Super Vel Ammo..........

[Iggy]

Old gruff cops with big heavy S&W Model 28's pulling down their belts, leather saps, gigantic flashlights that took twelve D cells (I'm exagerating), leather dress shoes with heavy rubber soles put on by a local shoe shop, huge patrol cars with V8 engines and a single light dome on top, big cluncky radar units and brown "night sticks"

Keerful thar Sonny, I resemble them fellers. *G*

Right after I quit law enforcement and went back to ranching, the outfit I worked for issued brand new Model 66's and Super Vel ammo. They had a policy of practicing with what they carried. They shot those model 66's loose in just a few years and traded them in for 9mm autos.

I was glad I was gone.

 

[Checkman]

They're great memories Iggy. Alot of those old cops are now gone, but a few are still around though all have long since retired. A few years ago dad gave me his old Remington 870 duty shotgun. He had to buy his own back then. It's a Wingmaster with a 20 inch barrel and an extended magazine.It's only proofed for 2 3/4 shells. It's a high grade sporting shotgun that has been converted to patrol duty. It's got it's share of dings and scratches, but it still shoots true. I thought that crazy old shotgun was the greatest when I was a kid and I still do.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I have a box of 9MMs and a box of 357s, neither complete, alas. Lee Jurras made the first truly reliable expanding bullet handgun ammo, alas, the Big Boys crowded him out.

 

[Class III]

The only thing I have every shot with S/Vel Shelbyville, other than paper, was a BIG whitetail doe back in the late 1970's. I harvested her with a Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag/Spcl with a 20" barrel using S/Vel 240 gr 44 Mag. All I can say without getting too graphic is in one shoulder, no heart or lungs left to speak of and out the other side. That S/Vel 44 Mag 240 gr turned the front of that deer into ground venison. All that was left to put in the freezer was two hams, one shoulder and the back straps. I've still got thirty-seven rounds left from the original box that harvested that doe. Lord have pitty one the soul that decides to break into my house as those same S/Vels are loaded in that same rifle doing duty as one of my HD guns. Plus it's good not to have neighbors close enough where you have to worry over penetration.

Class III

 

[lonegunman762x51]

I probably have 20 boxes of the stuff, all full. I collected the 9,45, 38 and 357 in full boxes for my collection. I few years ago I bought 10 boxes of 38 for 5 bucks a box. I was going to use it for plinking.

 

[JOliver]

what does a nice box of super vels bring ?
say a box of 50 110 gr .357 from shelbyville ? just curious as to see where the market is one these....of course I'm sure you guys are like me they'd have to be cheap before you'd buy them.
40 bucks?

 

[sw282]

si---------

 

[Muley Gil]

My dad bought a post WW II .38 special M&P in the late '60s. The salesman sold him a box of Super Vels to go with it, as those rounds were "the best for self defense".

My dad shot six rounds, I shot six rounds, my mom shot one round and then the M&P quit on her. The forcing cone had split.

The dealer sent the gun back to S&W, who put on a new barrel. The Super Vels were traded for a box of 158 grain RNL.

 

[canoe on the yukon]

I started handloading back in the late sixties but out of curiosity I bought a couple of boxes of the Super Vel ammo (around 1970 or so).I found it to be good stuff.They finally went under due to competition.

Handgun shooters have profited in many ways ever since because of them.The big ammo makers were only marketing what they thought would sell the best and had no interest in broadening their selection.The popularity of Super Vel changed all that.

As an aside,their lightweight jacketed hollow and soft point bullets driven to good velocities opened my eyes.The gun scribes at that time(as well as many today)criticized such loads continuously but I discovered their worth rather quickly.Such ammo is not ideal for every use and no one claims they are.However,the condemnation by many (then and now) is something that I ignore.Too many gun rag gurus(then and now) are placed on pedestals and they don't deserve it.Yes,I know that I'm digressing.

At any rate,Super Vel changed what the market had available and handgun shooters have definately benefited from it.

 

[Frank237]

Antique ammo should be sold or collected, not shot.

