I recently purchased a 329NG for woods carry and backpacking in the Rockies. The gun's ample power and light weight seemed to be the perfect fit for my needs.
Fit and finish: The gun arrived NIB and the initial inspection revealed excellent fit and finish. Trigger pull was a bit stiff (I do not have a gauge but I estimate its 11-12lbs). While stiff, the pull is crisp and smooth.
Tweaks: I am not a huge fan of the stock internal firing pins so I immediately replaced it APEX Tactical's XP spring and pin. The sight had one screw which was not snug and I tightened it. Off to the ranch for some testing!
My primary carry ammo for 2 legged predators will be Speer's short barrel gold dot 200g load. These bullets shot very well from the gun and were very controllable. They chrono'd at 1015 fps with a stdev of 39.4 fps. Plenty of power for everything but the biggest critters!
For those occasions where the big 4 legged predators are a concern I brought my 300g Cast Performance hard cast bullets with gas checks for testing. These bullets were loaded over 19g and 20g of H110 with Fed150 primers for testing. Recoil for these was a bit strong but the Night Guard's excellent grips did their job. The 300g loads chrono'd at 1002fps and 1038fps respectively with 15fps stdev in the NG. For grins I ran these through my 7.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter and they delivered 1219 and 1278fps respectively with a stdev of 9fps. I could add one more grain of H110 in the Ruger but for the NG I will stick with the 19g load.
I also tested Winchester 240g JSP White Box load in both guns. The Ruger demonstrated 1475fps with this load and the NG 1112fps. This load is not one I would shoot regularly in the NG because it is "snappy" but it would be an excellent critter getter through the Blackhawk.
For plinking purposes I brought along some 240g LSWC by Oregon Trail loaded over 8.5 grains of Unique with Fed150 primers. This is a very accurate load and tested at 802 fps with a stdev of 3fps in the NG and 958fps with a stdev of 41 in the Ruger.
I spent the remainder of the session breaking rocks with these bullets and both guns performed flawlessly.
I am pleased with the new Night Guard and I look forward to putting some more rounds downrange and thoroughly wringing out its accuracy potential. I didn't have time this session to put bullets to paper but the guns combat accuracy was more than adequate as some of the local limestone rocks bore witness.
Pics to follow!
Fit and finish: The gun arrived NIB and the initial inspection revealed excellent fit and finish. Trigger pull was a bit stiff (I do not have a gauge but I estimate its 11-12lbs). While stiff, the pull is crisp and smooth.
Tweaks: I am not a huge fan of the stock internal firing pins so I immediately replaced it APEX Tactical's XP spring and pin. The sight had one screw which was not snug and I tightened it. Off to the ranch for some testing!
My primary carry ammo for 2 legged predators will be Speer's short barrel gold dot 200g load. These bullets shot very well from the gun and were very controllable. They chrono'd at 1015 fps with a stdev of 39.4 fps. Plenty of power for everything but the biggest critters!
For those occasions where the big 4 legged predators are a concern I brought my 300g Cast Performance hard cast bullets with gas checks for testing. These bullets were loaded over 19g and 20g of H110 with Fed150 primers for testing. Recoil for these was a bit strong but the Night Guard's excellent grips did their job. The 300g loads chrono'd at 1002fps and 1038fps respectively with 15fps stdev in the NG. For grins I ran these through my 7.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter and they delivered 1219 and 1278fps respectively with a stdev of 9fps. I could add one more grain of H110 in the Ruger but for the NG I will stick with the 19g load.
I also tested Winchester 240g JSP White Box load in both guns. The Ruger demonstrated 1475fps with this load and the NG 1112fps. This load is not one I would shoot regularly in the NG because it is "snappy" but it would be an excellent critter getter through the Blackhawk.
For plinking purposes I brought along some 240g LSWC by Oregon Trail loaded over 8.5 grains of Unique with Fed150 primers. This is a very accurate load and tested at 802 fps with a stdev of 3fps in the NG and 958fps with a stdev of 41 in the Ruger.
I spent the remainder of the session breaking rocks with these bullets and both guns performed flawlessly.
I am pleased with the new Night Guard and I look forward to putting some more rounds downrange and thoroughly wringing out its accuracy potential. I didn't have time this session to put bullets to paper but the guns combat accuracy was more than adequate as some of the local limestone rocks bore witness.
Pics to follow!
