What year did the stainless J frame start being rated for +P 38's

[HK-N-THE-HOUSE]

Title is the question..THANKS...

 

[HK-N-THE-HOUSE]

Do you also know what model stainless J Frame it was ?

 

[two-bit cowboy]

As with most things S&W there is not one, definitive answer to your first question, which, it seems you realized with your second. According to the SCSW 4th Edition, it appears there was a limited run of Model 60s in 1990 with a +P rating and perhaps that became the model's standard in 1992. Some other models it seems got the rating in 1996 or 1997.

 

[Cal44]

For the Airweight aluminum guns I believe it was about the time the Magnum J frame (larger frame) came out. Around 1996 I believe.

I have a no dash 442 made in 1995 and it is not rated for +P, but I think the 442-1's that came out in 1996 were.

 

[JP@AK]

Keep in mind the first stainless J frame was the Model 60, introduced in 1965. It wouldn't have been "rated" for +P since +P didn't exist at the time. However, that does not mean the ammo cannot be safely fired in it. In fact, it can. Even the factory acknowledges this by saying that any steel frame gun with a model number is safe for +P.

This "rating" stuff is highly overrated.

 

[JayFramer]

I have a 638-2 made in '97 and I'm wondering if it's safe to carry Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 135 grain .38 Special +P Jacketed Hollow Point ammunition.

 

[Cal44]

I have a 638-2 made in '97 and I'm wondering if it's safe to carry Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 135 grain .38 Special +P Jacketed Hollow Point ammunition.

"Safe" is a complicated word.

Here on the board, we have seen Airweight frames crack on fairly new guns that were rated for +P on the side of the barrel.

On the other side, people report they have been shooting +P in their older Airweight guns for years. Others say they cracked on the second range trip.

Usually they discover the crack when cleaning the gun. So they probably went right on shooting a cracked frame gun for several rounds and didn't even know it.

I've never heard of a cracked Airweight frame resulting in a catastrophic failure and injury to the shooter -- but that doesn't mean it never happens.

Best retire and dispose of a gun with a cracked frame.

 

[colt_saa]

As JP@AK points out, the first stainless J-frame that that factory acknowledges being safe for +P ammunition came out years before +P ammunition existed.

So are you asking when Smith and Wesson began using the phrase +P as an advertising claim

Or what firearms Smith and Wesson says are safe for +P

 

[murphydog]

To answer the OP's specific question, the first model 60 stated by the factory to be + P rated was the -7 (1990). The first model 640s (1989) were stamped "Tested for +P+" on the bottom of the frame window, usually with a CEN prefix.

Regarding other J frames, the key to ones "approved" for +P have the integral frame lug, the part that retains the cylinder from falling off backward with the action open. Limited +P use in earlier guns will not cause a catastrophic failure however.

 

[walkin' trails]

The first factory rating for the J for anything above standard pressure was at the introduction of the 640 around the late 80s IIRC. That said, a lot of law enforcement agencies, federal, state, and local had been shooting +p and +p+ since since it was available. Shooting loose, worn parts, and occasionally stretched frames were the results from regular +P usage. Cracks in the frame were rare, but happen. Most LE agencies stuck by the practice of "carried much, shot little," thus many of the Js (steel frame anyway) might have been fired once or twice a year with duty ammo. My dad still as a couple of square butt 3" 36s from the early 70s that had some +P thru them and probably suffered more wear from being carried than shot.


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