Hello again folks. Just curious. I was just wondering if the M&P 9mm can handle +P and +P+ loads. Since the "P" stands for police, it's not a safe assumption that it can handle these kinds of loads. I'd like to hear from you guys. Thanks!
Your manual answers this question. The gun is designed to work with +p ammunition. Smith recommends against using +p+ ammunition.
Having said this, I can tell you that the M&P9 was specifically designed with certain +p+ loads in mind and so you are probably fine using ammo manufactured by the Big Three (ATK, Remington, Winchester) marked +p+.
Higher-pressure ammunition will lead to accelerated wear of any pistol compared to standard pressure ammo.
I've always understood the P was for pressure, not police, but that's really neither here nor there.
+P loads have a SAAMI specification to meet. SAAMI does not have a specification for +P+ and that's why manufacturer warrants their products for +P+. A +P 9mm load would max out a 38.5k psi, antthing over that would probably be a +P+. It could ALSO be a 25,000psi load and still be labelled as +P+ since there is no SAAMI spec for +P+.
Hello again folks. Just curious. I was just wondering if the M&P 9mm can handle +P and +P+ loads. Since the "P" stands for police, it's not a safe assumption that it can handle these kinds of loads. I'd like to hear from you guys. Thanks!
Just FYI - The "P" doesn't stand for "Police". It's used to show that a cartridge is loaded to a higher-than-standard pressure. There are industry standards for +P ammo; +P+ only means that the ammo is loaded to higher-than-+P pressures...there aren't any industry standards for +P+.
Go with what Todd said about the suitability.
ETA: He-who-is-one-of-the-two-things-that-fall-from-the-sky beat me to it.
[quote name='UrbanTiger74']Hello again folks. Just curious. I was just wondering if the M&P 9mm can handle +P and +P+ loads. Since the "P" stands for police, it's not a safe assumption that it can handle these kinds of loads. I'd like to hear from you guys. Thanks!
Just FYI - The "P" doesn't stand for "Police". It's used to show that a cartridge is loaded to a higher-than-standard pressure. There are industry standards for +P ammo; +P+ only means that the ammo is loaded to higher-than-+P pressures...there aren't any industry standards for +P+.
Go with what Todd said about the suitability.
ETA: He-who-is-one-of-the-two-things-that-fall-from-the-sky beat me to it.
I've always understood the P was for pressure, not police, but that's really neither here nor there.
+P loads have a SAAMI specification to meet. SAAMI does not have a specification for +P+ and that's why manufacturer warrants their products for +P+. A +P 9mm load would max out a 38.5k psi, antthing over that would probably be a +P+. It could ALSO be a 25,000psi load and still be labelled as +P+ since there is no SAAMI spec for +P+.
The M&P is rated for +P ammo, but not +P+. They don't rate it for +P+ because there is no SAAMI spec for it. I don't have my manual in front of me, but I seem to remember it saying that +P is OK.
Personally it's just how I choose my firearms. I have to admit, the M&P is my plinker pistol, but since it can take +P ammo I don't see why it couldn't work in such a situation :wink:
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