How do you tell if a gun is +P+ rated?

Considering they are all proofed, they do fine with ammo quite a bit hotter than SAAMI

Click to expand...

.

Oh, well please enlighten all as to actual (Official) Glock Proof specs for 9mm, .45acp, .40 S&W, & .357Sig.


Thanks in advance

Soybomb,

My quote above says "vary" and "generally taken"

You have quoted one specific calibre for one manufacturer for one type. So my stance (statistically) is better than yours. Then again stats and lies.....

Click to expand...

OK let's look at the major defensive handgun calibers sold in the US. We have .38 special, 9mm Luger/Parabellum, .357 Magnum, .357 SIG, .40S&W, and .45 ACP. Half of those - .38 Special, 9mm Luger/Parabellum, and .45 ACP - have SAAMI standards for +P loadings.

Further, the .357 Magnum came about from Elmer Keith's work with the very hot .38/44 Heavy Duty loadings. Since it's a magnum there's no +P (but the .357 Maximum is out there if you must have more case capacity). The 40 S&W came about as lower power shorter case variant of the 10mm Auto which more shooters could handle. There is no 40 S&W +P because the 10mm Auto from which it was derived fills that next step up. The .357 SIG is little more than a 40 S&W case necked down to 9mm. It produces velocities commonly seen in 9mm +P+ loads, so there's no need for a +P variant - but there is the 9x25 Dillon if you must have it.

In conclusion, half have SAAMI +P ratings, and the remainder have rather uncommon longer case variants to handle the powder needed to gain more velocity.

As I said, this is pure sales BS and is Buyer Beware

Click to expand...

OK, now let's take a round that doesn't have a SAAMI +P standard, but does have loads advertised as +P; that being the .45 Colt. If you think Corbon and others are full of BS with 45 Colt +P nomenclature by all means go shoot a few boxes through a SAA, or an Italian or Brazilian SAA clone and let me know if you still have a gun left to shoot them through.

The Winchester 147 SXT is not +P ammo....it is standard pressure...and a fine defense round...now concentrate on shot placement and all is well.

My USP .45f says it is rated for +P+ right there in that little instruction book that came with it.

FWIW I own a S&W 642. It was not marked for +P ammunition. It was mfg. in 1991. I called S&W. They stated that it was not approved for +p. I do not shoot +P in it. I am having problems finding non +P SD ammo. for it.

Click to expand...

I would suggest the winchester Super X 148 gr. lead wadcutter, X38SMRP. They're very shootable and should make as good of a wound as you're likely to be able to get with 2" barrel and standard pressure. If you carry a reload though you might look into something else to carry as your reload rounds.

Gary,

In Europe the proofing is done by the government. The proofing ammo is specified by the CIP standard, which is the Euro equivalent of SAAMI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_test

Proof rounds are 25% over the standard pressure.

Yeah, except Glock with those unsupported chambers!

Read: KA-BOOM waiting to happen with anything other than SAAMI spec ammo.

Click to expand...

i am not a big glock fan they are awesome weapons but they just don't do anything for me, bu t as long as you don't or bubba don't double or overcharge a rd while reloading there should be no problems.

Seeing as that

Seeing as that there's no such thing a +P+, how could a gun be "rated" for it? All it means is that it has more pressure than +P but in theory less than a proof load. I can't imagine that any manufacturer would tie themselves to such an open ended thing with that much potential for disaster.

+P has set pressures with SAAMI being the sanctioning body. Plenty of manufacturers approve +P.

However, +P in some cases is pretty much a marketing exercise. 9x19 in particular.

Seven High, my pocket revolver is an elderly M38, definitely not "rated" for +P. I don't care. My hide is worth more than one gun and it is loaded with the best I can buy... 158 gr +P "FBI" lead hollowpoint. It won't blow up and the few annual refamiliarization rounds haven't worn it out yet. If they do, I will replace it.

I am not much in favor of a midrange wadcutter for defense. I went through that phase a number of years ago and concluded that they just did not have the energy and penetration to live up to their appearance.

Buffalo Bore loads standard pressure .38s at or near +P velocity, either lead hollowpoint, JHP, or a hard full speed wadcutter.
http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#standard38

Owen,

The 25% fiqure was what I was looking for. Thanks for the info on this.

I humbly reccomend 124gr +P instead ...Winchester makes some (since that seems to be your brandd prefference) Gold Dot 124+P would be mine. Corbon also offers some as well as a 115gr +P+ that has a good reputation for being particulary nasty to things and working great in G19's

147's are a bit of an oddball in 9mm IMHO I would assume they are still subsonic in 9mm even in +P If you want heavier than 124gr I'd trade for a G23...though I like the 19 better myself having owned both. Most +P loads are just slightly over max SAMMI loads just as many folks handloads tend to run. +P+ supposdley denotes that they are more than slightly over standard SAMMI specs for a given chambering. But as the other guys mention...it's probably more marketting than meaningful. You don't shoot anything like that in fine collectible P08's for example...in a 19 even hot Izzy subgun ammo won't hurt anything. Go to town -IMHO

I'm not an expert but I once saw one on TV...he looked kinda like me though

From my Glock Armorer's Manual:

For non +p .38 special loads I have a lot of confidence in a hard cast wadcutter at about 750 fps from a j frame snubble.