Could the S&W Model 10, Colt Official Police, and such quality .38 cal revolvers of the 60’s and 70’s handle what are considered +p loads of today, if not shot too often? Loads over the Sami .38 pressures of 17,000 (iirc?)
Example: modern Hornady +p fired in an early 60’s Official Police or Standard weight barrel model 10 or later stainless mod. 64.
I believe the classic FBI load was considered a bit hotter for the time when issued and I have heard of no concerns when used in duty
Revolvers of the time. I shot plenty of those loads out of a Detective’s special but not a steady diet. What say you handloaders whom have pushed the pressures in the older classics?
Let’s leave the max Buffalo bore modern hot hot stuff out of the equation for now.
I believe if you root around Smith's webpage, you will find that basically their numbered models (about 1958 and e.g. Model 10) forward can handle +p ammunition on a regular basis. However, it will put take more wear and tear on timing parts. As far as the frame and cylinder should not be a problem unless your revolver already has existing issues. The Colt Official Police were brutes to begin with and can handle +p certainly from the 1950's forward but once again you have to measure that versus the cost and difficulty of getting an out of time Colt fixed and Colt revolver smiths are getting scarce on the ground. I would not shoot such in a Police Positive model even postwar. I'm sure that others may have a different opinion than mine and different experiences but I generally treat older firearms gently as repair is more difficult on older firearms because of parts and sometimes lack of skilled labor such as in Colts.
It is not so much the kaboom problem with these as it is accelerated wear on small mechanical parts that are the issue with +p ammo which puts them out of time.
In snubbies like the Detective Special, Cobra, Chief's Special models 36 and 60, I would shoot +p sparingly. I have a model 60 that can fire +p but a steady dose of it can do things like back out screws, and so forth along with accelerated mechanical wear due to enhanced recoil from a lighter firearm. If you go with dead soft swaged hollow point SWC bullets, they will expand with relatively low velocities and short barrels found in snubbies. A while back Federal made some of their Nyclad .38 Special hollow point rounds that have a good reputation but not sure if they make it now.
The old FBI load works according to Sanow and Marshall about as well as .45 ball ammo but it is harder on snubbie revolvers unless you can find a K-Frame snubbie. The police service revolvers in regular 4 or more inches of barrel should do okay unless you plan on shooting thousands of rounds of this.
If all you want is to shoot +p loads all the time for competition purposes, etc, then maybe look up to getting a K-Frame .357 magnum if you like the Model 19 or other .357 magnums such as the Ruger Security Six/Speed Six, the Smith L Frame, or the post E Frame Colts such as the Colt Trooper Mark III , or the new Ruger poly .357 magnum snubbies. These will last almost forever with +p loads of .38 Special but you may have to scrub out the cylinders every so often if you fire .38's consistently in a .357.