S&W 342???

T

therealtwitch

New member
I got a great deal on a 342ti today. Basically got it instead of a 642. I like the under lug barrel and pinned front sight. But other than being scandium with a ti cylinder I can't really find much info on it. Seems like people really like them. Is there any special care I need to take for the ti cylinder? What is everyone's opinion of this little gun?
 
I carried one for a few years and I was amazed much difference a few ounce of weight can make in recoil. My 342 was brutal to shoot with even standard pressure ammo; with plus p's it was down right miserable. However, the airweights I owned were a lot easier to shoot and only weighted a few ounces more. As for cleaning and care, I just used regular hopps and no brushes on the cylinder.
 
The problem with ultra light guns is not that they might be uncontrollable in an emergency (under stress, people often don't notice noise or recoil) but that owners won't be able to practice enough to use them effectively. A gun that causes its owner to wince just looking at it might not be the best choice for carry, even though it is very light.

Jim
 
I love how light it is. My regular carry gun is a 640-1. As such I am not so worried about recoil. But it is hard to trust that it is still there. It's so light compared to my 640-1 that keep wondering if I dropped it.
 
It's been reported that the 342ti is THE lightest .38Spl revolver S&W has ever sold. I've actually never seen one, but I've handled the very similar 337ti, and I'm tempted to believe it! The frame actually has a groove down the backstrap to lighten it even more.

These revolvers are so light that S&W marked the barrels of some variants with .38 SPL +P JACKETED. The reason for the peculiar "jacketed" label is that +P loads with soft lead bullets (e.g. the Remington LSWCHP "FBI load") apparently have a tendency to jump crimp and lock up the gun; its recoil is that severe! :eek:
 
I considered myself pretty competent with my carry gun, a 3" barrel all steel Model 36, but it took me a whole lot of ammo to get that way. A lot of it was wadcutter, but I fired a goodly amount of standard and +P loads as well (and some a lot hotter than +P).

I wonder how many rounds owners of those ultra-lights will fire in order to become competent with those guns (and the nearly as light ones in .357).

Jim
 
I am defiantly going to buy some springs for it cause the trigger is no where near as nice as my 640. The recoil doesn't seem any worse than the 640. However it does make me know for certain that I no longer want to own a 340. I can't imagine shooting a gun this light in .357
 
My 351C has the backstrap and trigger guard carved out like that to save weight too. It weighs 11.5 oz and is pretty snappy even with .22 magnums. .38 Special in a gun that light would not be pleasant, for me anyway.
 
Don't use anything abrasive to clean the cylinder, it will damage or remove the grey coating and the titanium underneath will get eaten away when you shoot it. Those cylinders cannot be replaced, S&W doesn't have anymore and isn't making them.
 
I've got a 642, and looking at your gun made me envious, even while it made the web of my shooting hand sympathetically ache. :)


Larry
 
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