2 'stars' on the headstamp, but the bullet weights are unknown to me. While shoooting these, there were a couple times when I thought a nose-bleed was on the way. If anyone else has ever came down 'hard' in an Airborne jump or Air Assault repel(or been in a bar fight), you've probably experienced that feeling at the top of your nose where you swear you can smell blood, this was the same feeling I got while shooting these loads. It's surprising how much shock is transfered through your arms and into your cranium.
As far as standard velocity .357 goes, the recoil is heavy, but nothing that would make make choose to download to .38+p for carry. I fired Remington, CCI, and Federal 158's through it, and all seemed to perform the same. At 10 & 20 yards, the POA-to-POI ratio was DEAD ON, and seemed extreamely accurate for it's intended purpose(defense), but they are guarenteed to fire 1.7"(or less) at 7yds anyways.
With .38 or .38+P ammo, shooting is greatly tamed, and most shooters could probably handle several boxes if they wished. The only +P ammo I had was Federal's 158 Personal-Defense, but it printed the same as the magnum loads. And although there has been warnings of using non-jacketed lead bullets, it was all I had in standard .38spl loadings, so I fired a box of the CCI 158gr lead round-nose. Again, accuracy was the same, but lead build-up was noticable.
The trigger is very heavy, and I run out of travel on my 10# scale, but my estimate would be around 12-pounds, since it breaks as soon as I run out of numbers. It seems no different than my prior S&W 342 or M65(before rework), but a big change from my 1911s.
All in all, I am very happy with the purchase and will be carrying it everyday. I presently have it loaded with 158gr(.357) aluminum cased Blazer, and it's riding in a light-weight GunMate IWB holster(1.14oz.). This is about the lightest I can make the entire system, and that's what I was after.
So fully loaded, including the weight of the holster, the total comes to 15.42oz.
I had carried my Pro Eclipe 1911 since September, and had recently dug my Beretta .32 Tomcat out of the closet, due to weight issues. I just didn't feel comfortable with the power of the Tomcat and the 340 is still 2.5oz lighter, while offering magnum performance.Sorry about the 'weak' review. I was mostly addressing the recoil issues. If anyone has any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them. Because I still have several hundred$$ on store credit, I'm planning on ordering a standard grey 340 this week also. I like pairs.
BTW-It's the MN State Fishing Opener today and it's thunderstorming
. This is the main reason for this report(cancelled plans & frustration).Take Care!
)