ps; The .38Super may also be "better" than a factory 9x19mm +P too but a 9mm +P would be almost the same re: recoil/cycles.
I'm not sure that anyone would disagree with that point Clyde. That is the point about felt recoil. Some of it would depend on the gun and the particular load used. But it's not going to be a big difference.
Now if anyone here said the .38 Super is a "better" round than the 9mm, as you imply, they would be wrong. It's not a matter of "better", which is a subjective thing, it's a matter of what it does well. By any measure it is a more powerful round than the 9mm. It can shoot the same weight bullets as the 9mm faster, and it can put heavier bullets downrange faster than the 9mm and do it at lower pressures, which are better on a gun over time. By the way a quick check with most any re-loading catalog will confirm this.
I'm 100% sure if any member went into the major sporting goods stores or FFL dealer shops they wouldn't have a huge inventory of .38Super defense rounds. I'd also bet that a few of the sales staff or shop employees wouldn't even know what the .38Super is.
If there can be young clerks who don't know the difference between nickel & stainless steel or staff who don't know what K/L/N frames are, then I doubt they could even get a paying customer a box of .38Super.
This can be true but I'm not sure that it means as much as you do. Many clerks in gun stores, not to mention Wal-Marts and such, don't know the difference between .38 Special and .38 S&W. They don't know the difference between .45 Colt and .45acp. Between 9mm Kurtz and 9mm Largo. They have not heard of the 10mm or the 41 Magnum and don't know that both can be shot from a wheelgun and only one from a pistol. Some believe the 44 Special is a target round. So that
some clerks in
some stores are not familiar with a round that has been shot from the 1911 since 1929, as is the .38 Super, don't tell me much of interest. You seem to think it means that the .38 Super is not a useful round for self defense because some clerks don't know what it is. I don't think it means that at all. It just means that some clerks only know the standard service calibers and beyond that are still learning.
BUT part of my point(s) are that the .38Super is not a common or well known handgun caliber.
In some parts of the country it is quite well known in others not so much. It's very well known on the competitive shoot circuits and shows up regularly at the Bianchi Cup and the Steel Challenge. But a young cop in Idaho or NYC may never have heard of it. No one was really arguing this point anyway. But it might interest you to know that after the 45acp, Colt has sold and still sells, more 1911s in 38 Super than any other caliber. That means more than 9mm or 10mm.
Myself and others here have already said that if a fella wants a good defensive round with less recoil than the 45 that the 9mm is an excellent choice. Most places have 3 or 4 decent defensive loads on store shelves in 9mm along with several options for practice ammo. The same will be true for the 40S&W, the 45acp, .357 Magnum, 38 Special and one or two more. This is because these are standard service rounds. You won't find as many options in 38Super, 10mm, 41 Magnum, 44 Special and some others. Sometimes even .45 Colt. But it does not mean that those rounds are not useful for self defense. I believe you are wrong on that one.
tipoc
