M329PD, "2-Tone"; Sc frame & Ss cylinder
Recently added a 329PD to my lightweight clan. Of course it comes with a scandium frame & titanium alloy cylinder but I though I'd try something a little different.
S&W made a 329 Alaska Backpacker in 2009, for TALO, that had a scandium frame but with a stainless steel cylinder and a 2-1/2" bbl. They called it a "Two-Tone" finish. Same idea as my 360J .357 Magnum 2-Tone I posted above.
Previously I replaced the fluted Ss cylinder on my 629-6 Classic 5" bbl. with a Ss unfluted cylinder, so I had it's surplus cylinder available.
I swapped the Ss cylinder for the Ti cylinder but reused all the original Ti cylinder's associated hardware: center pin, center pin spring, extractor, extractor rod, extractor rod spring, & extractor rod collar.
This made the swap pretty effortless. Timing, lock-up, B-C gap & end-shake all stayed tight, nothing needed addressing.
Since it was new out of the box, I dry fired it a bunch to see how it'd change. SA trigger pull was 4.5# & what little creep it had got worked out.
Popped the side plate & found the firing pin was the dreaded short length, .487", which usually leads to light strikes, so I installed a CS extra length firing pin, .510" long.
Polished up the rebound slide & replaced the rebound slide's spring with a Wolff 14# spring which I shortened by one turn. SA trigger pull now was a target shooting friendly 2.5#.
It comes with the orange Hi-Viz front sight but the rear has a V-notch blade, which I don't care for in precise shooting. Replaced the V-notch with a .196" tall black square notch blade that I got from MidwayUSA (S&W# 033020000). It's notch is the deepest (.104") of any of the standard square notched blades I've used & helps give a great sight picture. A ton better than the V-notch.
Lastly, the muzzle was pretty cleanly cut from the factory but had a sharp edge that frayed cotton cleaning patches on insertion so I chamfered the muzzle giving it a gentle break & the rifling a better presentation.
Weight with Ti cylinder: 25.2 oz, with Ss cylinder: 28.8 oz.
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M329PD, "2-Tone" with Ahrends Cocobolo S&W Tactical Grips, Square Butt Finger Groove, model grips.
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S&W 329PD 2-Tone - side view
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M329PD with Ss cylinder, square notch rear sight & chamfered muzzle
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S&W 329PD 2-Tone - muzzle view
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Titanium cylinder weight
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Stainless steel cylinder weight
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Two is one and one is none...After pocket carrying a 11.3oz j frame, everything else feels like a brick. I had to have a backup for the system to feel bulletproof. So I guess I can carry my 340mp without a care for scratches or problems..now I got my backup system.LOL see what I mean about scandium sickness?
