[ninjatoth]

Does anyone have any experience with +P ammo?Right now I have a 9mm that I load with standard pressure ammo,and I know that the round will produce somewhere around 300 ft lbs of energy.I was looking at +P 9mm ammo,I don't remember what brand,but they were advertising 466 ft lbs of energy!I don't know if the recoil would be terribly worse,or if +P would be reliable in my Ruger P95,but having 15 rounds of ammo with the about the same ballistics of a .357 magnum out of a a 3" revolver,it seems like I would have alot of firepower.I just don't hear much about +P ammo,and in my case,I never hear anyone talk about 9mm +P ammo,and you would think you would hear more about it considering it has more muzzle energy than a standard .40 or .45acp.Any thoughts on +P ammo in general,or specifically 9mm+P?

[lonyaeger]

I think it has a lot to do with the size and weight of the handgun itself. I've fired plenty of +P ammo in different handguns and the difference in recoil is not a real big deal IMO. But in a lightweight handgun like the Ruger LCR, it is significant. Just ask RugerShootinGal!

[willfully armed]

[QUOTE=lonyaeger;240100]I think it has a lot to do with the size and weight of the handgun itself. I've fired plenty of +P ammo in different handguns and the difference in recoil is not a real big deal IMO.QUOTE]

Agreed. MY USP shoots better with +p WCC 124gr fmj.

[Dillinger]

I only pack with +P ammo in my 1911's. In my opinion, if your weapon is rated for it, there is no reason NOT to carry with a hotter round that can do even more damage.

The key is whether your weapon is rated for +P, because if it is not ( and a lot of weapons are not from the manufacturer ) you could, COULD, be causing some damage to the weapon shooting the hotter loads.

From Ruger's Website:

The Ruger P-Series pistols are compatible with all factory ammunition loaded to U.S. Industry Standards, including high-velocity and hollow-point loads, loaded in brass, aluminum, or steel cartridge cases. No 9mm x 19 ammunition manufactured in accordance with NATO, U.S., SAAMI, or CIP standards is known to be beyond the design limits or known not to function in these pistols.

Now, it doesn't come right out and say you can shoot +P, and I am by no means an expert in US Industry Standards. You should probably get a more expert opinion before you go running thousands of rounds of +P through it. However, on the surface, it would appear you are okay...

JD

[ninjatoth]

I don't plan on running very many +P rounds through my gun.I was just thinking of buying a 20 pack of +P HPs and testing 5 of them to see how they fire and just loading the last 15 in my mag for defense.I just want an edge over the bad guy if someone breaks in trying to hurt us,I just don't want my gun to jam or something from too much power the moment I need it the most.

[Gojubrian]

My CZ75b handles +p ammunition with only a little more recoil.

I keep 124g +p powRball ammo in it.

[Wambli]

One of my most repected gun writers did a fair amount of research on the subject of +p and his final opinion was that there is not enough difference between standard factory loadings and +P ammo to really worry about your gun standing up to it... and if your gun is really not capable of standing up to +P ammo why own it in the first place.

I agree with him wholeheartedly on both counts...

[divinginn]

My Ruger p-90 45 acp is rated for +p+,I have shot +p Remington golden sabers in it,the recoil was not noticeably different.

[ninjatoth]

Originally Posted by WalterGA

Your Ruger will handle +p just fine; however, even if you're shooting +p+, you're still not even in the neighborhood of the .357 magnum.

I would have to disagree after reading the findings from ballistics by the inch website.I mentioned a 3" revolver in my statement,and here are some findings.A Bond Texas Defender with 3" barrel with Federal .357 125 grain ammo fires at 1246fps for a muzzle energy of 431 ft lbs.A 9mm styr s9 with 3.6" barrel fires a 9mm 115+P corbon bullet at 1301fps for a muzzle energy of 432 ft lbs.I would say that a 9mm+P in a smaller gun is pretty close with the ballistics of a smaller 3" .357 magnum.

[gadrooning]

I would imagine it would because the 9mm is already such a hot round that the +p really doesn't add any practical value to the round. You can already shoot through a person what does the +p add in value. Now on the other hand a 38+p has merrit since 38's are a bit underpowered. The +P brings this round closer to the 9mm.