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

[augy]

Super Vel Ammo

This thread brings back many fond memories of my Ruger .44 magnum Super Blackhawk with a 7 1/2 inch barrel.

I shot many boxes of Super Vel in that gun, and I can attest, it was the hottest ammo I ever shot. The Ruger handled it without a hitch.

Super Vel quality was bar none, simply the best.

I think I would be afraid to shoot much of it in my S&W .44 mag today.

augy

 

[XTrooper]

I thought flying ashtray was originally a Speer bullet.

You're right. My police career spanned this time period and the "Flying Ashtray" was the Speer 200gr .45 ACP JHP. I kept all my .45 ACP pistols (and one old converted Webley revolver) loaded with this ammo.

Regarding Super Vel ammo, I kept my personal Model 28's chambers alternately loaded with Super Vel 110gr JHP and Western 158gr Metal Piercing cartridges, three of each. Those were the days.

 

[bennettfam]

I have a nearly full box of 190 gr .45 JHPs. Orig price tag $7.85.

Sooooooooooo, should they be shot or collected?

And does anyone know the velocity of these rounds from a 1911?

 

[bereaPD]

Super Vel Ammo

Very collectable.

Good hot loads right out of the box.

It was desinged by Lee Jurras. I shot some .357 at a combat shoot back in the late '70's and the range officer stopped me due to it penetrating the steel targets. RO thought I was shooting armor piercing.

Keep it. Don't shoot it. If you don't want it, send it to me.

Jim

 

[stiab]

Sooooooooooo, should they be shot or collected?

I shoot a few thru the chrono and keep a few. I believe the notion that all Super Vel is highly collectable is greatly overstated. The last two boxes I bought, both 9mm at separate gun shows, were less than $10 each.

 

[BigBill]

I remember this ammo from many years ago. It was the Cor-Bon type of ammo in that time, "hot, stout stuff". Many used it for CCW even the leo's at that time too. I remember it mainly in the 357mg ammo. Bill

BTW; I just found a box of Olin 45acp ammo in a brown box dated 1968 (surplus military) and probably from the nam war. Is it collectable? I pulled it out to shoot it. I also have some very old Peters 12ga still in new condition filled with paper cased 12ga shells, so its the orginal boxes with the orginal ammo in them. I guess there collectable too.

 

[rburg]

I believe the notion that all Super Vel is highly collectable is greatly overstated.

I don't know. I've collected the last 12 of each 110gr hollow points and soft points. They dated from the mid 1970s, and they collect dust, too.

I've bought and stored some since. Not 9mm's, but mostly 357s and 38s. Only because I still love them.

A couple of years ago some individuals voted wrong and we got a president that gun owners didn't like. So they started a run on ammo at every store selling it. That in turn brought out ammo that hadn't seen the light of day in decades. For whatever reason, I was in a spending mood so I bought a bunch of Super Vel (and then some Black Talons). Just because it was there, and I considered the idea it might be my last opportunity to do so.

I even managed to pick up a couple of the wallet packs of 357s. Back in the day, those were the cat's meow. You never saw them in stores when they were in production. As for the price, I don't recall them being out of line with current production ammo. I'm guessing the sellers saw the price tags still on them from the 1970s (30 years prior) and thought it was a chance for them to get a profit.

And its a fun subject because there are those among us who are sure ammo has a "use by date" just like milk. And they're convinced they took us stupid hillbillies to the cleaners.

But thanks to this thread, I'm headed to the gun room. I have no idea how much in total I have, but I guess I need to get an idea.

 

[rburg]

OK, in one .50 cal box I found 3 new to me boxes of .357s, plus an 18 pack wallet. That was from the winter of 2 years ago. I can't find my can of factory .38s, and there should be more there.

So yes, its kind of collectible.

 

[dpsmousegunner]

When I first started working fpr AZ DPS in 1972, we were issued a model 15 and 12 rounds of the 110 HP Super Vel, with the armory staff claiming it to be the best and hotest 38's on the police market. In fact we carried it in our of duty J frames too, which was something to see and feel when fired.

 

[DrMark]

When I first started working fpr AZ DPS in 1972, we were issued a model 15 and 12 rounds of the 110 HP Super Vel, with the armory staff claiming it to be the best and hotest 38's on the police market. In fact we carried it in our of duty J frames too, which was something to see and feel when fired.

Just thinking about SuperVel out of a J-frame makes my hand hurt!!

 

[Pointblank2U]

When I was a young copper I used to carry some of the .38 Special variety in my off-duty snubbies. It came in handy when camping for starting campfires.

