I finally got my 4" M19-3 back in operating condition. All my other K frames are .38s, so I've been shooting .38 Special for probably the last ten years. I decided to see how much difference there was shooting full-power Mags through the gun. I used some Federal AE 158-grain JSPs that I had overpaid for when Federal was offering ammo online during COVID-19.
One of my favorite drills is the Five-Yard Roundup. I usually score in the low-to-mid 90s, well within the time limits. My score with the Magnum ammo was 92, but I was outside the 2.5-second time limit on the second and third strings (four rounds from the ready freestyle, and three rounds from ready SHO). Bah...fargin' timer... The issue was recovering from recoil.
I could probably get back to where I could handle the additional recoil, but at 71, I'm not sure the juice would be worth that squeeze. I could go to either Golden Sabre or Hornady Critical Duty with their reduced recoil, but their availability is usually spotty though they're both available now, and then I'd have to create a practice load just for the M19. I'm definitely not going to use the full-power 125s that prematurely wore out guns of my 19's vintage. Looks like I'll stick with the same R-P version of the FBI load that I'm using in my other K frames, along with the practice handloads for them.