38 Super

[minconrevo]

The 38 Super is basically the same cartridge overall length as the .45 ACP so it feeds well. It's an accurate cartridge and relatively easy to reload. Brass reload life is good. Uses same bullet diameter as 9mm (.355) in modern American barrels. At full Plus P pressures it's a serious cartridge with low recoil. Dialed back it's a soft shooter. A carefully fitted custom gun in the caliber is capable of 1.5" groups at 50 yards.

 

[jjfitch]

"Metro Arms American Classic II 1911 in 38 Super" A great value!

38 Super! What 9mm, 45ACP and +P 38 Special wish they could be!

A powerful cartridge that runs smooth as silk in the 1911 plus a couple extra rounds !

What's not to love!

Smiles,

 

[.38SuperMan]

Another fan of 38 Super. I shot a custom 38 Super race gun in IPSC for years and grew to love the versatility and accuracy of the cartridge. I got out of IPSC it still have 2 supers. One is a Colt XSE LW commander and the other, many favorite, a Kimber Eclipse Target. The Eclipse has a supported chamber so it will handle hot loads. I had about a thousand rounds of major loads left from my IPSC days and needed something to shoot them in and discovered the Kimber. I made a call to Kimber to see if they thought the gun would be ok to shoot them in and they said there was no problem.

My loads were pushing a 125gr jacketed bullet around 1400fps so I increased the recoil spring to 20# and placed a shock buffer in it. The frame is steel which is a big plus too. Hot loads can be hard on guns especially alloy frames. My race gun had a Caspian high capacity frame what was alloy. Granted I ran tens of thousands of hot rounds through it and always ran a shock buffer but eventually the frame cracked. I'm not shooting the volume of hot loads but want to make sure I don't damage the frames on these.

If you shoot much 38 super you really need to load your own. That's the only way you'll enjoy the versatility and accuracy of the cartridge. If you do load and want to shoot hot loads I'd strongly recommend a supported chamber barrel with a heavier recoil spring and shock buffer.

 

[Old Corp]

^ Agree. The Super is one of the many cartridges I'd never consider owning and shooting if I didn't load. Same with 10mm, .41, .44 Spl., .45 Colt and I'm sure I'm missing some....

 

[Borderboss]

Another fan of 38 Super. I shot a custom 38 Super race gun in IPSC for years and grew to love the versatility and accuracy of the cartridge. I got out of IPSC it still have 2 supers. One is a Colt XSE LW commander and the other, many favorite, a Kimber Eclipse Target. The Eclipse has a supported chamber so it will handle hot loads. I had about a thousand rounds of major loads left from my IPSC days and needed something to shoot them in and discovered the Kimber. I made a call to Kimber to see if they thought the gun would be ok to shoot them in and they said there was no problem.

My loads were pushing a 125gr jacketed bullet around 1400fps so I increased the recoil spring to 20# and placed a shock buffer in it. The frame is steel which is a big plus too. Hot loads can be hard on guns especially alloy frames. My race gun had a Caspian high capacity frame what was alloy. Granted I ran tens of thousands of hot rounds through it and always ran a shock buffer but eventually the frame cracked. I'm not shooting the volume of hot loads but want to make sure I don't damage the frames on these.

If you shoot much 38 super you really need to load your own. That's the only way you'll enjoy the versatility and accuracy of the cartridge. If you do load and want to shoot hot loads I'd strongly recommend a supported chamber barrel with a heavier recoil spring and shock buffer.

My story is about the same as yours. My .38 Super is an IPSC race gun I used in the 1990s. It's a Para Ordnance frame with a Caspian slide. I'm having it converted now to more of an IPSC Limited / IDPA gun that I could carry if I wanted to, using a Nowlin barrel and Hi-Viz sights. I still have a couple of hundred rounds of IPSC Major loads that I'll shoot in it, but otherwise it'll be factory ammo and similar handloads.

I really love the gun and the cartridge. I also love that the Para magazines hold 21 rounds, so plenty of firepower.

Having the gun converted to something I'll shoot more often will get me back into handloading. I have 5,000 pieces of brand new Starline .38S brass that I bought 25 years ago that have never been out of the plastic bag, along with thousands of .355 jacketed and plated bullets. Now I'm going to have to remember how to use the reloading machine!

