I got sort of interested in just what constitutes 38 P+. Is this a somewhat watered down 357 load that can be duplicated within 357 Magnum reloading data? Is it some specific velocity that hand loading can accomplish, in other words?

I've seen several M66 pistols that looked appealing but figured they couldn't take a lot of full bore 357 loads due in part to their frame size and probably chamber dimensions and perhaps forcing cone thickness. I haven't been fortunate enough to actually see one to check-just speculations.

I know you can buy commercial ammo for the +P variety but if you want to "roll your own" I wasn't sure about what powders/bullet combos would be good in that the manuals I have (Speer and Hornady) don't indicate a section for the 38 Special +P. Hornady does indicate some of the loads for the 38 Special does approximate a "+P" velocity. That range seems to run from 950-1050 fps with the 125 gr bullet and is indicated with an asterisk. The data was taken using a 4 inch barrel.

Data for the 357 Magnum shows a starting velocity higher than that range with a minimum charge of several powders showing 1250 fps. So, you can't really use a magnum case and load it (using this bullet)to 38+P velocity. Hope I'm making sense here. This data was taken using an 8 inch barrel and that would probably account for the velocity increase.

In short, would it be best just to use 38 Special loads between 900-1000 fps in the model 66 S&W most of the time? To me, you may as well just buy a 38 Special if that's the case. We're not allowed to use lead bullets at the range I go to so jacketed bullets would have to be the order of the day.