This is a piece I wrote for another forum, folks - I'll share with you. I might have posted it before.
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Yesterday, I had the time to try out a 342 vs my own dear 642. The 342 was a rental gun at the local range and had the same
Uncle Mike's rubber boot grips as my 642.
As my 642 is a gun I carry a good amount of the time, I was interested in how the lighter 342 functioned and felt.
The test was:
First a warm up of 20 Winchester White Box FMJ from each, 5 from each gun in an alternation.
Then I fired 20 Federal PDA HydraShoks from each.
The reason for this ammo choice was:
1. I had a bit that I got on sale
2. It is a common self-defense round
3. +P rounds are expensive and firing snubbies are painful enough without the +P.
In alternating, sequences of 5 rounds, I fired 10 rounds at 4 yards, 5 rounds at 7 yards and 5 at 15 yards. The target was a small silhouette (used by the GA state police). Largest dimension was about 1.5 ft from hand to hand.
My impressions:
Weight - both guns are light as guns go.
The 342 is noticeably lighter. I carry the
642 as a pocket gun. I don't find it uncomfortable. Sometimes, I notice the weight but usually I don't. Since the range would probably not like it if I put their gun in my pocket, I didn't. However, I have carried my 317 in my pocket and it is totally unnoticeable to me.
A 640 is not comfortable to me for pocket carry. It's too heavy.
Conclusion: Some advantage to the 342 but not overwhelming.
Accuracy:
Caveat - all were shot with my right hand, one handed. I 'm left handed and my left hand is still screwed up from an accident in the summer. So no two handed grip. Also, shooting cross dominance. (note: broke my left wrist in August - it's still screwed)
The guns were basically equivalent. At 4 yards, one can shoot touching groups (except for a flier due to gravitational distortion and UFOs).
At 7 yards, all rounds were in a fist sized group. At 15 yards, I was kind of crappy with a six inch / 8 inch group. All would have been in the target though.
No advantage to either gun
Recoil:
I used to think the 642 was stiff but the 342 gives you a sock with a nuance of pain. The 642 pounds your hand hard but it doesn't give me sharp pain. After 50 rounds, my hand is sore. However, with the 342, a fired round can give me an ouch experience. I could definitely feel the trigger trying to dig a hole in my finger. I flashed back to a guy shooting a SW 41 mag at LFI-1and, it eating up his fingers to the raw flesh.
You might not notice it in the heat of an incident but practice would be a pain. In a way it was a good experience as now I regard my 642 as more of a pussycat.
I imagine a +P round would be nasty but I didn't try them. The mild PDA was nasty enough for me.
Trigger: This might not be a fair comparison as the 342 was a range gun and my 642 has been shot for several years but I found the 342 trigger a touch gritty and stagy. One cannot generalize from one
sample.
Conclusion: I see no reason to trade in my 642 for a 342. The lighter weight doesn't give me that much in comfort. The recoil disadvantage was not to my taste. If I was buying a J frame new - maybe for the slight weight difference - but probably not. I would be interested in shooting the 32 version but I don't want to launch into the stopping power debate.
If I was buying a specific gun for ankle carry - maybe. Since I don't carry that way, I really can't judge.
The 342 isn't a bad gun. In fact, it's pretty neat. It's not a newbie gun. If someone buys it and gets +p rounds after reading a gun mag - they are going to surprised if they try it. You need some experience to deal with it.
The range dude told me of a guy who bought one with the wood grips without trying one. The guy is not a shooter - Ouch.
The lightweight construction works really well for my 317 as I can drop it into my pocket with some snake shot and hi-velocity 22 LR when I go out in the field - but I also have rifle or shotgun.
bye
Glenn
The only negative I can offer is the recoil. Everything else is positive.