 

[CH4]

The .38s is definitely a much overlooked cartridge by the general shooting population. I love shooting the .38s, especially in my DW Specialist. I would like to find a P220 in .38s with modern style mag release.

 

[Cdog]

I've had one of the Metro Arms 1911's chambered in .45ACP. I remember it being a very impressive pistol, especially for the price.

I've had several 1911's chambered in .38 Super. Still own one.

Handloading I've shot bullets ranging from 115gr .355" to 158gr .357" with great results.

 

[.38SuperMan]

You can load 9mm up to major power factors and a lot of folks do now but I think it's a little risky. I think 38super is a good compromise and much easier to load that hot. Still I wouldn't do it if my barrel wasn't supported. I would never feed the major loads I've shot in my Kimber or Caspian into my Colt. One, I wouldn't want to give the alloy frame that kind of beating and two the barrel isn't ramped. Unramped / supported chambers increase the likelihood of a blown case.

9x23 would be even better but I'm so deep in 38s I see no reason to change. One thing though that I would love to see is a compact / officers size steel frame pistol with 3" barrel chambered in 38s. I'm guessing one would have to be custom. Actually a 3" compact 38s with A short single chamber compensator and ramped barrel would be very sweet. I'd seriously be tempted if one came along.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

I like to think of the modern .38 Super, loaded properly, as sort of a straight-case version of the .357 SIG.

The 38 Super +P is essentially the straight walled version of the (tapered) 9x23.

And the rimless 38 Super Comp takes it a step closer by eliminating the 38S+P's semi-rim.

The 38 Super+P & the 38 Super Com are essentially identical except for the 38S+P's extra dry weight due to it semi-rim.

The 9x23 has 1.1% less H²O capacity, than the 38SC, despite it's 3.1% greater dry weight due to strengthening to handle it's higher pressures (55K psi -vs- 36.5K psi).

I got hooked on the "hyper 9mms" when I started loading for the 356TSW (9x21.5mm) but I like the extra case capacity of the longer cases & using them in the 1911/2011 frames.

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[SuperMan]

NICE to see so many people shooting .38 Super...

Grayfox...you really need to have a properly headspaced barrel fitted to that Commander... It won't change the value at all as nothing has to be done to the gun to fit the barrel so the old parts can just drop back in...

What's nice about the .38 Super over the 9mm and 9x23 is that being a straight walled case it can take bullets of any size (.355/.356/.357/.358) and weights up to 180 grains. Hornady even lists many of their .357 bullets for use in the .38 Super in their reloading manual. The 9x23 can only run bullets up to 147 grains and then the bullet should have a tapered base rather than flat as by the time one made LOA it can bulge the web of the case as it is so heavily constructed to take factory pressure in non-ramped barrels...

Anyone have any .38 Super revolvers??? I've had two 686-7s, still have one, and a 627, that unfortunately was not very accurate and went down the road...

In addition I sent extra cylinders to TK Custom to be milled and rechambered for .38 Super for a 649, 60-10 and 3" 66-2 3"...all are great shooters...

I think having a straight walled case that the Super makes a better snubbie round than 9mm. Every 9mm snubbie I've had from S&W and Ruger would only take standard pressure rounds. +P would lock up the cylinder...

Bob

 

[.38SuperMan]

I'm not recommending anyone try this but I've read several accounts of people firing 38s cartridges in N frame 357's. Out of curiosity I dropped six 38 supers in my model 28-2 and they fit like it was made to shoot them. But!!! I'm not going to try. Anyway I'm not sure how accurate it would be. I have a Ruger Blackhawk 357/9 convertible and 9mm Isn't terribly accurate in it.

 

[SuperMan]

..it can be done...but one doesn't need an N-frame... I used to do it with a nickel Model 36... Which one did you put in your gun...or was it some reloads? If you look the headspace is quite wide...

That said there was only one .38 Super round that would fit in a .38/.357 chamber and that was the Winchester Silvertip. From what I have read there is also one imported brand that will but I don't recall which one.

Bob