1911 .38 Super

[DWalt]

Tangfolio witness in .38 super. 18 round capacity, nice shooting gun. Also have a 1911 in .38 Super. Just a great round IMHO

All you need is a 9mm barrel and magazine to convert either to 9mm. Slide is the same. Since EAA no longer represents Tanfoglio, I do not know who carries Witness parts. I have a Witness set up for 9mm, .38 Super, and .45 ACP. As close to the old Bren Ten as you can get today.

 

[TeamPB]

Made it to the range today

First time shooting .38 Super. Model 15-4ever's "Panache" comment is spot on. The round is somewhat like 9mm with character. The DW Guardian exceeded my expectations. Light, slim, accurate and with very good hand feel. It was hard to stay under 100rds, DW recommends 50rds before cleaning, but I ran it very wet. Looking forward to stripping, cleaning and lubing! Range again this stormy weekend (indoor range).

The range has a nice shop and we always do a post session walk through. So it will be three days until I pick up my new to me 1974 S&W 19-3. Shows wear, but it is clean and tight. I had the cash and it only took $500 away from my upcoming gun show budget .
I could NOT leave it in their case.

 

[Model 15-4ever]

First time shooting .38 Super. Model 15-4ever's "Panache" comment is spot on. The round is somewhat like 9mm with character. The DW Guardian exceeded my expectations...

GMTA.... I have the same Dan Wesson Guardian pistol in Super 38. If I was limited to a single 1911 - - that would be it.

I liked it so much, I asked DW build me a LW CCO in 38 Super:

 

[Grayfox]

I tend to accumulate 1911s. As such I have 4 .38 Supers.
3 Colts. A government Model, a Combat Commander and a 1952 Lightweight Commander along with a Rock Island.
I like the Super. Good cartridge and it was introduced in the 1911. So its part of the history.
I never really got that deep into it. I worked up a couple of good loads that work well in my guns and just left it at that. I don't push it either. Just standard loads. All I do is punch paper with them anyway.
Never been much of a 9mm 1911 guy. Just doesn't seem right. I do own one 9mm 1911 and wish I'd never bought it. For a 9mm, I much prefer the Hi-Power. Been tempted for years to change the barrel and turn it into a .38 Super. Just never got around to it.

 

[Taj]

.38 Super (Super .38 Auto correctly) is about 100-150 FPS faster than 9mm Parabellum, with a 130 grain bullet. As a result it is somewhat more powerful than 9mm. Accuracy is about equal to any other caliber on the 1911 platform. It is just another .38/9mm cartridge with the greatest attraction being its history. There is no reason you wouldn't like the cartridge, but it is all up to you to decide if you want a gun in this caliber. If you buy one I would recommend buying .38 Todd Jarrett cartridge cases from Starline. The .38 T.J. is a rimless version of .38 Super which is originally a semi-rimmed cartridge. Feeding and dependability can be somewhat more consistent with the .38 T.J. brass.

This is all very correct and something that many folks don't consider is the fact that the 1911 platform was never designed to work with the 9mm cartridge. The cartridge is too short for the platform and uses a tapered case. Don't get me wrong it has been made to function pretty reliably, but that was a struggle, especially in single stack guns. Cartridges in the magazine are not properly supported by the following cartridge due to the taper and nose diving has always been an issue. Ramped barrels seems to have made it even worse. Bill Wilson even designed a special 9mm mag to address the issue. The .38 Super on the other hand, works beutifully in the 1911 platform. It's as long as a .45 acp and uses a straight walled case. Biggest issue is the lack of availability of hi-performance ammo. I actually carry a .38 Super as my daily carry and shoot 147 grain, handloaded Gold Dot bullets. I shoot gelatin for a living for a major ammo maker and have shot this load ( 1140 FPS) into gel on several occasions. It performs very well as the velocity is within the performance range of the bullets. I really like the .38 Super -Duper.

 

[Taj]

I built this LW Commander as a daily carry. It has a BarSto barrel in .38 Super and shoots very well.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

After reading about the feds and other peace officers shooting these back in the day < I decided I needed one . I ended up with ba Tanfoglio Stock III in 38Super which is a pleasure to shoot . But I still wanted a Colt . A couple of months ago a member had a Colt 38Super he wanted to sell or trade . I had a 686 Lew Horton Hunter I offered up and we traded . Come to find out they only Ade 750 of them . I took it out and it was very accurate , which is hard to admit seeing as I'm a hardcore S&W man . Now I'm looking at other 38Super Colts , which ain't a bad thing at all .

 

[Golddollar]

Somewhere along the line I picked up a Colt .38 Super with a Jim Clark barrel. It might be time to take it out and play with it.

 

[Model 15-4ever]

...Biggest issue is the lack of availability of hi-performance ammo. I actually carry a .38 Super as my daily carry and shoot 147 grain, handloaded Gold Dot bullets. I shoot gelatin for a living for a major ammo maker and have shot this load ( 1140 FPS) into gel on several occasions. It performs very well as the velocity is within the performance range of the bullets. I really like the .38 Super -Duper.

