I have a model 19-4 and have heard conflicting information on shooting magnum ammunition through it. Some sources (internet, friends ect) say don't shoot any magnums through the model because the frame and forcing cone are too weak. Others will tell me do not shoot 125 grain rounds in it and so on. So I decided to come to the knowledgeable owners here for as close to a definative answer as I can find. I know it is chambered for 357 and therefor can shoot them but can it handle a study diet of them.
Thanks everyone.
The problem is with short bullets (125 grain bullets are short) in Magnum loads. The short bullets do not seal the barrel cylinder gap quite long enough, allowing hotter gases to escape which can cause the problems you mention.
This is not a problem with any currently made 38 Special ammo, except the old Federal government stuff that they adopted so that they could say they did not use "evil" Magnum ammo. The Federal government's 38 Special load was called a 38 Special +P+ load, but it was really Magnum ammo in Special cases.
I am talking about the so-called "Treasury Load," which is a cranked up 110 grain JHP. Winchester now duplicates the ballistics of the old Treasury load in its White Box .357 Magnum 110 grain JHP load. That load was used by most of the federal law enforcement agencies (Secret Service, US Marshal, basically any agency that trained at FLETC in Georgia) except FBI. FBI used 158 grain 38 Special +P Lead Hollow Points, a load that is still cataloged.
No one seemed to have the problem you mentioned with K frame magnums until two things occurred: (1) use of short bullet Magnum ammo and (2) use of magnum ammo continually, instead of as originally envisioned, with the vast majority of rounds being 38 Special.
So, if you don't want to have a problem, (1) use Magnum ammo with at least 145 grain bullets, such as Winchester Silvertip, the FBI's Magnum load of choice after the issue became known (they still used the +P LHP load mostly, even in their Model 13s, reserving Magnum ammo for special circumstances, a policy originally put in place by none other than J. Edgar Hoover himself) and (2) use Magnum ammo only occasionally doing the majority of your shooting with 38 Special loads.
Any of the currently manufactured 38 Special loads, including +P, are fine in a K Frame .357 Magnum.
