Early S&W Model 60?
Will an early S&W Model 60 handle 38 Spl. +P loads safely?
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Yes 0 -
The question has been asked before and it has gone back and forth. You may want to search the forums and read it.
For my 2 cents, my older J frame 649 says 38 S&W Special and my new J frame says 38 S&W Special+P.0 -
I've looked into this quite a bit, and in my opinion, +P ammo in the earlier non+P rated steel Smith J frames is safe. Consider the following:
-38+P ammo was designed and intended to be fired in ANY modern .38 in good working condition (ie not only those "Rated" for +P).
Remember, .38+P ammo was introduced and widely sold YEARS before ANY company started labelling their guns as "+P". Not a safe move in our litigious society if this ammo were really prone to blowing up guns!
- Ordinary .38 special ammo is loaded to 17000 PSI max pressure.
.38+P is loaded to 18500, only 10% more. As comparison, guns are supposed to be able to handle 30% overpressure "proof" loads.
Further, .357 magnum is loaded to 35000 PSI pressure, far greater pressures.
The point is, despite the perception, .38+P ammo is really only marginally more powerful than "ordinary" .38 ammo. If the gun isn't safe with +P, its probably not really safe with ordinary ammo!
-Smith J-frames are actually pretty strong. Supposedly, because of the cut cylinder notches in the K-frame, at their thinnest point, K-frame cylinders are actually thinner than J-frames!
Also consider that at one point Smith did produce a small run of original J-frames in .357. (The current .357 J-frames are built on beefier frames). That doesn't mean that these guns will hold up to constant .357, but it certainly does suggest that lowly +P .38s shouldn't pose any problem.
Further, I've heard anecdotally, or reloaders "pushing" J frames with .357 magnum like pressures. Now, I would certainly NOT say that doing THAT is safe, but it does give food for thought as to margins of safety in these little guns.
I've also heard that there is *no difference* between the earlier guns and the later +P rated guns in terms of steel or construction.
-Lots of people shoot and carry +P ammo in their non-+P rated Smith J-frames (and I have done so myself) but I've never heard of a single case of someone damaging their gun or their person this way.
In theory, higher pressure rounds will "increase wear" on your gun, but again, I've never actually heard of a case where anyone has worn out their STEEL .38 from +P ammo. (In fact, its pretty hard to wear out a J-frame period).
Bluntly, most shooters don't put that many rounds through their J-frames EVER. Use of +P ammo is also naturally limited by its increased cost.
Bottom line is I see no reason why carrying +P ammo in an earlier gun should be a problem in theory or in practice.0
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