GMTA

 

[BLUEDOT37]

If I wanted a hot rod the larger .38 Super case might have advantages

Starline 38 Super cases have 28.4% more volume (H²O Wt./gr.) than a nominal 9x19 case, in my measurements.

More powder equals more power.

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LabRadar tested in a Dan Wesson Pointman with a fully supported 5" 38 Super bbl.
Some load data is above commonly listed max. load data.
Use at your own risk.


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[gator59]

Hmmm… My understanding is that the difference in 38SC and 38TJ is that 38TJ has a deeper extractor cut.

 

[Krogen]

Here are Starline's descriptions of their .38 Super variations:

38 Super An improved version of the .38 Auto, this semi-rimmed cartridge is very popular in the competition world. Not to be used with .38 Super data in firearms originally chambered for the .38 Auto cartridge. 38 Super Brass - Small Pistol - Brass Cases

38 Super Comp The .38 Super Comp is a heavy duty rimless 38 Super with similar internal capacity to 38 Super. Designed to enhance feeding reliability in high capacity magazines of competition race-guns chambered for 38 Super. May require minor extractor tuning in some firearms. When using Dillon press .223 shell plate works best where applicable. 38 Super Comp Brass - Small Pistol - Brass Cases

38 Super +P The .38 Super+P is a 38 Super case made of heavy duty material with standard semi-rimmed head design and similar internal dimensions. 38 Super+P Brass - Small Pistol - Brass Cases

38 TJ The 38 Todd Jarrett case is very similar to the .38 Super Comp case but with modified extractor groove geometry to aide in full length resizing. Used mainly in competition race-guns. 38 TJ Brass - Small Pistol - Brass Cases

 

[Patrick L]

I never said "I want to hot rod" in fact I specifically said I DIDN'T. These forums never cease to amaze me

 

[.45mtngun]

Another good article on .38 Supers is one by sheriff Jim Wilson in the 2015 Gun Digest if you can find that issue. He really likes them. The article has several good pictures.

Jim

 

[DWalt]

Aside from its potential to be handloaded to .357 levels (in the appropriate case form), it is more easily handled than 9mm during reloading due to its greater length. But the reason I like the .38 Super is its historical significance. The .38 ACP (along with the .32 ACP) was the earliest American-designed auto pistol cartridge, first appearing as the chambering of the Colt-Browning Model 1900, which was the predecessor to the Colt Model 1911.

 

[AJ]

Aside from its potential to be handloaded to .357 levels (in the appropriate case form), it is more easily handled than 9mm during reloading due to its greater length. But the reason I like tha e .38 Super is its historical significance. The .38 ACP (along with ththat e .32 ACP) was the earliest American-designed auto pistol cartridge, first appearing as the chambering of the Colt-Browning Model 1900, which was the predecessor to the Colt Model 1911.

Being that the ,38 Auto is the parent case of the .38 Super (or Super .38) is possibly the reason you do not see a ton of Colt 1900's, 1902's and 1903 Hammer's. When folks could not get the .38 Auto readily,m the ran .38 Supers in them and overstressed them.

 

[DWalt]

Being that the ,38 Auto is the parent case of the .38 Super (or Super .38) is possibly the reason you do not see a ton of Colt 1900's, 1902's and 1903 Hammer's. When folks could not get the .38 Auto readily,m the ran .38 Supers in them and overstressed them.

The problem was the wedge notch at the front of the Colt M1900 (and similar models) slides. There were stress risers at the notch corners that would crack due to the higher slide velocity caused by firing .38 Super instead of .38 ACP. I have seen quite a few of those cracked early slides and there is no way to repair then. Also not unusual on the .45 Model of 1905 pistols. The early .45 ACP rounds for the M1905 were lower powered and used a lighter 200 grain bullet. They are dimensionally the same as the later .45 ACP round made for the M1911. But firing the heavier later .45 ACP round would do bad things to the slides of the M1905 .45 pistols. Most shooters were unaware of this problem with the pre-1911 Colt pistols until it was too late.

I once owned a Colt Model 1903 pocket model (.38 ACP). Its slide was still OK, and I kept it that way by handloading .38 ACP cartridges at the minimum power level adequate to function the slide.

 

[Grayfox]

This thread has inspired me!
I ordered a .38 Super barrel and am going to convert my only 9mm 1911. Been meaning to do this for years.

 

[DWalt]

This thread has inspired me!
I ordered a .38 Super barrel and am going to convert my only 9mm 1911. Been meaning to do this for years.

You will also need to find a .38 Super magazine, probably stronger recoil springs too.

 

[TeamPB]

Midway

You will also need to find a .38 Super magazine, probably stronger recoil springs too.

Prior to acquiring my .38 Super I ordered a Wilson Combat and a Mecgar from Midway. They and the two DW supplied worked perfectly.