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Old April 18, 2014, 11:00 AM   #26
44 AMP
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Some load charts show a starting weight for powder and a max. Is the max equal to +P or is +P more than the max weight?
The listed maximum load is the point (or slightly below) where the testers got unacceptable results (pressure issues) with the components they tested.

And that includes the firearm they used in their tests. Your gun may be different. Even if its the same make, model, caliber, and the next consecutive serial number, it may have a different point at which it shows pressure issues.

It may be higher or lower than the tested gun, even if you could use identical ammo components.

+p is a marketing term, and despite SAAMI endorsing certain loads as "standard +p" it really has no clearly defined or consistent standard across the board. +p+ can only be applied to cartridges where there is a recognized +p load, and all +p+ tells you is that the load is somewhere above +p. And, not how much above it.

A few years ago, ammo makers began marking all .38 Super brass with "+p" markings, but changed NOTHING else about the cartridge. Apparently someone decided that the name ".38 Super" wasn't good enough to tell people that the ammo was not for guns marked .38 ACP (which haven't been made in a very long time). I guess adding +p makes them good enough, now?....
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Old April 18, 2014, 12:34 PM   #27
Clark
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Slamfire
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I now know a lot of things that contradict a lot of above posts.
Don't be mysterious, put that knowledge in the public domain.
The steel strength is not an issue. Only a few handguns have stronger steel than 100 year old guns, but it is not a problem if the steel is thick enough.

I have tested many 9mm pistols and never found any to be lacking in strength. I did find a WWII 380 that had a tiny amount of trouble with triple loads, but no 9mm trouble.

When I overload 9mms to see what happens, I find problems with case failure, primer failure, and too much recoil.
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Last edited by Clark; April 18, 2014 at 02:11 PM.
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