Originally Posted by SG-688

For those wondering why the famously 9 mm armed Illinois State Police would buy +P+ .38: Former Illinois Burea of Investigation agents kept their 2 1/2 inch Model 66 revolvers when they combined with the ISP detective section.

I've written before that I asked Federal customer service about LE stamped ammunition. The rep had no idea it existed.

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March, 1979 American Rifleman Dope Bag by William C. Davis, Jr.

The Winchester 04070 load and its Federal Cartridge Corp. equivalent,
designated 38F-TD (Treasury Dept.), develop an instrumental velocity at
15 ft. of 1020 f.p.s. from a 2" barrel.

Federal also produces similar loads with 125-gr. bullets at a 15 ft instrumental velocity of 1015 f.p.s. from a 4" revolver in both hollow-point and soft-point configurations, with nonserrated jackets.

The hollow-point 125-gr. load made for the Illinois State Police has the designation 38EIL, and the 125-gr. soft-point load made for the Michigan State Police is designated 38J-MI.

These Federal loadings have double-entry headstamps with the manufacturer's symbol (FC) and the letters LE.

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In a 1992 article, Federal rep Shep Kelly wrote that +P+ specification for Federal was 22,800 PSI, PSI not being interchangeable with CUP used by other manufacturers.

17,000 PSI for "normal" .38 and 18,500 PSI for +P.