[undeadmerc3]

Hi. I'm planning on buying a Taurus 856(38 Special) in the future, but with that in mind I get mixed information from the dealers on gun Broker as to whether or not it's rated for +P. Some tell me it is, while others say it's not. I assume it depends on what year it's been made. Can you give me any details?

 

[texastaurusguy]

https://www.taurususa.com/firearms/revolvers/856/


The Taurus website shows their list of regular 856 guns and they all say they are +P rated. To my knowledge, the only 856 that isn't +P rated was the magnesium revolver they made a few years ago, and I believe they stopped making that one. But, any magnesium revolver would not be +P rated.

 

[Qwiks draw]

Taurus USA site says go for it and TT said it all.

 

[Qwiks draw]

https://www.americanrifleman.org/ar...-856ul-ultra-lite-6-shot-38-special-revolver/

 

[osbornk]

I recently bought one and it is rated for +P. I paid $269 for mine at Rural King just before they lowered the price by $20 and Taurus put a $25 rebate on them. Even though I paid $45 more because of the timing of my purchase, I am still pleased with it.

 

[MR_22]

https://www.taurususa.com/firearms/revolvers/856/The Taurus website shows their list of regular 856 guns and they all say they are +P rated. To my knowledge, the only 856 that isn't +P rated was the magnesium revolver they made a few years ago, and I believe they stopped making that one. But, any magnesium revolver would not be +P rated.

I endorse this answer. If it's not magnesium, then you should be fine with +P. BTW, I LOVE my magnesium 856 because it's SO LIGHT and carries an extra round, but yeah, no +P. The magnesium revolver is easy to tell from the standard ones, tho, in that it's a dullish gray color and is marked "Hy-Lite" on the side and it also is says "DO NOT USE +P" on the barrel. See the photo of mine.

 

[undeadmerc3]

I recently bought one and it is rated for +P. I paid $269 for mine at Rural King just before they lowered the price by $20 and Taurus put a $25 rebate on them. Even though I paid $45 more because of the timing of my purchase, I am still pleased with it.

Nice answers. Thanks for the info. Yes, i've been asking around on gun broker and I get mixed answers from the dealers on whether or not they're +P. I assumed that the ones that weren't are the older versions, but I could stand corrected.

 

[HrvojeKL]

This is copy/paste from some German gun forum, translated from german via Google translate:

"The designation +P and +P+ are pure US marketing. In EU there is no such thing and CIP knows only a permissible maximum gas pressure, with .38 Spacial 1500 bar. Any EU-approved ammo must be within this CIP limit.

It's a bit different in the USA. Roughly applies
- without additional name = standard gas pressure, at .38 Spl 17000PSI / 1172 bar
- with +P as name depending on caliber 5 to 10% above. In the case of the 38 Spl, that's 18500 psi / 1275 bar
- If there is still +P+, again 5 to 10% above +P pressure

SAAMI also measures things differently.

Basically, for us in the EU, it can be said that +P and +P+ cartridges will make more use of the allowable gas pressure limit without exceeding the CIP limits."