New here. Bought a m&p shield 9mm last year, love that gun. My wife has never shot and trying to teach her on a semi, she says is to much. So I set out to find a revolver. Looked at 442 and 642, but wanted different sight. Saw the m&p 340 with night sight and starting wanting to by that gun. I will not but .357 in it for her to learn to shoot on, only 38 and maybe 38 + P down the road. I want to change the grips to a hoque grip. From what I read, this is a beast of a gun with .357 but everything I read said it is ok with 38. The local gun shop had a smith and wesson sale event this past weekend. Gun smith from performance center was there and if you bought a gun, they did a triger adjustment job. Cut the springs and filed the trigger, it has a much smoother pull now. It is still new in box, so looking for some input before I shoot it. Thanks
m&p 340
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I have one. It is not a gun for the faint of heart. I do a lot of shooting and you have to manage recoil for sure. It is an expensive J frame so if you are only going to use .38 maybe a straight .38 might be better for the $$. I have a CT laser on mine so I am in it for oner a grand now. Ever looker at the 637 Wyatt deep cover.
I saw pics of the 637 wyatt deep cover. I wasn't planning on buying the m&p 340 but they did a free action job on the trigger and I really like the front sight on it. Smith and Wesson regional rep was there and he said he has the m&p 340 and changed grips to hogue grips and his wife shoots 38 out of it with no problem. I know I could have got something cheapier but like the front sight and setup of this gun
If you're going to only shoot .38 special, you would be much better served with a 642/442. These are close quarter weapons not range guns. You most likely won't use the sights in an actual self-defense shooting scenario and night sights are more of a hindrance than advantage. You basically paid 300+ dollars for nights sights that aren't going to benefit you. I would sell it and get a 642/442 which will be a better shooting more accurate gun. You can pretty much get two of them for the price of the 340.
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Realgunner
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True. The best thing you can do is put some Crimson Trace Laser Grips on the gun. Here's my 340SC wearing them.
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Shorty 45 MK2
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Welcome to the Forum! 
The M&P 340 does have some of the best sights on a J-frame. It's probably not the best revolver to teach someone with do to the light weight, especially if she thought the Shield was to much.
For grips I'd suggest Pachmayer's Compacts.
The M&P 340 does have some of the best sights on a J-frame. It's probably not the best revolver to teach someone with do to the light weight, especially if she thought the Shield was to much.
For grips I'd suggest Pachmayer's Compacts.
Hit_Factor
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I have a 340 and mife wife shot it once loaded with .38. She much prefers her steel .38s.
HarrishMasher
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Snubby revolvers are for advanced shooters. Beginners cannot even hit a target 7 yards away with a 5 shot lightweight snubby. The recoil, even from a 38, throws them off. I have taken dozens of people out to shoot. They always do poorly with lightweight snubby revolvers. They do best with full size semi auto 9mms. Maybe mid-sized.
Do not buy an M&P340 for your wife. She will never shoot it. If the Shield was too much, she will absolutely hate the 340. It recoils much worse than the Shield, even with 38s. Yes I own both guns and shoot them regularly.
I have 8 J Frames and the M&P340 is my favorite. But I have been shooting a J Frame almost weekly for over a decade.
Do not buy an M&P340 for your wife. She will never shoot it. If the Shield was too much, she will absolutely hate the 340. It recoils much worse than the Shield, even with 38s. Yes I own both guns and shoot them regularly.
I have 8 J Frames and the M&P340 is my favorite. But I have been shooting a J Frame almost weekly for over a decade.
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FloridaFlier
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I have one, and like it. It is my favorite carry gun. I shoot .38 special, and carry .38 special +P. Even if I never shoot a full house magnum, it is a good feeling to know my gun is stronger than a standard .38 special because I reload, and believe the gun will probably hold together in the event of an accidental over charge.
P.S. I switched to Hogue grips: a necessity for range work.
P.S. I switched to Hogue grips: a necessity for range work.
