Originally Posted by Navin Johnson
Wow. When I read stuff like this ^^^, I guess I've been very fortunate. I'm on my 2nd M&P340 and both of them felt like they had the "interiors" tuned up from day one. I'm hoping my good fortune continues on the 442UC I have ordered. The FFL I use has always had accurate shipping information and he has told me the delivery is "imminent." Cue the salivary glands.
"We are the domestic pets of a human zoo we call civilization."
Laurence Gonzales - "Deep Survival."
The UC442 arrived Wed. (Thanks JEC!) I took the side plate off and found no evidence of machining chips or anything else awry. The internals had been lubricated. The hand looks a little different than I remember last time I opened up a J frame. (Which has been some time ago, admittedly) I also noticed that the mainspring is painted yellow, I assume indicating it's significantly different than what we're used to on traditional J frames.
The trigger on this particular specimen is smooth. Remarkably so. I've had the chance to dryfire a couple of other UC's some clients received earlier in the year and this specimen's trigger is significantly smoother than theirs was.
I shot 125 grain Speer Lawman FMJ and some Federal Gold Medal Match 148 grain wadcutters. Both tended to shoot a little high of point of aim. My point of aim on the target here (wadcutters used) was center of the "heart" structure on the paper. That's 2.5 cylinders full of wadcutters shot at a realistic J frame pace (.5-.75 splits) at 7 yards with a target focus.
The revolver ran through about 150 rounds without issue.
Being the risk taker that I am, I bought two of them at the same time and took the risk that the BATFE isn't going to come around asking me about my nefarious plans to destroy the world by buying two compact revolvers at the same time. I mean, who knows what kind of dastardly deeds I'm capable of with a whole 11 rounds of fury carried on my person!
This is my first foray into the world of .32 H&R magnum. I purchased 500 rounds of MagTech .32 S&W wadcutters and 200 rounds of Lost River 100 grain .32 H&R magnum poly-coated wadcutters. I experienced 4 failures to ignite the primer in 75 rounds of MagTech and 2 in 50 rounds of Lost River. All lit on a second strike. I was hoping the Lost River ammo would be my carry ammo in this revolver, but I'll probably have to look at other options.
This revolver also had no chips or debris in the action, but the action was bone dry. I added lubrication and put the sideplate back on. The trigger on this specimen isn't quite as smooth as the 442, but still pretty good.
The recoil of shooting .32 S&W feels about like shooting a .22 magnum...hardly any noticeable recoil. Shooting .32 H&R magnum is spicier, but still less than the 442 with wadcutters.
This particular specimen does not appear to like either load I tried in it, shooting both significantly off of point of aim. The point of aim for the target shown was between the eyes, and that fired with significantly more care than I was using for the 442.
If you are used to stacking the trigger on a revolver to shoot for maximum precision, you should be aware that these revolvers seem built to punish that practice. They steer really hard if there's any pause in your trigger press.
The stocks feel good in the hand...but in live fire they seem to squirm something fierce. If you use the Miculek J frame grip they hold still better, but if you use the traditional thumb-over-thumb grip without adding any isometric tension from the upper body they just squirm to beat the band.
Shooting both back to back, I would swear to you that the stocks on the two revolvers are different. Just grabbing the 442 off the table or out of the pocket I land in a better grip than the 632...and I can't tell you exactly why. I'm going to try different stocks on the revolvers and try these stocks on some of my other J frames to try and figure out what's up.
The sights are certainly highly visible...well, at least the front sight. If you just grip the gun hard, look through the sights and row through the trigger in one smooth, relatively quick motion the rounds will hold inside the black of a B8 easily out to 15 yards. You will find hunting X's difficult as the front sight is almost as big as the B8 at that distance. The sights on these are exactly the inverse of the sights on an older gun like my usual 638. The 638's sights are tough to see with any sort of target focus, but if you close an eye and find them they're very precise. These sights practically jump up and down to be noticed when you have a target focus, but it's difficult to judge where the front is at in the U notch of the rear. The tendency is to have the front sight elevated at least partially out of the notch when working at speed.
Given the way the gun squirms during recoil and trigger reset, the front sight tends to settle high anyway...so you have to be a bit careful. It's not quite like using XS big dots, but it's close.
It will take more work to dial in the right loads and get used to working with these...doubly so on the .32 as it's a completely novel chambering to me. .38 spl is the easy button if you already have .38 J frames and you're looking for the most plug and play option.
3/15/2016
I don't think needing lubrication is a big deal. I say it mostly as a heads up.
I recommend people buy the scandium J frames as they tend to have less problems according to a couple of local stores I have relations with. (fewer problems but they sell far fewer of the $1K guns also, not sure if that is factored in) But it would stand to reason QC is higher as people spending that kinda scratch likely are shooters and would be more picky than a 42 series buyer. And if dead sight issues are factored out (outside supplier) there is still a fair amount of problems with the UC's on the not that many that board members here have bought.
I am in the market but am in no hurry
Ya know, I've always been able to curb knee jerk purchasing in every other area. This UC purchase is the closest I've come to being in a hurry. Maybe cuz as I age, my windows of opportunity are getting smaller?
"We are the domestic pets of a human zoo we call civilization."
Laurence Gonzales - "Deep Survival."
