# Are Remington +P cartridges safe to fire in my S&W 469?



## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Today I bought three 20 round boxes of JHP cartridges for $54 plus tax to add to my home stock and after getting home I noticed the 3 boxes of Remington rounds are High Terminal Performance +P.

They are 115 gr as my older boxes of rounds but are marked +P.

Would the new rounds be a different powder making them more +P hot than my older stock or is it just newer era package hype since they are all 115 gr?


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

some +P usually ins't an issue for a gun in good repair it exerts more wear but large frame autos typically are ok if you say replace the recoil spring at 10K rounds if all you shot was +P you might change it at 5K rounds some police departments run +P all the time it changes wear and maintenance intervals.

here is what S&W states in the manual


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## random (Jul 23, 2020)

+P is plus-pressure. It can damage a firearm not designed for it, and can be dangerous.

I can't find the max chamber pressure for the 469, but SAAMI rates 9mm parabellum at 35,001 max, and +P is 38,000 to as much as 42,000. Also, the 469 was produced in the 1980's, while 9mm +P was developed in the 90's. So there's no way it could have been designed for +P specifically.

Personally, I wouldn't take the risk.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

the P85 Ruger was also designed in the 80s and it was safe to run +p in all day long

they used to put a significant enough margin of error into what a thing could do that it didn't need to be re-desinged to do 7.9% more

if S&W like Ruger looked back at the design and said well sure we put a 25% margin in 7.9% might make it wear more but should still be safe.

Ruger released a statement that 5.56 was safe in the Mini 14 they had already cut the chamber large enough to accommodate 5.56 and had enough pressure safety margin that it was fine.

however if you wanted to you could probably get 50 dollars a box easy for those right now maybe 65 9mm ammo is scarce people are paying stupid prices for it.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Thanks for the information. As far as the recoil spring, my gunsmith / indoor range master changed it for me in 2000 when it started jamming a bit and he found all other moving parts were seating adequately. Since then I have put about 1500 rounds through it and only one round has jammed where before my range master put the new spring in it, it would sometimes jam during the second or third magazine and he did his inspection and replaced the recoil spring.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

how many rounds did you have through it before it started acting up?

1500 sounds like a lot but really isn't I have gone 3000 between cleanings 

our action pistol league has been shut down all summer or I would have shot 1500 rounds in 15 weeks or less , with ammo the way it is right now I am not shooting much till I will be able to restock small pistol primers

Glock recommends recoil spring changes at 5000 rounds for gen 4 and 5 guns , many guys are happy till 10K rounds running with no issues 

the gen 1,2,3 guns they recomedned 3K would be sort of funny clean your gun and put a new recoil spring in every time you clean.

you might want to pick up another spare


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

When it started acting up we had a company range meet every two weeks and I had been putting 100 rounds through it during the practice competitions for 3 1/2 years or so and that was about 9000 rounds plus occasional lunch hour range times .

Since retiring I haven't shot the 469 as much as it isn't my usual choice of a carry weapon now that I no longer have to travel in the high crime city where I worked and prefer my lighter to carry wheel gun .38s but still fire a magazine or two through it every couple months or so before cleaning and oiling to keep my feel for it in case I feel a need to carry that 13 round compact service semi auto in it's horizontal carry shoulder rig with a jacket or belly band or in pant holster with shirt tail out if going into that still high crime city..


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

9000 would make a lot of sense , probably just replace at 3-5k and be happy

this got me thinking I need some recoil springs and a few minutes later I had 100 dollars of springs in my cart amazing how fast that happens.


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## mitchell3006 (Apr 1, 2010)

I've run several 50rd boxes of +P+ through a 459 with no problems whatsoever. If you were going to run a steady diet and shoot it a lot it might become an issue on the aluminum frame.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I bought the boxes of JHP to replace a 50 round box I gave a friend during the last local ammo shortage and he as I prefers to practice with what he carries and he gave me a box of .38 JHP he had gotten in a caliber miscount when he was buying his range ammo stock up.

I thought I had more 9 mm JHP when we traded but now I have my stock up just have to wait until I can afford to buy a bit more to add to my 9mm stock.

I still like my now old fashioned 469 because of the decock block safety that rolls the firing pin down and blocks the hammer and pin from a chambered round and it's size is comfortable to carry with an extra magazine in pocket for 25 rounds or two in the shoulder rig or belly band for 37 rounds if needed. It's versatility just feels good to me


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