If I only shoot +Ps at the range a few times, could I use +P ammo when I carry? I had a friend tell me not to bother with +P ammo in a Model 36. That their were some good standard pressure loads for self defense and that the bad guys would not know the difference. I would feel better with +Ps. But I do not want to hurt this fine weapon.

You're not going to hurt it with a moderate amount of +Ps.
Prolly not even with a bunch of them.

Load them up and go with it! Kyle

Shoot all your hand will stand. Which may not be many. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

I have many handguns from .380, 9mm, 40, 45acp, .357 .22 ect. Every time I would go to the Law Enforcement Supply to shoot them I would walk by the display case and see the lonely awkward looking Nickle Plated Model 36 with a 3" barrel, sitting there with all the modern LEO pistols. The guy wanted $500 for it. After about a year of this I started haggling with the owner for it. I finally bought it for a great price and figure it would be a curio for collecting. After I shoot it one time I realized that this revolver was a great shooter. The small handle is easy to grab making it very fast to deploy. The trigger is smooth in DA and the 3" barrel makes it point well. The shiny front sight is very easy to find. After comparing it to my other conceal carry pistols I found that it beats them all in speed. Was accurate enough. It was more reliable than my pocket 380 and M85. The M85 center pin would stick, making the weapon inoperable (sold it). So now instead of a curio I have a new carry gun. Now that I can shoot +p ammo, it's even betta.

I would limit it to no more 5,000 rounds of +P.

OK, make it 10,000. But no more than that.

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No life story has happy end.

It should handle +P and I would have no problem, if were my gun, carrying +P. Shoot a handful of +P for accuracy from time to time, but practice with regular pressure loads. These little guns are pretty tough.

I have a M36 I bought new in 1974. Carried as backup/off duty weapon for 30 years. Fired quite a bit of +p through it over the years. Still fairly tight and times perfectly. If +p is what gives you confidence by all means go for it and shoot it within reason. Occasional +p shouldn't hurt it. It has a steel frame and the cylinder is probably stronger than K-frame as the cylinder stop cuts are between chambers instead of directly over them in a 6-shot cylinder.

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S&W Armorer
Lost in the 50s

As a former LEO detective I carried a Model 36 daily. Still do, though I alternate with a Glock Model 19. Chambered in the M36 are Plus P's, but I don't feed them to it as a regular diet. Practice once a month with standard ammo. Occasionally run a few +P's through it but I'm leery of shooting too many. Others say you can do it all day long, but I can't see a reason to gamble with a gun that I dearly love.

The best thing to do is buy several more j-frames and rotate them so no individual gun gets fired too much...

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"Shall not be infringed"

The simple mechanical fact is +P will put more stress on the gun than standard .38's. The cylinder will slam into the yoke tube harder, the yoke slams forward more sharply, the frame takes the stress, etc.

Most revolvers have "endshake" , it may only be .001 but every time you fire the cylinder bounces between the recoil sheild and the yoke tube. Higher pressure rounds make this happen with more force. Do this enough and it will make the gun looser.

If you want a tough little carry gun I recommend the Ruger SP101, it's a .357 and will take anything you can put through it.

I fire my 1985 production Model 60 with standard .38 and with the wood round butt grips it's not too much fun as it is.......one day I decided to try some Ranger .38 +P+ in it, 5 rounds and my hand was stinging, the gun almost worked it's way out of my hand after each shot. After 5 rounds I decided this was too much abuse on the gun. Now I only shoot 158 gr. .38's and I don't shoot my J-frames often at all these days, just enough to retain familiarity with it since I occasionally carry it.....J frames are for carry, not range blasting........ if I want to shoot I have K, L and N frames

I wouldn't. Not worth the extra wear and tear, plus the nasty associated recoil on that baby. Expansion out of that very short barrel is very iffy with HP's. I'd find a good 158 gr. LWSC that shoot to POI and stay with it.

Just my .02 cents.

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V/R
Roger / SG

I'm just going to bite my tongue on the 101 recommendation.

Let me check... yup, this is the S&W Forum. Had to make sure.

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No life story has happy end.

My older 3 inch 36 is blue. I stick to std pressure loads and use a premium bullet for carry.

There actually was was an improvement in both the materials and the manufacturing tolerances of the +P rated and .357 J frames.

Older non +P guns might be OK and then again they might not, depending on how well they were fitted and how much +P they shoot. In the desert of gunsmiths around here I'd just as soon avoid any trouble with excessive endshake.

Not to mention it's not pleasant to shoot.

If I need more gun, I'll use a 13 or 65, or better than that a 3953.

/c

the gain in ballistic performance from +p in a snubby is negligible. Prove it to your self-get or borrow a chronograph and shoot similar bullet weight +p and non +p defense loads and see what the speed difference is- it usually is about 75-100 fps in a snubby- is a bullet going 895 going to be that much better than one going 810? not enough to justify the additional recoil and wear and tear on gun and shooter.

Thanks for the feedback. I recon I'll stick with the standard pressure loads with some premium self defense ammo and maybe carry a +p once and a while. I have seen ballistics between 38 special and 38 special +P ammo. I don't think the bad guy would notice the difference. I have shot an SP-101 in .357. I was not particularly pleasurable, but not too bad. I'll stick with the Model 36, it was good enough for McGarad in Hawaii Five-O, Cannon and Effrum Zibaliss Jr on the FBI.

Plus Pee?

I wouldn't shoot stuff called plus pee in ANY gun.

GF

With modern SD loads, it is not necessary to use +P. There are many standard pressure that are plenty effective. Hornady has a standard pressue SD round that is good also check out Buffalo Bore. Federal Nyclads are also great. Bullet placement is still a VERY IMPORTANT FACTOR. Bottom line is that you don't need +P in your 36.(for it to be effective) Two to the heart and one to the head works every time.

GF, you are not the first guy who hinted that plus pee ammo is just a way to get people to buy over priced ammo. The fellow at Diamondback said about the same thing.

Nah, just kiddin' with a play on words.
Corbon used to sell (maybe still does) a +P+ round that I fired in various 38 spls. I didn't think it was any different than +P's.

This is an often visited topic, some members think it'll "shake the cylinder loose!" if you shoot +P ammo. Me, not so much.

Here's a youtube video of 38 spl PLUS PEE ammo being shot.

YouTube - SaskD's Fire the CarlG

And you wanna' shoot this round in a revolver!?! It should be banned I say!

GF

You asked and the general opinion was go ahead and shoot plus p...I carried my 36 for 15 years, qualified every six months with it and kept plus p in the gun because that is what they gave me. I traded my 36 for of all things a Walther and tossed that piece of junk in a trash can. I found a really great little 36 no dash in the local gun store and bought it for 265.00 bucks...It has a lot of wear and tear and shows its age (1961 thereabouts) so I only shoot 130 grain or less target rounds for practice and I keep Federal Hydra Shock 110 grain JHP in it for personal defense. I would not hesitate to load mine with plus p if I felt the added benefit outweighed the stress on the gun...but I think the round I carry is a good defense round, especially from 7-9 feet....mine is a 2" and distances above that range probably would cause me to go in the opposite direction given the chance.