imported post
mel5051 wrote:
This may be somewhere on here already. Are there any currently made 9mm's that do not carry the warning 'not to be used with +P and +P+ ammunition' ?
It shouldn't be any problem at all in a H&K USP, so long as you're not firing it frequently. Some of the Glocks (with fully supported chambers) should handle it just fine as well. I wouldn't mess with it in a Kel-Tec at all. I'm willing to bet a Springfield Armory EMP will handle them fine as well since they're essentialyl 1911s chambered in 9mm.
For the most part, +P+ is simply high pressure LEO ammo marketed to civilians. Many LE agencies are carrying "+P+" ammunition as their duty ammunition. In some cases (specifically 9x19 stuff) it's ultra-high pressure SMG ammo though and it's not marked +P+ either.
EDIT: Frequent use (hundreds or thousands of rounds) of extremely high-pressure ammunition will cause parts failure far sooner than lower pressure ammunition. There's no such thing as a free lunch and you can't ignore the laws of physics. +P and +P+ ammunition is never intended to be used regularly. This stuff is meant to be duty/carry ammo only for use in critical incidents, not daily range-work.
Just think of +P+ like "proof" loads. (They're still lower pressure than proof loads though....) Factories test all of their firearms with a limited number of proof loads and look for abnormal parts wear or failure. If they find no failures or abnormal wear, they sell the gun for frequent use with ammunition loaded at much lower (SAAMI or CIP) pressures.
Although this is purely anecdotal, when H&K was testing their Mk 23 Mod 0 (similar recoil system to the USP) they fired 6,000 proof loads through it without any malfunctions. They also deliberately lodged a bullet halfway down the bore, then fired a standard load into it, slightly bulging the barrel and then fired for accuracy after that... still getting around 2.5" at 25 meters ... (That's ridiculously accurate for a damaged barrel.)
Granted, there are some differences between the USP and the Mk 23 and the end-user should never fire 6,000 proof loads or fire with bore obstructions, but at least that specific firearm handled it in testing. I think repeated use of +P or +P+ ammunition in a USP might wear it out faster, but it's not going to blow the magazine (and your fingers) off from just one over-pressure round. Some Glocks with unsupported chambers and overpressure .40 S&W handloads will do this. (Any pistol with that arrangement will have problems, Glocks were just more widely sold so the "Glock-Grenade" horror stories got more bad press than others did.)
