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38 Spl +P Brass Reloading Question

lcdrdanr
I am a scrounger and a pack rat and can't go to the range without spending half my time picking up brass. Consequently, I have a lot of brass that I sort, clean and re-use.

Today I was sorting out several years accumulation of 38 Special/357 mag brass and noticed a lot of brass marked "38 Spl +P", both brass and nickle plated, various manufacturers. I sorted it separate from the 38 Special but then I wondered if the brass was really any different from 38 Special or if it was just marked that way due to it's original loading.

Anyone know if +P marked brass is stronger than regular 38 special brass ?

Dan R
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • ammo guy
    I don't believe that the + P brass is really any different than standard .38 Special brass. The main reason it is marked is to inform the shooter that these are higher pressure loads than normal .38's. You can reload standard brass to + P pressures if you want to.
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  • geeguy
    +1 on Ammo Guy.
    I measured some old Federal brass .38 spec and new Federal .38 spec +P. I could not find any difference (depth, wall, case head thickness, primer area) and have been using them together for years and see no difference in loading both together (loaded on a Dillon Sq.B).
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  • Ambrose
    I'd weigh 'em. That will tell you whether they are thicker or not.
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  • heavyiron
    There is no difference dimensionally with the +P brass. It must chamber in .38 Special handguns or rifles.

    The +P ammo has a slightly higher charge of propellant and therefore, generates higher pressures. You would want to be able to identify such a round so as not to shoot it in an older vintage firearm not able to withstand the pressure.

    Regards,

    Heavyiron
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  • Laredo Lefty
    quote:Originally posted by lcdrdanr
    I am a scrounger and a pack rat and can't go to the range without spending half my time picking up brass. Consequently, I have a lot of brass that I sort, clean and re-use.

    Today I was sorting out several years accumulation of 38 Special/357 mag brass and noticed a lot of brass marked "38 Spl +P", both brass and nickle plated, various manufacturers. I sorted it separate from the 38 Special but then I wondered if the brass was really any different from 38 Special or if it was just marked that way due to it's original loading.

    Anyone know if +P marked brass is stronger than regular 38 special brass ?

    Dan R


    Your pretty much answered your own question there. Its marked that way by the factory that originally loaded it to +P pressures. After its been shot, its just the same as any .38 spl brass.
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  • beantownshootah
    AFIAK, no difference in the CASE specifications between modern 38 and 38+P ammo, with the caveat that SOME +P brass is nickel-plated to help identify it as such to reduce the likelihood of case corrosion.

    And obviously, the +P loaded cases are stamped as such for further identification purposes.

    "Ordinary" 38 brass should be plenty strong enough to handle +P type pressures in a gun that is otherwise safe for it.
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  • rsnyder55
    I was under the impression the nickle plating was to prevent the leather loops in duty belts from corroding the cases.
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  • lcdrdanr
    Appreciate the input, kinda what I suspected was the case (pun intended!).
    After the initial loading, the +P marking is pretty much of no interest to the reloader unless you intend to load some hot rounds and keep the +P marking for that.
    Thanks again

    Dan R
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by rsnyder55
    I was under the impression the nickle plating was to prevent the leather loops in duty belts from corroding the cases.


    Yup. That too, though nowadays, not too many people are using leather loop cartridge belts/holders anymore.

    quote:Originally posted by Beantownshootah

    SOME +P brass is nickel-plated to help identify it as such [and] to reduce the likelihood of case corrosion.

    The use of nickel plated cases to identify high-pressure cartridges actually goes back about 70 years to the .38 Super cartridge, which was one of the first +P type cartridges. (The "Super" referred to the high pressure).

    The .38 Super (now technically called .38 Super +P) will chamber in the older .38ACP automatic pistols, but could blow up those guns due to increased pressure. So the manufacturers put the .38 Super rounds in nickel plated cartridges to help reduce the chance of confusion.

    Nowadays for liability reasons, no ammunition manufacturer would dare introduce a cartridge that was likely to blow up a common firearm! (Eg witness the quick demise of the 9mm Federal rimmed cartridge, which duplicated the ballistics of the 9mm luger in a revolver, but would chamber and blow up older .38SW revolvers).

    Back in 1930 if you blew up your gun by putting the wrong cartridge type in it, you were an idiot.

    If you do it today, you're a "victim". [;)]
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  • Emmett Dunham
    Nickle plated brss does not have to be cleaned after fired. Strange that there are no specifications in any of the reloading books I have on loading +p ammo


    Emmett
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