.38Spl vs +P vs. +P+ brass

[ric426]

I was given a box of several thousand .38 Special cases that I'm starting to sort through. I've sorted out all the Federal and Winchester brass and am starting on the nickel plated cases. I'm finding a lot of +P and +P+ cases and was wondering if the cases are different from regular .38 Special cases. Thicker walls, etc.?

 

[ReloaderFred]

Some of the +P and +P+ brass will be thicker, depending on the brand. They're all loadable, and I'm jealous that you were "given" several thousand .38 brass..........

Hope this helps

Fred

 

[Steve C]

In general the +P indication on .38 spl is for load discrimination only and the cases are otherwise exactly the same. If ReloaderFred says there is a brand out there that has thicker +P then there must be but Remington and Starline are the same for sure according to the manufacturers information. If there is a difference in Winchester or Federal's you can't tell it either in the way it sizes or the results you get over the chronograph.

I treat all .38 spl brass as being the same regardless if it has a +P on it or not.

 

[Walkalong]

I only have 3 or 4 hundred +P cases, so I reserve it for just that, mainly for easy recognition. I don't shoot +P .38 much. It's mostly for a rainy day.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Fred and Steve have it. Though I doubt that you will find many that are thicker. I have quite a few +P and +P+ and have found no difference in them and standard .38 Special cases. The head stamp is to identify the round as it comes from the factory.

Don't worry Walkalong...As you get into reloading and collecting more cases you will aquire more +P and +P+ cases.

 

[ric426]

They're all loadable, and I'm jealous that you were "given" several thousand .38 brass..........

If it helps, you could look at it as I bought a box of brass and the guy gave me a nice Model 14 PPC gun, some speedloaders and a range box.

Once I settle on the load I like I'll only be loading light WC target loads, so I won't even need the +P headstamp to indicate different loads. If the club does end up running an outdoor PPC league and I need heavier loads I'll just use the nickel brass for outdoor loads and the regular brass for indoor. I didn't see any +P or +P+ in the brass cases and I have plenty of both, so it'll make for easy distinction between the two.

 

[evan price]

I pull the +P and +P+ brass out of my .38 specials; This is because I have several 100-year-old revolvers (Smiths and Colts) that are not rated for anything hotter than regular .38 special. I don't load anything hotter than a medium Cowboy load for my .38s however I do have some +P self defense ammo. This way I can be sure that what is marked +P is actually +P loaded ammo and I know it's not going in my old Colts. Saves on the guesswork.
Otherwise, I don't sort by headstamp or nickle or how many firings. I keep my thousands of .38 brass in buckets and just grab a jar full when I need to load some. .38 Special is a low pressure round & there's no way I'm going to notice any difference, and it's such a nice round to shoot that I shoot a lot of it, mostly in 158-gr lead SWC.

 

[rcmodel]

The simple way to tell if they are thicker or not is to weigh them on your powder scale.

If they are heavier, they are thicker, and have less capacity.

rc

 

[ReloaderFred]

I have some of the original Winchester Treasury Load +P+ ammunition, with the LEO warning on the boxes. That brass is definitely thicker and feels more like .357 Magnum brass when sized. It's all nickle plated.

Some +P brass is also thicker, in particular some from Winchester and Speer. You can feel it when you size it. Of course, the older PMC .38 brass was also thicker when it was made in Boulder City, NV. I don't know what the brass is like since the company was purchased by the Korean company and moved there.

Hope this helps.

Fred

PS: I'm going to have to find a machinist with a ball end micrometer and actually measure the wall thickness of various brands of brass. My dial caliper and micrometer won't do it, since you have to measure beyond the case mouth to get away from crimp/flaring variables.