Earlier this year, I aquired a 4-screw, nickel plated Model 40 Centennial. I love the gun and have carried it all Summer as my pocket gun. I fired a cylinder of regular 38s to to make sure the gun functioned before I started carrying the revolver. Yet, with the ammo crunch, I have only been able to find +P defensive ammo lately. Will shooting +P 38 Specials hurt my revolver?

Hurt is a tough word to respond to

+P ammunition will absolutely cause the revolver to wear faster

+P ammunition is loaded up to approximately 10% higher pressure than standard 38 Special ammunition. Firing 5 rounds of this +P ammunition in a life threatening situation should not cause a catastrophic failure in a modern revolver in good operating condition.

I've put two to three cylinders full of +P a year through my 1968 Model 36 and no problem thus far.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

This is probably the single most commonly asked question found in this forum (behind what does CTG mean?). And the answer is +P won't hurt. It's only modestly more powerful than a standard present-day .38 Special factory loading. The worst thing about +P is its increased cost, and for that reason alone, it makes no sense to use it for shooting paper, tin cans, etc. Most any .38 Special revolver made during the smokeless powder era can safely handle far more chamber pressure than the +P produces.

Many people practice with standard-pressure ammo and carry +P; but often that's as much because shooting +P even in an all-steel J-frame just isn't a heck of a lot of fun as because of concern for the gun's integrity.

Your 40 will certainly handle +P. Shooting thousands of rounds of the stuff will wear it out eventually, but your hands will probably request that you not do that long before the gun does.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Revolver wear is not much of an issue for most average shooters, as they will not fire enough rounds in their lifetime to wear a gun out, no mater what ammunition they use. Competitive shooters are another story, but they usually do not use +P. I shoot a lot, but load mildly for most every caliber. I don't enjoy muzzle blast and recoil all that much.

Doesn't S&W admit officially that all of its modern revolvers will handle +P ammunition or is that just expert opinions that abound?

***GRJ***

The problem with this subject is the (IMO) wimpy performance of today's +P ammunition. Get real guys! A 125g or 135g bullet at 925 fps is hardly knocking at the doors of Magnum performance. Even the venerable "FBI load" of with a 158g SWC-HP is only reaching a little over 800 fps in a 4" barrel (measured through my chronograph earlier this year). Even if they got the 890 fps they claimed out of this load, that's only 20 fps faster than what a standard 38 Special 158g got from a 6" barrel back in the 1930s. Plus Pee loads will not wear you gun out any more than just shooting the bloody thing a whole bunch. Good grief!

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Your hands will wear out before that gun does.....Smith makes a pretty tough gun.

Good luck with your Centennial.

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On the Oak Savannah

Thank you for the repliies! I feel more confident about carrying +Ps in the Model 40 for self defense. Although the 642 is much lighter, I enjoy shooting the M40 much more.