This gun has the features that we always wished the J-frame came from the factory with and we have Lipsey’s to thank for it. I had been putting off buying one because I just invested in a M&P 340 two years ago. Seeing the sights on my 25 year old 642, even with paint was not reliable enough for me in low light so I upgraded to the 340. Pushing the cylinder out of my 340 has always been a little sticky but it has become a serious problem of late and it will need to go back to the factory. The old 642 came back into service and I was depending on the CTC Laser Grips for low light encounters.
I saw one of the 442 UCs for a decent price online and went ahead and ordered it. I love the high horn grips and the sights were what I was looking for. They have a very similar sight picture to the M&P 340 with the ability to address windage issues by drifting the rear sight. Another improvement, in my mind, was that the aluminum 442 would weigh more than the scandium frame 340. The trigger was better than the 340 was out of the box but not great.
Right out of the box it printed groups 6 inches to the left. This has been reported before so I expected it. I took it back to my shop and knocked the rear sight over until it was flush with the right side. The 148-158 grain rounds will hit to the top of the front sight if you bury the rear sight into the bottom of the u notch with no black line between the rear sight and the green front sight insert. With 110-130 grain ammunition, you can use a more center elevation placement of the green ball in the rear u-notch.
.38 Special is a very versatile cartridge and offers a wide variety of bullet weights for whatever task you may be looking to accomplish. This also makes it hard to regulate the sights for a particular load. My old 642 was regulated perfectly for the Winchester 130gr bonded RA38B load.
Other available loads that I often use include the outstanding Speer Short Barrel 135 +P which has not been available for a while, though it has recently showed up on the Speer website. I have some Hornady 110 gr Critical Defense for testing. My 340 M&P has been loaded with Lost River 148gr poly-coated wadcutters and reloads have been Federal 158 FMJ.
Both of my chosen carry loads shot to the left, so I moved the sight after the range session. I will memorize where the practice loads go and deal with that as necessary.
I will check to make sure it is zeroed and get a low light practice session in before I try to qualify with it for carry. The gun has 125 rounds through it, so far. The trigger is still “meh”, though better than previous versions of the J-frame out of the box. I think that will likely smooth out some with use. So far, I like it.
If you want a much more in depth look at these guns you should go to Revolver Guy and check their series out.