S&W revolvers

[fredzo]

Should have posted this here first. I am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge on this forum, I have learned quite a lot in the last few weeks. I have some questions for the group and I know I'll get some good info from you all.
I have two S&W revolvers and would like to know this about them: date of manufacture, what ammo is best to use, can +P ammo be used in them and anything else I might want to know.
Mod. 36 J638xxx, Under the crane; 82281 & A22
Mod 15-3 15k67xx
Thanks in advance,
Fredzo

 

[fredzo]

Should have posted this here first. I am very impressed with the wealth of knowledge on this forum, I have learned quite a lot in the last few weeks. I have some questions for the group and I know I'll get some good info from you all.
I have two S&W revolvers and would like to know this about them: date of manufacture, what ammo is best to use, can +P ammo be used in them and anything else I might want to know.
Mod. 36 J638xxx, Under the crane; 82281 & A22
Mod 15-3 15k67xx
Thanks in advance,
Fredzo

 

[DCWilson]

Fredzo, welcome to the forum.

The Standard Catalog of S&W puts both your guns in 1977.

The company discourages shooting +P rounds in units manufactured before 1958, so a lot of people will probably tell you it is OK to use that ammo in your revolvers. But I'm almost pathologically cautious, and I don't think I would fire a +P round in a gun that was not specifically rated for it either in a barrel stamping or in accompanying literature.

David W.

 

[Calaveras Slim]

+1 with DCWilson. I won't do it either.

 

[fredzo]

Guys,
Thanks for the info. I called S&W about these guns and the rep said no +p for the 36 and once in a while for the 15. Currently I don't use +p in either one but I will probably use Gold Dot 135 gr. +p as per S&W. In the 36 I am carrying Hornaday Critical Defense 110 gr. standard velocity. I don't carry the 15 but use it for a house gun. Any other thoughts?
Thanks again.
Fredzo

 

[Art Doc]

Sigh....

Factory +P is loaded 3,000 psi BELOW allowable maximum pressure for the caliber. Any quality gun will handle +P without concern. Ask yourself if ANY ammo company would sell ANY ammo that would be harmful in our lawyer-ridden society.

I guess I have to post this photo again. A 1942 M&P posed with some of the 500 rounds of +P and 600 rounds of my own +P+ (same 125 bullet at an additional 225 FPS or 125@1150) that I shot through it for fun. It was fun. Please note that the gun is undamaged by the experience.

A S&W made in 1977 should be limited to no more than 100,000 rounds of +P just to be safe. OK, maybe 150,000 rounds.

 

[fredzo]

Saxon,
Good point and BTW nice looking gun. If I use +P at all it will be for defense purpose only. For practice I use 148 gr. wc or WWB 130 gr. FMJ when I can get it. Thanks for the advice.
Fredzo

 

[shawn mccarver]

Originally posted by SaxonPig:
Sigh....

Factory +P is loaded 3,000 psi BELOW allowable maximum pressure for the caliber. Any quality gun will handle +P without concern. Ask yourself if ANY ammo company would sell ANY ammo that would be harmful in our lawyer-ridden society.

I guess I have to post this photo again. A 1942 M&P posed with some of the 500 rounds of +P and 600 rounds of my own +P+ (same 125 bullet at an additional 225 FPS or 125@1150) that I shot through it for fun. It was fun. Please note that the gun is undamaged by the experience.

A S&W made in 1977 should be limited to no more than 100,000 rounds of +P just to be safe. OK, maybe 150,000 rounds.

Amen. Ditto. +1. Agree. Agree with enthusiasm. This topic just keeps coming up. Apparently no one is interested in using the search feature on this forum to actually research anything. To say nothing of the fact that those same people will not use Google or any other non-forum search engine.

Thank you Saxon for your work and informative article on the +P rounds. Although I do not have access to a proper laboratory, I still agree with your conclusions.

To carry the matter further, I fired 1,000 rounds of 9mm +P+ (Federal 9BPLE) through the supposedly cheap little SW9M (the little mini-SIGMA they made for a short time) and there were NO ill effects.

I have no idea why people get so worked up over this stuff about "+P" ammo. It is as if all of these birds were going to fire hundreds of rounds of +P every day for 30 years, when in fact, most of these fellows probably don't shoot more than a few hundred rounds a year, if that.

S&W's own research revealed that over 90% of S&W owners fire less than 5,000 rounds through a gun in their entire LIFE.

If the pictures are any indication, I would say that even most people on this forum spend far more time posing their revolvers for photos and shooting them in that fashion than actually firing them, at least if the pictures are any indication.

Good show on setting the record straight.