I'm not retired LE. But I do know that the Speer Gold dot .38 +p load is about one of the only ones that meets the FBI criteria and most serious trainers will only recommend those rounds. The only 3 I know of are the Speer one you bought, the Cor Bon 110 DPX +p load and I think the new Federal HST +p load all meet the requirements.

Many of us .38 shooters don't carry those, but I personally believe those are the best choices.

HOWEVER..... I do believe the Speer Gold Dot 135 grain .38 +p load is designed for 2" revolvers and may have different performance in a longer barrel. It may open up more and not penetrate as deeply. But there may also be 2 different line items. 1 for short barrels and one for service sized barrels, let me look.

I did contact them once and asked if the short barrel .38 +P load would be recommended in my Model 19 6"er and the response was a "no".

OK, yeah, according to their website, there is only 1 .38 +p gold dot load and that is meant for Shorter barrels. I wouldn't use it in the Model 19.

Speer - Ammunition

I do think it might be wise to find a .38 special +p load for the model 19 because your follow up shots would be quicker. However, if you feel like you can handle the .357 at reasonable speeds for self defense, the 135 grain .357 SHOULD be fine for the 19. But I'm no expert and have not shot a lot through mine. It was my Step Dad's and I have no clue how many rounds he had through it. But as a CHP officer he mostly shot .38's through it for practice.

Many recommend the 158 lswc +p loads.

You might like this guy's site. Tons of good info on smith revolvers. He was an LEO Hi Powers and Handguns