What you guys think about the Colt 9x23 1911?

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Question for you 38 super & 9x23 reloaders. Can you use 9x23 die for 38 Super?
 
M29since14 said:
I was not aware Colt made a conversion kit for 9x23. Learn something here all the time! I was trying to see what sort of barrel it happened to be. Is it a Clark-Para or Wilson-Nowlin style? Since Colt .38 Supers are plain 1911 style barrels, I’m curious.

I don’t think the 9x23 would interest me so much. 55000 psi is a lot of pressure. It’s possible to get about 1350 FPS with a 125 grain hollow point in the ordinary 38 Super, without too much drama. That’s good enough for me. I don’t need an additional 200 FPS and definitely don’t need the accelerated wear and tear on the gun. Additionally, 1911s are really not tapered case friendly. They can be made to work, I guess. I’d be all in for a totally rimless .38 Super case, if it would work reliably in a standard .38 Super breech face slide, but the Super Comp works well enough with its slight rim. I haven’t bought standard .38 Super brass in years.

As a novelty to monkey around with now and then, I suppose a 9x23 conversion might be fun - particularly in a gun with sufficient accuracy to utilize the increased potential range of the cartridge.
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Bought a Colt Competition in .38 Super. Feeding problems started immediately. Changed ammo with no improvement. Back to Colt who cleaned it up some. No change. Then off to a nationally renowned and recognized gunsmith/company. No change. Switched ammo to .38 Super Comp brass and it has run like a Timex ever since. I could have saved myself some money and irritation had I know about Super Comp earlier.
 
I have a 9x23 Colt GM that I bought new when they first came out. I’ve always been amazed that the round didn’t catch on. The actual recoil (muzzle flip) with factory loads was less than 45acp but boy did the brass fly! Even with a 24# recoil spring it would fly off. I did a lot of reloading at the time and measured the velocity of factory Win 124g loads at around 1450fps. I never could duplicate that velocity with hand loads. I’d get flat primers as I got near 1400fps. Never really got serious with accuracy testing.
 
wasn't the 9x23 also called the 9mm Largo...I have a couple Star 1911 style that uses that. ammo used to be cheaper than dirt...Sarco out of NJ used to sell it....if im not mistaken
 
AudieMurphy said:
wasn't the 9x23 also called the 9mm Largo...I have a couple Star 1911 style that uses that. ammo used to be cheaper than dirt...Sarco out of NJ used to sell it....if im not mistaken
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that’s the big discussion so far, but the consensus is that they are not the same
 
I've never encountered one of the 9X23 Win. Colts at a LGS or gun show. I'd probably have bought that one too. The 9X23 Largo is definitely not the same as 9X23 Winchester. I had some factory 9X23 Win. ammo, both Silvertip and JSP, and brass, and used to reload it. The 9X23 Win. case is hell for strong, and was of course designed to be used in the traditional non-ramped barrels that Colt still uses, without blowing case heads. I lost interest in loading it when I found that in the well supported, integrally ramped, barrels other manufacturers use, .38 Super/ Super Comp and .38TJ brass can easily be loaded to 9X23 Win. velocities if desired. The .38S type cases have more case capacity than 9X23 Win. cases, and I don't believe 55000 Lbs./Sq. In. pressures are required to achieve 9X23 Win. ballistics. At least I've never encountered anything like unusually bulged brass, blown case, or even a pierced primer in loading to 9X23 Win. ballistics. I've adjusted both 9X19 and .38 Super dies, and loaded 9X23 Win.. Yes, I know that perhaps that shouldn't work, but it did for me with nothing remarkable to report about the process at all.

Brad Miller's old .38 Super.net site has a World of good info on loading the .38 Super and 9X23 Win. series of cartridges. He indicates that even the Starline 9X23 Comp brass is not quite as robust as the original 9X23 Win. brass. I attached some of his photos showing the relative case wall thickness and difference in case capacity between Win. 9X23 brass and the Starline 9X23 Comp brass.
winchester_vs_starline 9X23 powder capacity.webpwinchester_vs_starline 9X23W_brass - Copy.webp
 
Missed out on Springfield custom ordered, Factory Comp in 9x23. Went back 2 days later, gone. Don't be like me.

Have not ever seen another. Seen Customs, but not Factory Comps. Maybe the salesman wasn't lying.
 
Congrats. I can chambered and shoot 9x23 in my 627-4 as well as .38 Super and Super Comp. Still haven't tried in the GC Trophy though 20260530_101538.webp
 
BTW…. Gun is not in”New” condition, definitely was shot and even a small small scratch on the slide. Other that that, the Blue is very nice.
 
