Secret Service .38 Special Ammo

[ArchAngelCD]

Have quite a bit of that stuck away. I was close friends with a retired ATF SA, and unfortunately he was an early Covid victim, dying a couple of years back. He gifted me many boxes of both the Winchester and Federal .38 +P+ 'Treasury load'. He'd gotten much of it from a fellow retiree who just wanted to get rid of stuff in a move.

IIRC, he told me they had used it some in S&W M640 .38 revolvers that were marked for '+P+'.

Guess I'll shoot it up one day - as far as really good SD ammo, there's plenty of other stuff out there.

You best check that again. There is no way S&W or any gun company would mark a revolver for .38 Special +P+ because there is no such cartridge designation from SAAMI or even CIP for that matter. The lawyers for the gun company would never approve of such a careless and dangerous designation.

According to SAAMI there are only 4 +P cartridges and no +P+ cartridges at all. Check for yourself...
SAAMI Standards - SAAMI

 

[.455_Hunter]

You best check that again. There is no way S&W or any gun company would mark a revolver for .38 Special +P+ because there is no such cartridge designation from SAAMI or even CIP for that matter. The lawyers for the gun company would never approve of such a careless and dangerous designation.

According to SAAMI there are only 4 +P cartridges and no +P+ cartridges at all. Check for yourself...
SAAMI Standards - SAAMI

Actually, the "best check that again" is in your direction. At least some of the early 640-0 were marked "TESTED FOR +P+" next to the cylinder stop. I have held one in my hands and plenty of images available on-line. Take a look at #18 of the endnotes at the below link...

All About The .38 Special +P and .38 Special +P+ – RevolverGuy.Com