Are you certain it is a brand new gun?
If it is, then it should shoot any 38 Special you feed it, INCLUDING the Remington UMC non+P bullets. Just don't shoot any +P+ if you happen to find any. There should not be any misfires, unless for some reason the ammo is bad (perhaps stored in a wet location, or oil got into the primers). The loads that did not fire, were they stored in the gun, or brand new that you just bought and tried to shoot? If the former, then if your gun is OVER-Lubricated, oil could have seeped in around the primers, causing them to misfire.
Those Remington bullets that did not fire --- did you compare how the primers look to other primers that fired?
I also am using the Speer 135g Short Barrel +P Personal Protection Gold Dot bullets. I plink with non+P bullets. To he honest, I first shot the non+P and then "worked up" to the +P, thinking it was going to recoil a lot, however, I found almost no difference (or very little difference) between the non+p's and +P's. Actually, I was a bit surprised! I am, however very used to shooting my 500 Mag, so this is almost like shooting a cap gun.
I shot about three different non+P loads, then shot the only +P's I have right at the moment, which is the aforementioned Speer 135g +P Gold Dots.
As for the frame stretching, I suppose ANYTHING is possible. However, perhaps someone before you was using reloads that were way above pressure! That's why I'm asking if your gun is BRAND-SPANKING NEW! There is a possibiltiy that there could be frame damage if someone owned it before you and shot some crazy & wild off-the CHART loads!
If you are shooting +P bullets in a Brand new S&W 442 (or 642), you should be able to put literally thousands of those bullets through that gun with barely a change in clearance dimensions.
When you look at the cylinder gap (with a bright light in the background), does the gap look to be the exact same between the top and the bottom, on all cylinder hole locations when the cylinder is closed (MAKE SURE THE GUN IS UNLOADED WHEN CHECKING THIS)?
Any gun can be gotten used to. Shoot non+P loads before you start the +P's. Get her used to the feel of the gun before progressing. One shot and hit with a non+P is better than 5 misses with the +P's if she is not used to the gun yet. As for the gun not being for beginners, you can make any gun you want a "beginner's gun." It is all in how you work from low load to higher load. Also, it doesn't happen in one afternoon. If you go out and shoot 200 rounds and you have blisters for a week, what has that accomplished?
Take it easy, and shoot to be accurate and most of all shoot to have fun.
As for what S&W recommends, you can shoot anything as long as it is 38 Special or 38 Special +P. If you do shoot a lot of lead bullets, you do want to thoroughly clean the barrel and cylinder (especially the narrow portion leading into the barrel) of all lead residue BEFORE you start shooting jacketed bullets, as the copper jacket going down that barrel "cleaning out that lead for you" is going to spike pressure!
If you shot 200 lead bullets, then a +P copper jacketed bullet, you could possibly damage the frame, I suppose, just from the extreme pressure that may occur. I believe this is what S&W might be saying in the user manual, as it is the same thing that can happen with rifles as well as pistols!
Quote by Orange_Magnum:
The gun is not engineered to handle +p. S&W is lying. The weaker load the better.
That is a statement that I would like to see documented.
According to the S&W 442 and S&W 642 user manuals, the stamping on the barrel, and the S&W web site, the 442 and the 642 are both designed for +P loads.
Please prove to us otherwise before making such a statement. IMHO, selling and DOWNGRADING to a TAURUS would NOT be the thing to do. The 442 and 642 are extremely light and have been around how long, perhaps 50 years? Of course a steel frame is more rugged (at the expense of ADDED WEIGHT).
The testing for the 442 and 642 has already been done, apparently many years ago!
I second what hoptob wrote:
Here is what Elmer had to say about the strength of small frame S&W revolver.
Quote:
Keith Elmer, "Sixguns":
In addition to these fine arms, the Company has also brought out two new and very interesting undercover arms for detectives and plain clothesmen and also to be carried as secondary hidden arms by peace officers and the F.B.I. One is the little Chief’s Special with 2 inch barrel and five shots in caliber .38 Special having a weight in the steel frame of only 19 ounces, and in the aluminum alloy frame of only 10 ¾ ounces. The other is the Smith & Wesson Centennial model. This is a hammerless two inch barrel job, weighing 19 ounces in steel, and much lighter in the aluminum alloy frame but slightly heavier than the 10 ¾ ounce Chiefs Special. The little Chiefs Special has the new short action and the Centennial has an entirely new coil spring action, entirely double action. The Chiefs Special can be cocked and fired single action and is very accurate for its extremely light weight. Both arms are five-shot and both chambered for the .38 Special cartridge and while S. & W. do not advertise the fact, both guns will perfectly handle the .38/44 and other high speed ammunition in .38 Special. We recently made a test run of 500 rounds of this high speed ammunition through each of these guns with no ill effects we could detect either visually or by careful measurement of cylinders and rear ends of the barrels.
arizonaguide stated:
The main reason I went with approval on the .38 was for the newer/better +p's, (and it fits my wife's hand) maybe I shoulda went with the 642.
The 642 is identical to the 442, the only difference being the 642 is a stainless/aluminum-alloy gun (stainless) while the 442 is a steel/aluminum-alloy gun (black).
Just be sure whatever ammo you intend to use for defense goes BANG every time! Before you are satisfied that the ammo will save your life (with a good shot, of course), you may want to eventually shoot at least 100 rounds of it to make sure it all shoots (since you did experience misfires).
