+P .38 special ammo in an M 38-1 Aiirweight?

[S&W Envy]

I have searched high and low to find a related topic in this forum or anywhere else online and I cannot find a definitive answer. Does anyone know whether I can shoot +P ammo in my M 38-1 Airweight? It may be ill-advised to give it a steady diet of any hot loads, but I generally carry +P rated 38 special in my wheelies.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[murphydog]

The official answer from the factory will range from "occasional use is OK" to "no", but in my opinion practice with standard pressure loads and function checks with +P will not appreciably increase wear. All current alloy J frames are +P rated and I am unsure what is different between these and your fairly recent 38-1.

 

[Rpg]

Shoot all the +p stuff you want in your M38-1.

It will wear you out long before it hurts the revolver.

 

[66snub]

Agreed. +P rounds in an alloy Smith is unpleasant, to say the least... I shoot standard pressure, regular ol' lead hollow points in my J Frames. My reloader (crack dealer) tailors all of my rounds to my specs.

 

[Engine49guy]

This topic seems to come up about 5 times a week,
Its especially confusing since S&W began stamping new production revolvers +P but IIRC S&W used to advise any model marked revolver was OK for occasional +P,
Also while +P is generally loaded towards the top of SAAMI specs it is NOT above them and does not exceed what the guns are designed for.

Way back in the day we had ammo marked +P+ but not sure if it actually exceeded SAAMI specs either .

IMO Smaller frames sacrifice strength for size , also while aluminum frames are lighter they usually wont endure as much punishment as their steel counterparts,
If you use heavy +P ammo daily in your J frame .38 airweight to punch holes in paper targets instead of lighter milder loads expect a diminished service life , Sorry if this is a shock but its just physics at work here.

I have a 37 no dash from around 1970 not covered under the S&W lifetime warranty and have carried it daily with +P ammo for years but only fire it occasionally with lighter target loads , it hasnt broken yet and I prefer to keep it that way .

 

[S&W Envy]

Thank you all very much for the feedback. Looks like I will give my carry ammo a try in the M38-1.
Respectfully, ~Envy

 

[wrangler5]

You can always get some Buffalo Bore NON +P rounds, if it would make you feel better. Their 158g lead SWCHP bullets go just as fast as Remington's +P loads with the same bullet (same chrono, same gun, same day), but somehow BB says they can do it with less than +P pressures.

The recoil feels the same as the Rem +P, which is not surprising given those pesky laws of physics, so presumably the cylinder is being pushed back against the frame just as hard with both rounds. But if it's higher pressure that will beat up a gun faster, then the BB loads might be worth looking at. (Be warned - BB is VERY proud of these loads, so they get pretty expensive to practice with.)

 

[Kilibreaux]

Bear in mind that +P loads are only a few thousand CUP "hotter" than standard. While "hotter" than standard pressure, there is no reason any modern steel cylinder cannot handle 22,000 psi versus say, 19,200. The metal will contain the cartridge! Now, if you run out to the range an go all Rambo "testing" the +P , you might want to re-think loading the HOT STUFF in your cylinder! What I mean is shooting multiple hundreds of rounds which is something NO J-frame was EVER meant to address!