For years I have carried a .357 backpacking in black bear country (sweet little 11 oz 360SC Kit Gun!), but recently I decided I need to up-gun to a .44. Carrying anything heavy or long barreled....is not an option! Ended up picking the 30 ounce, 329NG!

I also considered the 329PD Alaska Backpacker. It is a work of art and the same weight as the NG, but I rejected it because it has a bulbous hard to conceal grip (I know, grips are easy to change) but most important it has no XS Tritium Night Sight. (Lots of bad stuff in bear country, goes down at night!) Other guns I concidered were the 629 Backpacker and the 629PC, but both of these are a fair bit heavier than the NG.

The 45 ounce Ruger SRH Alaskan is my all time favorite gun on the planet, and my first choice in what to carry if I am camping off of vehicles where counting ounces is not an issue. But, the NG is a full pound lighter, so that gives it a huge advantage as a backpacking gun!

My impressions firing the NG for the first time is that the Pachmayr grips do a very excellent job at taming recoil, they fit my hand well, and contribute a lot to the concealability of the gun. The downside of the grips is that while they add a lot of recoil absorbing rugger over the backstrap, that also makes the length of reach to the trigger very long. This is an issue because the double action trigger pull on this gun is HORRENDOUS! Adding a longer reach to the trigger just makes it even worse. On the other hand, the single action trigger pull is excellent, but this is a black bear self defense gun, and making quick off-hand double action shots is what defensive revolver shooting is all about. Definitely, going to have to do something major about this trigger!

While I was apprehensive about the recoil, any fears were mostly unfounded. I shot it side by side with the Ruger Alaskan, and while the big heavy Ruger with its excellent recoil absorbing Hogue Tamer grips makes the .44 a genuine pussycat to shoot, the 329NG wasn't all that bad either. Besides, the NG is one of those guns you carry often but fire seldom, so I can live with that!

I carry a 325 Night Guard, .45acp. I had exactly the same experience you did. My smith polished the trigger and internals, with attention to the metal-meeting-metal surfaces ($25) and it's a different gun, now.

My gun has a 2 3/4" barrel and, as such, there's a lot of external powder burn... and a heck of a flash. As you said, it's a shoot less often gun and one would hope to make the shot clean on round one. Against a bear... you'll empty the gun, regardless, I'm sure.