Watch that ANTIQUE stuff! Super-Vel was very popular during my young adult days. You're making me feel OLD.

FN in MT

 

[Deltaboy]

Super Vel is what my Dad still keeps in his Bed stand 357 It is bad stuff. I shot several critters with it over the years and it made big HOLES!

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I agree with Frank237. Super Vel is not that old. I remember getting the stuff occasionally over the counter when I could afford factory 357 mags.

 

[Bruce51]

Velocity

I'm glad to see this thread revived.
I was reading my 1980 vintage Ken Waters pet loads when I noticed he had tested some Super Vel .357 in a six inch Colt revolver.

The load is listed as original Super Vel.

The 110gr JSP velocity was 1,343fps

The 110gr JHP velocity was 1,359fps

So now you know about that load of Super Vel.
I have shot 115grJHP 9MM's that would be its equal. Speer #14 has 110gr loads that exceed 1600fps with 110gr bullets.
Super Vel in this case isn't so super.
Bruce

 

[bmcgilvray]

In the late 1970s I had a source for .38 Special Super Vel so bought the occasional box. I chronographed it in my 4-inch Model 10 Heavy Barrel and found that the 110 grain bullet was clocking 1237 fps. I also had a box of the Winchester "Treasury" 110 grain +P+ loads and tested it on the same outing. It gave 1100 fps.

I considered that Super Vel to be pretty good medicine. I was packing it in the Model 10 when I spine shot a buck deer from less than 10 feet away as it ran past me, fleeing from another hunter. The .30-40 Krag I was using flattened it effectively with a 220 grain round nose bullet but, though paralyzed, it attempted to struggle on the ground. I quickly shot it through the heart with the .38 Special at point blank range. Upon field dressing the buck I found that the Super Vel 110 grain jacketed hollow point had poked a .38 hole through the heart then ranged far down in the deer's left front leg stopping at the knee joint. I extracted the bullet to find the bullet to only be abraded on the exposed lead portion, the hollow point still intact. Despite the rifling marks it looked as if it could be loaded and fired again.

It was only a single instance but the experience left me disillusioned about jacketed hollow point bullets in handguns.

The heart shot did shut down the deer though.

I thought I'd shot up all the Super Vel .38 Special loads years ago but when moving year before last I found a couple of boxes I forgot I had.

 

[captainjohnsofd]

Here is the scoop. The original Super Vel (Lee Juras) ammo should have Shelbyville, Ind. printed on the box. If it has Greensburg, Ind. it is the newer and down-loaded vesrion. The old stuff generally ate up J and K frames after moderate amouts of shooting. The gunsmith I worked for got quite a few duty and O/D guns with flamecutting of the topstraps. N frames had no such problem.

 

[buckeyeshooter1]

I have a box identical to this in the basement. Frankly, I've never fired them because I'm not a 9mm fan, guess I just keep them now.

 

[gerald mcdonald]

From that point on I have never had a great deal of confidence in the stopping ability of the .380 round. My logic was that if the hottest round then available wouldn't appropriately expand on the hard shell of an armadillo that certainly wasn't on an adrenalin high, I wasn't quite ready to trust it on the soft skin of a crack head.

First impressions are hard to overcome.

Bob

For what it's worth, I shot a dillar with a 44 special from about 50 feet and he ran off never to be seen again. Not saying a 44 spec is like a 380, just saying bullet placement is everything no matter what you shoot.

 

[cjw3]

For what it's worth, I shot a dillar with a 44 special from about 50 feet and he ran off never to be seen again. Not saying a 44 spec is like a 380, just saying bullet placement is everything no matter what you shoot.

I had the same experience with a 125 JHP in .357 vs. a dillo.



They are too dumb to know they have been killed.

 

[bettis1]

They are too dumb to know they have been killed.

I think you may be correct. The problem is that crack heads may very well have an equivalent I.Q.

Bob

 

[gerald mcdonald]

I think you may be correct. The problem is that crack heads may very well have an equivalent I.Q.

Bob

Which takes you back to bullet placement. LOL