Went shooting this morning, the only gun that I took was my "new" S&W model 342PD. I want to start carrying this right away so I decided to run some rounds thru it and see how it did. First of all performance was flawless. I fired exactly 80 rounds in the gun (50 standard - 30 +P) without a malfunction; it was also a real pleasure to shoot. I've never owned a lightweight J frame and assumed the recoil would be much worse than my steel frame models. It was worse but nothing that I really found bothersome. Maybe next time if I do a lot more shooting with +P ammo.
I started off at 10 yards (30ft) using standard pressure 130 grain ammunition. I just wanted to take it slow and get a feel for the gun. This 342PD has a great trigger right from the factory. I also really like the red ramp front sight. The front sight definitely helped me get the little powerhouse on target and to keep getting back on target for follow up shots. Firing at a moderate pace I was able to keep most (about 85%) on my shots in the "A" with more than a few touching, but I did have several shots drift into the edge of the "C" zone.
Next I closed in to the more appropriate "belly gun" range of 7 yards (21ft). This time I wanted more "real life" practice and used my hollowpoint +P ammo. I also tried to fire as fast as I could get back on target. I brought one of the 20 round boxes of Federal ammunition that I got yesterday and half a box that I had of Speer Gold Dot +P ammo. I did about the same with both types of ammunition; the picture below is of the Federal but is representative of both. That's 10 rounds rapid fire (looks like 8) with a spread of 5 inches. All hits were in the "A".
Had a great morning shooting with this impressive little J frame and can't wait to get it out again!
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