Bear 45/70 said:
In Witcha, Kansas some time years ago there was a sniper in the Holiday Inn and when the cop broke into his room they shot him 17 times and he lived so no 9mm for me ever.
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**
Although this was not a part of the discussion of this firearm, in a defensive shooting, whether the offender lives or dies is of no importance at all to that portion of the incident. It is whether they cease the actions that justified shooting them. Scrub that inane concern out of your mind.

The issues of bullet design (which has improved a LOT in the last 40 years), placement, offender resilience, and the lack of significant performance differences between service calibers make that a difficult claim to address. In addition, basic defensive firearms doctrine if one has to go to a violent encounter that they cannot avoid, take a long gun. There is a reason that now, when one sees photos of a major incident, the cops are almost always armed with a rifles. Pistols suck. It is just fundamental training.
 
Doug M. said:
**
Although this was not a part of the discussion of this firearm, in a defensive shooting, whether the offender lives or dies is of no importance at all to that portion of the incident. It is whether they cease the actions that justified shooting them. Scrub that inane concern out of your mind.

The issues of bullet design (which has improved a LOT in the last 40 years), placement, offender resilience, and the lack of significant performance differences between service calibers make that a difficult claim to address. In addition, basic defensive firearms doctrine if one has to go to a violent encounter that they cannot avoid, take a long gun. There is a reason that now, when one sees photos of a major incident, the cops are almost always armed with a rifles. Pistols suck. It is just fundamental training.
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Yep! Rifle over handgun any day.

Correct about modern bullets design, definitely not like the old days of FMJ’s ball ammo
 
Bear 45/70 said:
In Witcha, Kansas some time years ago there was a sniper in the Holiday Inn and when the cop broke into his room they shot him 17 times and he lived so no 9mm for me ever.
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1976 and the bad guy was shot with 12 ga buckshot. I was a policeman then and I remember it well. No SWAT Team then just a Supervisor and two officers.

You should take Professional Training.
 
Cost.

9x23 was more expensive and a niche market. It simply not enough of an improvement to justify the additional cost. Enough people have.38 super to keep it around.

Same thing happened between 300 blackout and 6.5 Grendel/6.8 SPC. The other two rounds had some distinct advantages, but 300 blackout uses cheaper components and the lower price meant that it caught on while the other two fell off.
 
SGT ROCK 11B said:
1976 and the bad guy was shot with 12 ga buckshot. I was a policeman then and I remember it well. No SWAT Team then just a Supervisor and two officers.

You should take Professional Training.
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we carry 12 ga with slugs for bear in the Wild West. Only imagine the effects on a charging evil doer
 
solarlite said:
Cost.

9x23 was more expensive and a niche market. It simply not enough of an improvement to justify the additional cost. Enough people have.38 super to keep it around.

Same thing happened between 300 blackout and 6.5 Grendel/6.8 SPC. The other two rounds had some distinct advantages, but 300 blackout uses cheaper components and the lower price meant that it caught on while the other two fell off.
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as a Colt & S&W collector & shooter, I do love that Colt made a 9x23 Winchester. I’m calling it .38 Super Duper Comp 😂
 
Rust E. Badge said:
Bought a Colt Competition in .38 Super. Feeding problems started immediately. Changed ammo with no improvement. Back to Colt who cleaned it up some. No change. Then off to a nationally renowned and recognized gunsmith/company. No change. Switched ammo to .38 Super Comp brass and it has run like a Timex ever since. I could have saved myself some money and irritation had I know about Super Comp earlier.
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I'm glad you found the solution.
My immediate response is to suggest the use of Tripp Cobramags. The most reliable, longest-lasting 1911 magazines I've ever seen, and I'm married to a formerly sponsored USPSA Single Stack competitor who was triggering off 25,000+ rounds a year and have seen the results.
Not to mention getting a couple of my cranky old .45s cooperating.
I have some .45 eight-rounder Tripps that suffered years of every-week USPSA shooting that includes dropping on the ground hundreds of times and never failed and never even got treated to new mag springs.
 
Since you asked…buy a .38 Super and shoot the snot out of it. There’s a reason it’s been around for many decades…
 
Mark_Mark said:
we carry 12 ga with slugs for bear in the Wild West. Only imagine the effects on a charging evil doer
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Most Police Departments carry the 12 gauge loaded with #00 or #4 buckshot nationwide.

Now on the Ranch I prefer slugs in my personal shotguns. But on the Police Department you follow Policy.

I’m familiar with a Homicide Case that the good guy took a slug from an evil doer.
 
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