I just picked up an S&W M&P 340CT yesterday. I'm no newbie when it comes to J frames in 357 magnum as I've owned two (S&W 640-1s). However the 340 is so much lighter than the 640s I had before. I was wondering if anyone had tried the CCI SB .357 magnum Gold Dots? They seem to give slightly better ballistics than the 38 Special in the same configuration. I was just wondering what the hive mind thought of them.

Another note: It seems like the Crimson Trace laser grips have a bit of recoil reduction built into them. There is a sizable gap between the back strap and the grip itself. This should be an interesting little revolver to shoot. I'm waiting on the ammo, speedloaders, holster and everything else to take it out to the range.

One other thing: It seems the S&W pricing on it's website is a little out of whack or I got one heck of a deal. I paid about $750 for the gun (LEO discount).

I shoot and carry it in my M&P 340. I find it's not much more recoil than the Speer 38 +P, but it's not fun to shoot more than 50 rounds or so.  S&W website prices are msrp, so street prices are cheaper.

What do you want to know?

Chronograph velocity was 925 fps from a 1 7/8" barrel.  (Dan Wesson model 738P) .  Opened up just fine when shot into water jugs.

EDIT: Sorry just re-red the post, these were the .38 +P, not the .357.  The .357 version ought to give you about 250 more fps.

Do some research on these rounds.  I "read" that the 135 grain gold dot bullet was not designed to be driven at 357 velocities, which caused it to break up on several independent pen tests.  Speer is supposedly aware of the issue, and their official statement is that the rounds "should be fine" in real world applications.  I know for a fact that NYPD has put the short barrel 38+P gold dots into numerous bad guys with succesful results, so I am sticking with 38+P.  I did shoot the short barrel 357's just to see how they are, and they were not nearly as hard to handle as I thought (same gun, MP 340CT, and yes the CT grip takes a bit of recoil out)

Thanks guys. That was the information I was looking for. The last time I fired a J frame 357, I wondered which was worse, shooting the gun or getting shot BY it. Even though my last J frame was in stainless it didn't help out the recoil one bit. It's the design of the gun that forced the recoil straight back in the hand with very little muzzle rise. Well, I'll have to give this 340 a try. It's lighter than my Glock 26, about the same size and fires a lot more potent round.

Thanks again!

It's all in the grip. Most people hold a revolver like a semi-auto. That's the wrong way. You need to hold the revolver so the bore is about level with your arm/wrist. This sends the recoil straight back into your shoulders.

From  Jerry Miculek's website.

Or straight into the web of your hand. No matter how I tried to fire it it "bit the hand that fed it". Looking at that picture, I can see where the support hand would back up the firing hand in the web area. I'll try that next time I shoot.