Light bullets in 9mm and .38 Super

[Gamecock]

My "Hot" .38 Super load (but in 9x23 Win cases) is a 124 grain FMJ 9mm military bullet and 8.7 grains of AA #5. I have tested many propellants, and AA #5 is best for top performance in such high-end .38 Super loads. Its MV runs very close to 1450 ft/sec from a 5" GM barrel. I wouldn't recommend using .38 Super cases at that pressure level. Starline says their 9x23 Supercomp cases will withstand the high pressures of such loads. One should ALWAYS use SR primers for such loads, not SP.

Western data for .38 Super has max of 7.3 gr AA#5, giving 1,174 fps.

My VV load is book standard, SAAMI compliant.

 

[SuperMan]

The magazine article which got me interested in the .38 Super (and I still have the magazine) was in a 1968 SHOOTING TIMES magazine.

Their top end loads were 8.0 grains of Unique and 9.3 grains of SR4756.

I didn't get a .38 Super till 1980 but tried and used those loads in a non-supported BarSto barrel with an 18.5# spring. They ran mid 1400s with 115 Sierra JHC, 125 Speer SP and 124 Hornady TC...and never blew a case web out... Used only Remington nickel brass and didn't hot load the case more than once...

Super has to be the best semi-auto round ever made...

Bob

 

[Gamecock]

never blew a case web out

A steady diet of proof loads is hard on a gun. Never blowing out a case is not a measure of success. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, it would have been better if you had.

Super has to be the best semi-auto round ever made...

Certainly the most grossly overloaded semi-auto round ever.