I also wouldn't start someone on revolvers with a 340. IN fact I'd suggest the 3" 60 in all stainless steel. Today I just shot my Kahr CW9 next to my 3" Colt Cobra, which is about 5 oz heavier than the 340 if I'm not mistaken. The Kahr felt like it had half the recoil. Both loads were standard velocity, but the 38s were 158 grain lead. Lightweight 38s don't feel as cute as they look.
First, these are not good guns for novice shooters of any gender. A 3" medium frame is what I recommend for most people who are not dedicated shooters. I think you will find that even with .38's the extra lightweight of the M&P 340 is going to be stout in the recoil department.
With that said, the next revolver I buy is going to be a M&P 340 with no lock. I am just not into the CT laser on my current daily carried back up 642, so I am going to try to sell it or trade it off for a M&P 340.
With that said, the next revolver I buy is going to be a M&P 340 with no lock. I am just not into the CT laser on my current daily carried back up 642, so I am going to try to sell it or trade it off for a M&P 340.
A snub is often called an "experts gun", but that is only true from a certain specific perspective. Change the context and it's likely the ideal choice for a beginner. Many people just want a gun purely for (realistic)self-defense purposes. They won't and don't want to train regularly or have any interest in being a "shooter" and going to the range. All they need is some basic instruction as well as understand proper safety procedures and guidelines. 90+% of civilian self-defense shootings occur at extremely close quarters and it doesn't take much to make hits at those distances. WILSON DEFENSE JOURNAL: The real ladies gun by Massad Ayoob
ridgewalker
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I have a M&P 340 and it is an excellent gun. However, it is what I would describe as an advanced shooters gun and I think a poor choice to teach a beginner to shoot with.
I'll bet this sounds familiar to a lot of the shooters here. Started with toy guns at the youngest age I can remember, then got BB and Pellet guns before finally graduating to 22 caliber rifle and then pistol. Basically raised with guns shooting, handling, reading and thinking about guns our entire lives.
I just don't think the girls generally have this background. Do her a favor and get her a 22 revolver to learn to shoot. I think the J framed 63 would be a good choice. It's a good size for smaller hands and since it is a J frame, she will be used to that size when she is ready to shoot center fire cartridges.
I also think an external hammer is good for beginners. She can probably have some success quicker while shooting single action. Once she starts hitting the targets she will find the fun in target shooting and then you can get her to try some shots double action. After a year or so of weekly practice then I would consider a concealed hammer snubbie. But by then you will have found you don't want to give up the M&P 340 to her.
HarrishMasher
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He is trying to get his wife into shooting. He is not looking to buy her a gun to stick it in her purse and forget about.
I have a fair amount of experience teaching beginners to shoot. I have taken dozens of people to the range for their first time shooting over the last 20 years. What gun do they invariable hate and shoot the worst with...a lightweight J Frame. What is the last gun I would recommend to them as their first gun? You guessed it, a lightweight J Frame.
Invariably their favorite gun to shoot is a full sized 22lr suppressed target pistol I built around a Ruger MkII. What does that tell you. They don't like recoil and they don't like noise. You want to get as close as possible to that in a first gun for them.
Invariably as well, they all seem to shoot a full-sized or mid-sized 9mm pistol better than any other handgun that shoots a true defensive round. So since a full sized 22lr is not a good pistol for defense, I recommend a mid to full size 9mm as a first defensive/carry gun for a beginner. If it must be a 380 auto, which I hate, don't make it a straight blow-back design. They recoil worse than a 9mm.
I will say it again, the absolute worst gun to buy a beginner "shooter" is a lightweight snubby. If he wants her to never shoot, he should buy her a snubby, because that is exactly what will happen.
If Ayoob thinks a lightweight 38 is a good beginners gun, let him buy his wife one.
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The Op needs to specify what his and his wife's goals are. Since he got a shield and a lightweight snub revolver, then I assume it's concealed carry and self-defense. If he's just wanting to shoot for the sake of shooting and spend time at the range, then I agree that both are not really ideal choices. Why was the shield "too much"? Too complicated or too much recoil? My 70 year old mother recently got her concealed carry permit and she carries a 442 as she considered the Glock 26 the instructor recommended unsafe, too heavy and too complicated.
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