This has been brought up over the years that today's +P .38 Spl. ammo is at the same velocity that older ammo has always been loaded at. Based on what GROK AI has to say on the subject, it sounds like this is true.
Yes, there is substantial evidence from historical catalogs, reloading manuals, and ballistics discussions that .38 Special ammunition from the 1920s to the 1960s was often loaded to higher pressures—equivalent to or exceeding modern .38 Special +P levels (20,000 PSI per current SAAMI standards)—resulting in higher velocities than today's standard-pressure .38 Special...
