S&W 329 NG Review

[Thebear_78]

I just picked up a 329 NG 44 mag for my dual purpose concealed carry and field carry revolver. Up until now I have been carrying a glock 20 for my field carry gun but have been wanting something lighter for quite some time. I ran across this 329 NG and was really impressed with how it felt. It was light but not too light and those big round pachmyer grips fit my hand like a glove. I was blessed/cursed with big mitts so a lot of hand guns are just too small to be comfortable. I checked it out online but they must have changed the specs at some time because mine has a 2.75" barrel, and says so even on the box but online specs say 2.5". I have been carrying this for a week now in a galco wheel gunner. I carry it all day and you can hardly feel its there. The galco holster is for a 4" gun so it sticks down a bit below the barrel but its still very comfortable and holds the gun nice and tight and after a little bit of modifying I have it sitting a little deeper in the holster and both comfortable and secure in the holster. The revolver shoots very well. The XS front tritium 24/7 dot and cylinder and slide fixed U rear match up really well, are easy to find quickly and easier to aim than you would think. I have shot a variety of loads from 200gr Speer HP @ 950fps and 255gr keith style cast loads at 1200fps, up to 300gr Cast performance WFNGC @ 1100fps. I think the 300gr CP WFNGC will make a great field load, if I can't accomplish it with this load then I shouldn't be trying to do it with a handgun. Its what I will be packing along the river banks while fishing this year. The 200gr speer HP should make a great personal defense load that groups well and is very manageable in recoil. I have had the misfortune of shooting a lot of the 4" 329 PDs almost exclusively with full power 240s and the diffence in felt recoil is pretty noticeable. The 329 had a nasty tendency to not go bang a few years ago. There was apparently some with defective firing pins. My buddy is a gunsmith and Smith and wesson sent him a bunch of new firing pins and was sending everyone his way that needed them repaired. I happen to do a lot of his test firing so ended up shooting a bunch of them. I always ran 3 cylinders full to test them out and usually spent the rest of the time cursing them. The 329 NG has much less felt recoil even with the full power loads. The 329 NG weighs about 5oz more than the 329 PD. Apparently that is enough to make a difference, or it could be that the large round pachmeyer grip handles recoil better than the open tang hogue or wood ahrens grips that come on the 329 PD. Overall I couldn't be happier with this pistol and look forward to doing more shooting and [/t][/t]

[Savage]

Nice looking roller! I have a mdl 29 with a 4" barrel. A bit old school compared to the 329 but sweet just the same. My favorite revolver!
Savage