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I recently purchased a used stainless Taurus 85.

I called Taurus today and found out that it was manufactured in 1988. I was also told not to run +p ammunition through it and that they did not rate them for +p until 1993. I see that SAAMI shows the standard round at 17,000psi and the +p at 20,000psi (less than 18% increase in pressure).

I would like to carry it with +p rounds, but I don't want to damage my pistol. How much more stress does the +p round place on the pistol vs. the regular round? Is there really a concern that I may damage the pistol or hurt myself? Or is Taurus just doing a CYA be telling me that?

I'm paranoid.

I wouldn't carry it with +P if taurus says not to.
I also feel that standard +P loads aren't terribly worth the extra wear and tear on an older pistol.

Shoot enough +P to determine where it shoots then carry +P. For practice, shoot standard pressure ammo. Generally, the same bullet weight +P or standard will shoot to approximately the same point of impact at normal snubby ranges.

As I understand it, +P will not "destroy" the gun. If it could, it would be unsafe to fire in any case. Proof test rounds in rifles develop pressures far in excess of the SAAMI standard; I expect that pistols are the same, and a .38 Special proof load would exceed the +P SAAMI spec. If anyone knows for sure, please let us know.

What it WILL do is wear the gun excessively, and a steady diet of the ammo CAN result in a dangerous situation. At the least, it will require the gun to be serviced by a competant gunsmith long before it normally would.

I'm taking my CCW class this March, and picked up a Taurus 85 for carry as well. I'll likely run one cylinder of +P through it, just to "feel" it, and then stick to standard pressure rounds for practice, with the warmer stuff as carry ammo.

Taurus advises against using it in the older guns for liability reasons. They don't want someone suing them because the gun fell apart after a few hundred rounds of the stuff. But one cylinder shouldn't hurt it, in my opinion.



BTW: First post here, and hello.


[Edit] Just looked on Taurus' website for the date of manufacture of my little gun. 1987. I'll be careful about the +P because of this, but will probably still carry +P once I get the CHL.

Welcome, Thane. Great to have another from the West Tex Desert area. I lived there for one yr. My Dad was transfered there when I was a jr in High School. Played baseball for Eastwood Hi Troopers there. Post one in the general gun section under introduce yourself & you will get a lot of welcomes. We have a couple from there. Need more & all the area in between The Pass & the Piney Woods. Welcome.

If it were me I would carry the +P once I shot enough of them to determine POA/POI. I think it is safe to say it will not tear your gun up as long as you do not give it a steady diet of them.

Glenn