38 Super

[Wolfie]

Neglected my Colt and Kimber for a few years. Founds some Carbons and hit the range. Both are nice shooters, but do not even come close to the big 10.

[gmerkt]

I have a fairly new Colt 1911 that I enjoy.   It's my fourth try over a period of 30 years in getting one that I like.  The first was a Colt 70 Series, some worn, barrel made in the old way which was not good and I never developed much love for it.  Next, I shopped a bargain Auto Ordnance that was false economy.  The slide was machined wrong and would not reliably eject.  No, J.B. Weld will not fix these problems.  Next, tempted again by a bargain, one made by S.A.M. (Shooters Arms Manufacturing) in the Philippines, words fail to describe what a piece of junk that one was.  Would not shoot even close to point of aim, failed to function reliably by a very wide margin, slide would fall of while being fired.  Then I went for ten years without owning one.  Was tempted once by a Tanfoglio in .38 Super for $400 but passed. 

Then when Colt ramped up .38 Super production a while back, I guess the hurt had enough time to subside so I bought one.  The new one is very tight, shoots reliably and well.  Doesn't have the nice finish of one made in 1931 but has the proper barrel design that head spaces on the case mouth.  Now one of my favorite pistols.   Most factory ammo is now loaded to about old .38 Colt ACP power, you want more, you have to roll your own or buy the expensive boxes of +P maybe but since I don't buy them myself, don't know for sure what those are up to.   I roll my own.

With age, I've developed arthritis in my right wrist, so I find shooting the Super more pleasant than a .45 Auto.

Recently I was reading about some of the Smith & Wesson custom shop guns.  Not too long back, they made fancy stainless steel revolvers in .38 Super.  They are competition guns, the Model 627 is eight shot; the Model 686-7 is six shot. 

[EdMc]

No it ain't a 10mm but I really like 38 Super. LW Colt XSE Commander and a full size Colt Government Model pimp pistol. Bright stainless, a lot of jeweled parts and soon, ivory grips. I need to look for an old Caddy with wide white walls. 

[my_old_glock]

Look for a 9x23 Winchester barrel for the 1911. Colt made a few.


.

[RJM52]

The Super...my favorite round.  While it doesn't have the punch of a 10mm it will push 9mm bullets of all weights into the zone of never failing to expand...and without all the recoil of the 10mm/.45s.

I've been carrying a Super daily in the form of a Commander since 1980. The gun weights in at 33 ounces loaded and is a joy to carry and shoot...

As to the revolvers mentioned, I have a 686-7 and had one of the 627s...  In addition had the cylinders on a 3" 66-2, 3" 60-10 and a 649 modified by TK Custom to be able to shoot 9mm and Super via moon clips...

The 9x23 will run in most of the guns I have for .38 Super...just put in a heavier recoil spring...and with addition of a 9mm barrel one can run cheap factory ammo...


Just a great round...Bob

[sqlbullet]

My oldest daughter is going to turn 21 soon and is looking at options for an EDC gun.  She has really bad joint issues that make shooting higher impulse rounds like 10mm a multi day painful experience.  (We are begining to think she may have rheumatoid arthritis, but diagnosis is a real challenge.)

I recently bought a surplus High Power clone and she was able to shoot several magazines through it without the normal 48 hours of pain.  So, not being a huge fan of 9mm, I fitted up a 38 super barrel to one of my Witness guns.  Waiting on a 38 super magazine to arrive and we will give it a go.  If that works then I will probably start shopping for a witness compact.

357 sig is another option, though I really like the ability of the 38 super to handle the 158 grain SWC that I cast for 38/357.  It is definitely a great round!

[PCFlorida]

My oldest daughter is going to turn 21 soon and is looking at options for an EDC gun.  She has really bad joint issues that make shooting higher impulse rounds like 10mm a multi day painful experience.  (We are begining to think she may have rheumatoid arthritis, but diagnosis is a real challenge.)

I recently bought a surplus High Power clone and she was able to shoot several magazines through it without the normal 48 hours of pain.  So, not being a huge fan of 9mm, I fitted up a 38 super barrel to one of my Witness guns.  Waiting on a 38 super magazine to arrive and we will give it a go.  If that works then I will probably start shopping for a witness compact.

357 sig is another option, though I really like the ability of the 38 super to handle the 158 grain SWC that I cast for 38/357.  It is definitely a great round!

I have a .38 super mag for an EAA type gun. It is a Mecgar. I bought it off Ebay earlier in the year because with shipping it was only $5.00
If you would like it PM me your shipping address and I'll send it over.

[kilibreaux]

I have an RIA .38 Super GI model that is pretty sweet.  It chews up the generic Super ammo and even 9mm ammo from the super barrel just fine, but when I slapped in a Wolff 18.5 lb. recoil spring and some Underwood "real" .38 Super loads, it "tweaked" the extended ejector causing slide binding!  It was easy to re-tweak the ejector, but clearly the 550 lb-ft of kinetic energy Underwood ammo was a bit stout for the 18.5 pound spring, and or (maybe) the "extended" ejector.  I suspect if one is shooting TOP Super loads one does not really need the extended ejector.

But what REALLY sets the Super apart is it's amazing operating reliability!  Due to the smaller diameter round, the round center line sits higher relative to the bore axis and so feed like grease through a goose!

And, in a pinch, one CAN load up magazines of 9mm and they fire just fine through the Super barrel....(shush....don't tell the "experts" they'll just tell you why it can't happen despite the fact that it does!)

But I have to say, the problem with the .38 Super is that even in top loads it's still 200 lb-ft of KE behind a proper 10mm load!  Yes it IS the equal of a short-barrel .357 Magnum, which should certainly catch some attention for those who study the numbers.