would I be jeopardizing myself or my Chiefs special manufactured in 1976 if I put a box of +P ammo down range. It was my late father in laws and I would rather not damage it or me. Thanks

Nope. The generally accepted rule of thumb is any S&W 38 special built after 1958 is safe to use with P+ ammo. Though a steady diet of them isn't recommended for the little J-frames. They will wear the gun out faster. It will take a few thousand rounds, whereas the same level of wear would require tens of thousands of standard pressure rounds.

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Thanks for the informative answer, I am guessing less then 200 rounds total went thru this revolver.And my wife will put only a box of +p thru then clean and store it .Thank you so much.

I have and do shoot +P ammo in my Chief’s and in fact when I used to carry it I used Buffalo Bore 158 grain SWCHP-GC +P which is very warm! That said, I did limit the quantity of them! Regular shooting was done with standard pressure ammo.

+P 38 Special is not going to blow up a Chief's Special, especially those made after 1958. You might not want to give it a steady diet of +P ammo, then again, your wrists might not want you to do that either.

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There is no substitute for knowledge,especially when learned from experience.

Can't think of any factory made ammo that would hurt your revolver. I shoot +P in my J frames on a regular basis. If you plan on carrying +P in the gun you need to shoot at least enough of it to be familiar with how it shoots .

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun