[Stoney]

Can my 1952 vintage K -38 masterpiece handle + P ammo. I have a lot of + P ammo but don'want to shoot it if harms the k-38.

[Stoney]

Note to self . Do a better job of proof reading. That should be don't want to shoot the K- 38 . My apologies to don.

[Old Fuff]

It depends on what you mean by “hurt.” If you mean blow up the gun the answer is, “no”. However it may accelerate problems like end-shake (back and forth movement of the cylinder as opposed to rotational movement) and extensive use might distort the frame and generally loosen things up. So called “Plus-P” was designed to give law enforcement a more powerful round to use in their .38 Special revolvers. A better solution would have been to buy .357 Magnums, but many of these police departments and law enforcement agencies were answerable to civilian bosses of the liberal persuasion. They didn’t want to hurt criminals because the poor dears were truly victims of society. Plus-P cartridges did shorten the life of some small and mid-frame revolvers, but the cops didn’t care, they could always trade in their guns for new ones every few years.

The K-38 Target Masterpiece you have was designed to be a target pistol. Shooting a “quantity” of Plus-P may take off some of the gilt edge of its exceptional accuracy. If you’re talking about burning up a lot of rounds at the target range, I wouldn’t. If we’re talking about a few cylinder loads it won’t matter. More then that, and you should start thinking about a .357 Magnum. They will digest any .38 without trouble.

[Standing Wolf]

Stoney:

You can use the edit button to return to a post to correct typographic effort, of which I make a fair number.

I believe I'd contact Smith & Wesson with that question. The K-38 is too fine a gun to risk injuring. My personal guess is that it'll handle occasional +P loads with no trouble, but isn't rated for large numbers—but only Smith & Wesson could give you the definitive answer.

Sweet revolver!

[Jim K]

I agree with checking with S&W. But +P is nothing more than the "warm loads" handloaders made up for years, and I think it would take a lot of them to harm a post-war K-38 (or any other fairly modern K frame).

+P+ is another story. I think it is what Fuff is thinking about. It is definitely in the .357 Magnum pressure category, although no figures have ever been published as it was for LE only. The boxes are marked to be used only in revolvers chambered for .357 Magnum.

Fuff is right that it was a politically correct round. If the cops used .357, they were accused of blowing crooks into little pieces, wiping out buildings, causing mile wide craters, etc. With the +P+ .38, the police PR guy could say that they weren't using that awful .357, only the old .38, and the pro-crime folks couldn't get a handle on that.

Jim

[Jim March]

The one really gnarly +P I'd avoid shooting AT ALL in that gun are the Cor-Bons. They're out past SAAMI by all the accounts I've read.

The Winchester +Ps, both the 158 lead hollowpoint and the 130grain Supreme, are quite mild. The 158 should shoot very well in that beastie, as it's close to what the gun was built for, and if you must press it into a defensive role that's the first thing I'd try. A couple of cylinders full to see where they print, the rest for street-carry or home defense loads only.

[RON in PA]

Well I'll post this again, any Smith K frame made before Smith & Wesson started putting the model number in the yoke of the frame should not be fired with +P ammo. This advise from Smith and Wesson and has been printed sevsral time in the American Rifleman. The model numbers started in 1958 if my memory serves me correctly. Your K-38 masterpiece became the model 14. As others have posted if you shoot lots of +P in your K-38 you will accelerate wear. Shoot wimpy wadcutter loads and pass the gun to your grandchildren.

[Jim March]

Ron is correct.

However: if that's ALL YOU'VE GOT for handgun self defense, then until you can buy something more modern, the advice I gave will be the best you can do in a less-than-ideal situation.

A couple dozen mild +Ps just to see where they go should be all you need.

[Stoney]

Thanks Ron, thats the information I was looking for.I"ll
stay with the lighter loads.
Standing wolf, thanks for the heads up.

[9mmepiphany]

just feed it what it really likes...148gr hbwc...and watch it sing.

just as a side note: many of you might be familar with the "weaver stance", but how many of you remember that he shot a k-38 masterpiece against the 1911 crowd?