Water_Gremlin
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- Apr 25, 2006
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A thread awhile back I stated that I would take my 329 to the range and post my thoughts. When I posted that thread it had been some time since I put any rounds through this handgun. Today I finally make the trek to the range with 75 rounds of Remington factory ammo 240gr bullets.
When I first acquired this handgun I fired a few rounds with the Hogue grips that came with the package, also wooden grips accompanied the pistol but I quickly put them away with thoughts of hand pain in my mind. With the Hogue grips and Remington factory ammo 240gr the recoil was heavy and somewhat painful with reach round, but my hands where already frozen in the brisk wind and below freezing temps.
I have put a few rounds through this pistol since but I needed to get a better feel for the 329, especially with the new 500 mag grips. I am comparing this handgun to various .22, 38spl, 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, 357mag, & 44mag pistols I have fired in the past. I wish I could have compared the 329 with other heavy hitting handguns but I do not know many people with such firearms. So here we go.
My target was setup at 25 yards and there was very little wind. I fired one round at a time until I felt the simple open sights were spot on. The HIVIZ sights are simply awesome and are easy to locate and re-aim when recovering from recoil. I decided to fire 3 sets of two quick bursts. My first shot was a 1/4" above center and the second was a couple inches to the right relative to my first shot. Between shots it took me somewhere around a second to recover from recoil if not less. My other two sets of two where a little more scattered, but I had a few sets that mimiced my first two shots mentioned above. Basically I still need more practice with the 329.
The 500 grips are a nose hair too big for my hands but they are still quite comfortable. These grips seem to make quite the difference in recoile that is associated with the 329. Today I fired all 75 rounds in 2 hours. I did not experience much hand pain while shooting the 329. Even as I type, I have almost no pain in my hand or arm. However I did develope a blister on my index finger, thats the extent of my injuries.
I did have a few problems today. The side button to push that releases the wheel from the handgun would continously become loose. Its a small nut that tightens by a flat head screw driver. I am thinking blue locktite will solve that problem. The second was the wheel was incredily hard to open somewhere after my first 50 rounds. The rod that is used to extract bullets from the wheel loosened up. After a few twists it was tight and fixed that problem.
Now for the conclusion. I never felt the 329 was uncontrollable with the 500 mag grips. It was actually very fun to fire. The 329 did not have much rearward recoil but it mainly like to jump up and push the backbone of the grips into the web of the hand. It was still somewhat easy to recover from the recoil and the HIVIZ sights made it much easier to locate the open sights and focus them on the target. The 329 is more difficult to control than any other pistol I have fired but I did not find it excessive and worthy of carrying in the woods. I just need more practice. I will be happy when I get all 6 rounds within a 10 inch target. With that said I like the versatility of this handgun. If need be and there is no DG threat, I can load it with 44 specials and have a light yet concealable package. I give the 329 two thumbs and one blistered finger up.
When I first acquired this handgun I fired a few rounds with the Hogue grips that came with the package, also wooden grips accompanied the pistol but I quickly put them away with thoughts of hand pain in my mind. With the Hogue grips and Remington factory ammo 240gr the recoil was heavy and somewhat painful with reach round, but my hands where already frozen in the brisk wind and below freezing temps.
I have put a few rounds through this pistol since but I needed to get a better feel for the 329, especially with the new 500 mag grips. I am comparing this handgun to various .22, 38spl, 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, 357mag, & 44mag pistols I have fired in the past. I wish I could have compared the 329 with other heavy hitting handguns but I do not know many people with such firearms. So here we go.
My target was setup at 25 yards and there was very little wind. I fired one round at a time until I felt the simple open sights were spot on. The HIVIZ sights are simply awesome and are easy to locate and re-aim when recovering from recoil. I decided to fire 3 sets of two quick bursts. My first shot was a 1/4" above center and the second was a couple inches to the right relative to my first shot. Between shots it took me somewhere around a second to recover from recoil if not less. My other two sets of two where a little more scattered, but I had a few sets that mimiced my first two shots mentioned above. Basically I still need more practice with the 329.
The 500 grips are a nose hair too big for my hands but they are still quite comfortable. These grips seem to make quite the difference in recoile that is associated with the 329. Today I fired all 75 rounds in 2 hours. I did not experience much hand pain while shooting the 329. Even as I type, I have almost no pain in my hand or arm. However I did develope a blister on my index finger, thats the extent of my injuries.
I did have a few problems today. The side button to push that releases the wheel from the handgun would continously become loose. Its a small nut that tightens by a flat head screw driver. I am thinking blue locktite will solve that problem. The second was the wheel was incredily hard to open somewhere after my first 50 rounds. The rod that is used to extract bullets from the wheel loosened up. After a few twists it was tight and fixed that problem.
Now for the conclusion. I never felt the 329 was uncontrollable with the 500 mag grips. It was actually very fun to fire. The 329 did not have much rearward recoil but it mainly like to jump up and push the backbone of the grips into the web of the hand. It was still somewhat easy to recover from the recoil and the HIVIZ sights made it much easier to locate the open sights and focus them on the target. The 329 is more difficult to control than any other pistol I have fired but I did not find it excessive and worthy of carrying in the woods. I just need more practice. I will be happy when I get all 6 rounds within a 10 inch target. With that said I like the versatility of this handgun. If need be and there is no DG threat, I can load it with 44 specials and have a light yet concealable package. I give the 329 two thumbs and one blistered finger up.
