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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 04-16-2012, 11:51 PM
J-FRAME J-FRAME is offline
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Default 329 PD and hard cast bullets ??

Do any of you really shoot your 329 with 240 gr hard cast bullets/ reloads maybe 7.5- 8.0 grs Unique as a practice round/ range gun? Something moderate to get trigger/sight time and real use.I carry mine a lot out in the country but can I really just load it down and shoot or will I wear it out or break it?I,m afraid of breaking it I guess.
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Old 04-17-2012, 08:40 AM
xrmattaz xrmattaz is offline
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My 329PD lives on a steady diet of 240gr. hard cast bullets, loaded in .44 Special cases. I'm still using up my stash of 231 powder, as I have a bunch of it.

4500ish rounds fired now, no issues with the gun, still as tight as it was at day one.
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Old 04-17-2012, 08:59 AM
M29since14 M29since14 is offline
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329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ??  
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Originally Posted by J-FRAME View Post
Do any of you really shoot your 329 with 240 gr hard cast bullets/ reloads maybe 7.5- 8.0 grs Unique as a practice round/ range gun?
Good question. I used to. In my case I used 9.0 grs of Unique and a 250K, but essentially the same thing as you are asking about - light practice-target type load. The barrel on my 329 is so atrocious that I quickly discontinued the practice. It appears to be one of those lovely ECM barrels (may or may not be, I said "appears" ) and it leads so horribly that I was concerned about that and changed over to all jacketed bullets.

The gun is very tough to shoot well anyway, to say nothing of not too much fun to shoot, so I suppose it is no big deal, but I wish it had a barrel comparable to my other S&W 44 Magnums.

I wouldn't worry about breaking the gun with target loads. If yours is OK with lead, then I would use lead bullets, but my gun accumulates so much lead in the first inch of the barrel it is scary. The gun is meant to be used. Use it and if something tragic does befall it, decide then whether you want to replace it or buy something different. You won't know for sure until then. I doubt you will be disappointed. The guns seem to be holding up pretty well, from what I can tell.
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Old 04-17-2012, 02:08 PM
CWH44300 CWH44300 is offline
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329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ??  
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I shoot mine - 250K and 9gr unique - most all my 44's practically live on this diet - shoot it has much as you can and enjoy it
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Old 04-17-2012, 09:27 PM
dla dla is offline
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329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ??  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J-FRAME View Post
Do any of you really shoot your 329 with 240 gr hard cast bullets/ reloads maybe 7.5- 8.0 grs Unique as a practice round/ range gun? Something moderate to get trigger/sight time and real use.I carry mine a lot out in the country but can I really just load it down and shoot or will I wear it out or break it?I,m afraid of breaking it I guess.
I shoot mine like the magnum it is. I don't do poofter loads in it. Because it is so light, I think it is a mistake not to shoot it like you carry it. But that is just my opinion.

329pd Information - see load data section.
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Old 04-17-2012, 11:30 PM
Rocket-scientist Rocket-scientist is offline
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329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ?? 329 PD and hard cast bullets ??  
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First post!!

I just returned from the range with my 329PD. Only 200 rounds fired so far. 240 LSWC - 20.6 grains 2400 - Win large primer puts 6 rounds in 1 hole at 10 yards. I have not chrono'd this out of the 329 yet but it's 1300 FPS out of my 7.5 inch SBH.

I also loaded the same bullet and primer over 10 grains unique and had difficulty ejecting and 2 primers leaking gas. Not sure why the excess pressure on the light load. I'm going to pull some bullets and check the powder weight again, but I randomly checked when loading.

I do shoot 7.5 grains unique with a 240 in 44spl cases and find it light and very accurate but leads up. I just hate cleaning the front of the cylinder due to the shorter case. I wouldn't worry about the light loads in this pistol, just get a good lead remover.
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