38 special plus p brass

[Muleskinner]

I'm new to reloading 38 special. I was given several thousand pieces of brass. Only a few of the head stamps though are marked ,+P. I do want to reload some of them as plus p rounds for my backup carry. Is there any significant difference other than the headstamp mark between standard 38 special brass and the Plus p?

 

[4g64loser]

No. Same stuff, different stamp. Load away. The different brands will vary some but the plus p thing is just to identify the ammo as loaded at factory.

I usually segregate wadcutter brass (different thing) for it's slightly different case head structure as I load wadcutters.

 

[FN509Fan]

Your mileage may vary. SAAMI specs are for external dimensions on the brass, the interior volume can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and to +P as well. Starline, which caters to reloaders makes their .45 ACP +P cases 17 grains heavier so the case has slightly lower capacity than their standard .45 ACP brass. If you have mixed brass, it might be an interesting experiment to see if the case wall thickness varies. I like to separate mixed brass by headstamp if I'm trying to shoot small groups. If I'm just plinking, anything goes.

 

[linkstate]

Your mileage may vary. SAAMI specs are for external dimensions on the brass, the interior volume can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and to +P as well. Starline, which caters to reloaders makes their .45 ACP +P cases 17 grains heavier so the case has slightly lower capacity than their standard .45 ACP brass. If you have mixed brass, it might be an interesting experiment to see if the case wall thickness varies. I like to separate mixed brass by headstamp if I'm trying to shoot small groups. If I'm just plinking, anything goes.

You got me curious. Talking about Starline only but for .38 special +P brass, they say no difference other than headstamp. It might be different for other manufacturers. As you said, YMMV.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/38-specialplusp-brass

 

[FN509Fan]

https://www.starlinebrass.com/38-specialplusp-brass

"This is due to the fact that our standard case design will handle +P pressures with no problems."

They may have designed their brass for +P for simplicity to be able to offer either headstamp.

The 45 ACP may have be thicker near the base since it isn't fully supported in 1911 style guns like it is in revolvers. I didn't think of that when I first posted.

 

[lazarus]

I'm new to reloading 38 special. I was given several thousand pieces of brass. Only a few of the head stamps though are marked ,+P. I do want to reload some of them as plus p rounds for my backup carry. Is there any significant difference other than the headstamp mark between standard 38 special brass and the Plus p?

None. I am not aware of any manufacturers brass that is different from regular, or +p, or +p+ brass.

The only sort of exception to that is 45acp and 45 super brass are not the same. Even though 45 super is basically just 45acp ++p++ (or whatever). Starline actually makes the 45 super case (they are the only one making 45 super so far as I know) different. Thicker web, different grain structure to the metal, and a different heat treatment process for the case. Their 45acp +p brass is also different, thicker web. They are the only manufacturer that I know of that does actually make +p brass of anything different. Their 38spc, 9mm and as near as I can tell their 38 super +p cases are all the same as their regular cases.

But anyone's +p brass is the same as just regular brass from all that I have been able to discern comparing federal, hornady, remington and winchester brass +p to normal against each other. It is nice to separate out by headstamp sometimes though. I tend to load my JHP reloads for 9 and 45 in factory +p brass even though its pretty obvious what is what since I don't load JHPs for plinking.

 

[Muleskinner]

None. I am not aware of any manufacturers brass that is different from regular, or +p, or +p+ brass.

The only sort of exception to that is 45acp and 45 super brass are not the same. Even though 45 super is basically just 45acp ++p++ (or whatever). Starline actually makes the 45 super case (they are the only one making 45 super so far as I know) different. Thicker web, different grain structure to the metal, and a different heat treatment process for the case. Their 45acp +p brass is also different, thicker web. They are the only manufacturer that I know of that does actually make +p brass of anything different. Their 38spc, 9mm and as near as I can tell their 38 super +p cases are all the same as their regular cases.

But anyone's +p brass is the same as just regular brass from all that I have been able to discern comparing federal, hornady, remington and winchester brass +p to normal against each other. It is nice to separate out by headstamp sometimes though. I tend to load my JHP reloads for 9 and 45 in factory +p brass even though its pretty obvious what is what since I don't load JHPs for plinking.

Yeah that's kind of what I thought. After checking dimensions and thickness they don't appear to be any different than standard 38 special brass.

And although apparently it's a pain in the ass 45 super brass can be made from 308 or 30 ought 6 brass. I'm satisfied with the performance of my 1911 with the standard 45 ACP round though. I am considering converting one of my large frame Glocks from 45 ACP to 460 Rowland. It's expensive but the ballistics are nearly the equivalent of a.44 Magnum out of a semi-automatic.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

I take a permanent marker and write a "P" on the head stamp on regular 38 Special brass.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah that's kind of what I thought. After checking dimensions and thickness they don't appear to be any different than standard 38 special brass.

And although apparently it's a pain in the ass 45 super brass can be made from 308 or 30 ought 6 brass. I'm satisfied with the performance of my 1911 with the standard 45 ACP round though. I am considering converting one of my large frame Glocks from 45 ACP to 460 Rowland. It's expensive but the ballistics are nearly the equivalent of a.44 Magnum out of a semi-automatic.

I’ve got what I need for my Glock 21, which isn’t much for them. I just need to assemble the wolf stainless steel guide rod and heavier spring. Then either my Glock 21 or 21L can play with the big boys. That and about 400 pieces of 45 super brass.

It’s not 44 magnum powerful. But it is basically 10mm auto powerful. And frankly for something like bear, a .451 hard cast lead bullet weighing 255gr traveling 1050-1100fps probably has a pretty similar effect to a .429” hard cast 300gr lead bullet traveling at around 1200fps. Sure, I’d probably take the 44 magnum over the 45 super…but my Dan Wesson carries 6. My Glock 21 carries 13. And my Glock 21 is much more pleasant for muzzle blast and recoil even with a hot 45 super out of it (I have shot it a little, but changing recoil springs to something one notch stiffer than the 24#) is less than my Dan Wesson with a hot 300gr hard cast from the 6” barrel. Let alone the 2.5”.

With the 2.5” if I didn’t panic I could probably get 2 shots on a grizzly if it charged me from 30yds. Maybe a 3rd with the muzzle about touching the bear.

My Glock 21 I could probably get 4 off in that time and maybe a 5th blazing away.