 

[Model39]

Super Vel Experience

Back around 1973 my friend and I used to go shooting in an old junkyard one county east of where I lived. We conducted an experiment with my 6 1/2 " Model 29 shooting various types of ammo into a discarded underground gas station gas tank which had very thick steel sides. Shooting into the flat end portion of the tank, from about 25 feet, we fired Remington, Norma, Winchester and Super Vel ammo into the tank. All of the ammo put a small dent and stopped at that falling to the ground upon impact. The Super Vel ammo went right through the steel leaving an almost perfect hole that appeared to have been made by a drill. I became an instant believer in that ammo. I still have a few boxes of the original Juras Super Vel left. That was great ammo, way ahead of it's time.

 

[sw282]

si--------

 

[Old Corp]

Good thread and brings back memories for me, too.
My first 'paycheck job' (instead of farm-work and yard work) was as a teenager at a fairly large gunshop in our capital city, 10 miles from home.
The year was 1974 when I started. I was quickly hooked, and the manager took me under his wing and taught me all things related to handloading.
Being as how I was making about $1.90/hr. there, there were not alot of extra funds for play.
In the store were many, many boxes of Super Vel bullets (as in component bullets). They were always in 50 - count boxes, unlike all the Sierra, Speer and Hornady stuff we carried which were, of course 100 count. Most had been in stock since the late '60's and were relatively cheap. I so well recall loading my first .38's and .357 rounds for my 'brand new - just on the market' Ruger Security Six with SV 110 and 137 gr. JSP's. There were also a bunch of 148 gr. HBWC's. Being a rash handloading geek teen, I quickly ran loads to redline and above with those bullets. The Ruger just kept taking the abuse until I traded it on a M28, so I could take advantage of a 6" barrel. Also had alot of .429 180 gr. JHP SV bullets I ended up shooting in a used Super Blackhawk. I think I finally bought up and used all those bullets.

In the early through mid-'70's, in my area, many customers were beginning to use the term 'Super Vel' to describe ANY sort of JHP pistol cartridge, especially once +P's began to show up. As in "Gimme a box of .38 Super Vels" That didn't mean they neccessarily wanted that brand, they just wanted some sort of JHP.

And not to go OT, but when I began wearing a badge and pushing big ol' Plymouths around, my department issued S&W - brand .38 +P ammo for our Colt Trooper MkIII's. First in 110 gr. JHP's , and then later in 125 JHP's.
How far my old agency has come - I helped test/eval what became their newest duty weapon right before I retired - they now carry S&W M&P .45's with Speer 230 gr. GD's.

So, both of these types of ammo bring back good memories of some neat times in my life.
There'll always be a few boxes of the old blue & white S&W ammo and yellow, red-striped SV stuff stashed around my shooting gear.

 

[Checkman]

You guys are taking me back to my childhood. Going to the range with dad and his fellow officers on their days off. Range boxes, Hoppes # 9, big old Model 28's and 22 pistols (since they were cheaper to shoot) and the occassional surplus handgun like a Walther P38 or even a Luger P08. Not to mention more than a few rifles and shotguns purchased through Sears and Woolworths and of course they were affordable. Maybe they weren't ubertactical cool, but they seemed cool enough to me. Good times. Many of those officers are now dead and dad no onger shoots since he is slowly going blind. Times change, but I still have those memories.

 

[XR750]

Antique ammo should be sold or collected, not shot.

I wouldn't want to be shot with super vel. I bet that Super Vel will still do the job.
Joe-R

 

[Cracker American]

Brings back memories. I killed my second deer ever with a 1911 hardballer set up by a local gunsmith and Super Vel .45 acp. Side to side in and out. Turned the lungs into a consistency like scrambled eggs. Very short blood trail.

I found a magazine still full of those cartridges the other day when I was cleaning my shop. Sadly the hardballer is long gone.

 

[mkk41]

Lee Jurras is/was still around. He was a regular on the old Sixgunner forum as 'Old Curmudgeon'.

I still have some of the .45 ACP ammo that was packed in brown plastic 18rd MTM ammo-wallets. Bullets would set back into the cases fairly easy. Maybe that was the 'secret' to the high velocity.

 

[whtsmoke]

I am ashamed to admit that I only have five rounds of 110 grain 38 special left, used to shoot that stuff all the time in a 357.

 

[diamondback11]

Super Vel .380 ammo

I have half a box of .380 Super Vel JHP from around 1972. Is it still live and can it still be fired in my Browning .380 auto circa 1960's, made in Belgium. Any info would be appreciated.