We also experienced the same light strikes with our first 432UC. Headspace measured a little wide so Jason arranged a return label and when it came back it stated that they repaired the yoke and replaced the cylinder. It seems to be OK now but it hasn't been fired extensively yet. Same ammo has worked OK now.
My wife likes the grips that came on it. I put CT 405s on mine.
For anyone who’s interested, the gun shop that I work at P/T has both BNIB, a 442-UC and a 432-UC available. We can ship CONUS FFL to FFL. If anyone is interested, send me a PM and we can try to work out a transaction. I’ll get back to you in the order I receive the message.
Excellent review's, I'd pretty much agree on the sight picture, I'm not going to shoot the balls off a fly but, at 7-10 I'm pretty much on a 3x5 card.
The UC442 arrived Wed. (Thanks JEC!) I took the side plate off and found no evidence of machining chips or anything else awry. The internals had been lubricated. The hand looks a little different than I remember last time I opened up a J frame. (Which has been some time ago, admittedly) I also noticed that the mainspring is painted yellow, I assume indicating it's significantly different than what we're used to on traditional J frames.
The trigger on this particular specimen is smooth. Remarkably so. I've had the chance to dryfire a couple of other UC's some clients received earlier in the year and this specimen's trigger is significantly smoother than theirs was.
I shot 125 grain Speer Lawman FMJ and some Federal Gold Medal Match 148 grain wadcutters. Both tended to shoot a little high of point of aim. My point of aim on the target here (wadcutters used) was center of the "heart" structure on the paper. That's 2.5 cylinders full of wadcutters shot at a realistic J frame pace (.5-.75 splits) at 7 yards with a target focus.
The revolver ran through about 150 rounds without issue.
Being the risk taker that I am, I bought two of them at the same time and took the risk that the BATFE isn't going to come around asking me about my nefarious plans to destroy the world by buying two compact revolvers at the same time. I mean, who knows what kind of dastardly deeds I'm capable of with a whole 11 rounds of fury carried on my person!
This is my first foray into the world of .32 H&R magnum. I purchased 500 rounds of MagTech .32 S&W wadcutters and 200 rounds of Lost River 100 grain .32 H&R magnum poly-coated wadcutters. I experienced 4 failures to ignite the primer in 75 rounds of MagTech and 2 in 50 rounds of Lost River. All lit on a second strike. I was hoping the Lost River ammo would be my carry ammo in this revolver, but I'll probably have to look at other options.
This revolver also had no chips or debris in the action, but the action was bone dry. I added lubrication and put the sideplate back on. The trigger on this specimen isn't quite as smooth as the 442, but still pretty good.
The recoil of shooting .32 S&W feels about like shooting a .22 magnum...hardly any noticeable recoil. Shooting .32 H&R magnum is spicier, but still less than the 442 with wadcutters.
This particular specimen does not appear to like either load I tried in it, shooting both significantly off of point of aim. The point of aim for the target shown was between the eyes, and that fired with significantly more care than I was using for the 442.
If you are used to stacking the trigger on a revolver to shoot for maximum precision, you should be aware that these revolvers seem built to punish that practice. They steer really hard if there's any pause in your trigger press.
The stocks feel good in the hand...but in live fire they seem to squirm something fierce. If you use the Miculek J frame grip they hold still better, but if you use the traditional thumb-over-thumb grip without adding any isometric tension from the upper body they just squirm to beat the band.
Shooting both back to back, I would swear to you that the stocks on the two revolvers are different. Just grabbing the 442 off the table or out of the pocket I land in a better grip than the 632...and I can't tell you exactly why. I'm going to try different stocks on the revolvers and try these stocks on some of my other J frames to try and figure out what's up.
The sights are certainly highly visible...well, at least the front sight. If you just grip the gun hard, look through the sights and row through the trigger in one smooth, relatively quick motion the rounds will hold inside the black of a B8 easily out to 15 yards. You will find hunting X's difficult as the front sight is almost as big as the B8 at that distance. The sights on these are exactly the inverse of the sights on an older gun like my usual 638. The 638's sights are tough to see with any sort of target focus, but if you close an eye and find them they're very precise. These sights practically jump up and down to be noticed when you have a target focus, but it's difficult to judge where the front is at in the U notch of the rear. The tendency is to have the front sight elevated at least partially out of the notch when working at speed.
Given the way the gun squirms during recoil and trigger reset, the front sight tends to settle high anyway...so you have to be a bit careful. It's not quite like using XS big dots, but it's close.
It will take more work to dial in the right loads and get used to working with these...doubly so on the .32 as it's a completely novel chambering to me. .38 spl is the easy button if you already have .38 J frames and you're looking for the most plug and play option.
I'd also agree with the grips feeling a little squirmy, I was wondering about lightly hitting the side panels with a bead blaster (after experimenting on an old set of G10's). I wound up putting a set of 405's on my 642 UC, just because they suit my pocket carry purpose.
Add one more to the list of 432's with light strikes. I experienced the same w/MagTech 32 S&W Long round nose. I'll be reaching out to S&W.
It might not be the gun. I have experienced light strikes with Magtech 32 S&W Long ammo, as have others here. Mine were in a S&W Model 31-1 that I shot a fair amount of rounds through and had no issues with any other brand. I believe their primers are harder than other brands.
Meh, it's been 100% through my 20 year old 332 Airlite Ti, couldn't get through a cylinder with my 432UC (currently back at S&W).
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