The Smith & Wesson 340PD-BS

(Maryville, TN). Hot on the heels of the release of their exciting Titanium cylinder Model 432 UC Ti and Model 632 UC Ti  revolvers at the 2025 SHOT Show, Smith & Wesson is introducing yet another feature-packed J-Frame for the Second Quarter of 2025!

The Model 340PD-BS (“Big Sight”) is a small frame, .357 Magnum revolver with a Titanium alloy cylinder, stainless steel barrel, and Scandium alloy frame that follows the familiar 340PD pattern, but adds an optics mount on the frame’s top strap, which will accommodate a wide variety of red dot sights.

“We thought it was time to bring the J-Frame into the 21^st Century,” explains Andrew Sipowicz, Smith & Wesson’s J-Frame Product Manager. “The J-Frames have always had a high level of mechanical accuracy, but extracting that potential in terms of practical accuracy has always been difficult with the crummy, traditional sights we provided on the guns for over half a century.”

Frustrated customers have been demanding high-visibility fixed sights on J-Frames for many decades, but Smith & Wesson didn’t fully embrace them until major distributor Lipsey’s opened their checkbook for a series of Lipsey’s Special Edition “Ultimate Carry” revolvers in 2023, and proved it wasn’t just the same handful of guys writing all those letters, and making all those phone calls. “The guys in Customer Service were fielding hundreds of calls a week from old codgers** who said they couldn’t see the miniature sights on our guns,” explains Sipowicz, “and our guys were getting tired of telling them to eat more carrots, so we finally said, ‘what the Hell, let’s just put a TV screen on there.’ ”

Adding optics capability to the small J-Frame will certainly please some RevolverGuys, but others will be concerned about the increase in size and weight, which will erase the benefits of a small and lightweight revolver that conceals well in pockets and other tight spaces. Sipowicz and his team are unfazed by these concerns, however, and advise that customers just need to get pants with bigger pockets. “I hear bib overalls are making a comeback,” he said, “and so are those men’s purses. The guns will fit in those.”

The optics plate on the 340PD-BS is compatible with the popular Holosun K footprint, because patriotic Americans are apparently fine with laundering their money through Holosun, to fund and equip the People’s Liberation Army.

While the major focus on the -BS concerns the sighting system, the new gun also features an equipment rail for white lights, lasers, IR illuminators, bayonets, and other tactical necessities. “The social media influencers who work closely with our Marketing Department tell us that you’ll ‘die in the streets’ without a light attached to your defensive gun,” says Sipowicz, “and we figure they can’t be wrong, because they get lots of likes.”

“The old farts over at the RevolverGuy blog told us it was a stupid idea, but they don’t even have a social media account, so like . . . whatever, Boomers!”

Smith & Wesson’s Tik Tok advisory panel initially suggested adding a sidesaddle to the little blaster, to ensure a reload is always handy, but the Engineering team nixed the idea as impractical on the J-Frame. “Not enough room for that -BS feature,” said Lead Engineer Rube Goldberg. Work continues, to see if it would work on the larger X-Frame revolvers, but industry insiders hint that early testing has been unsuccessful. Apparently, the modified X-Frames list to Port too much, with the added weight of the extra .500 S&W ammunition in the sidesaddle. “All the test shooters wound up shooting ‘gangsta style,’ because they couldn’t hold the gun upright,” said an anonymous insider.

Smith & Wesson advises they’ve already shipped some internal lock-equipped -BS, so be sure to look for it at your stocking Smith & Wesson dealer.

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(**) ”Truth be told, there were a bunch of younger shooters complaining about them too,” said Sipowicz, “but we didn’t realize it. They kept telling us our sights were ‘cooked,’ and we mistakenly thought they were complimenting us.”

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BREAKING UPDATE: Shortly after publishing, RevolverGuy learned that officials at Taurus were considering legal action against Smith & Wesson, claiming an infringement on their optics-ready, T.O.R.O.-series design. A visibly irritated Taurus spokesman, Caleb Giddings, was reportedly overheard exclaiming, “You mess with the bull, you get the horns, jackwagons!”  We’ll keep you posted on further -BS developments, here at RevolverGuy.

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NOT SO BREAKING UPDATE:  Industry giant Sig Sauer would like to remind you that, “it ends.” Or actually, it was supposed to end, but we’re still busy ending it. No, no, it’s definitely ended. Yes, ended. It’s done. We’re done. Go back to your revolvers, there’s nothing to see here.

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Lead Image from some creative guy out there on Al Gore’s Internet

Author: Mike

Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Mike Wood is a bonafide revolver nut, a certified law enforcement instructor in handgun, shotgun, patrol rifle, less-lethal, and diversionary device disciplines, and the author of Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis, the definitive study of the infamous, 1970 California Highway Patrol shootout in Newhall, California. Mike wrote the "Tactical Analysis" column at Police1.com for 8 years, and enjoys teaching both armed citizens and law enforcement officers. View all posts by Mike