38 Wadcutter 1911

4

4V50 Gary

Staff
Today I got to see a Colt 1911 that was made into a 38 Wadcutter target pistol by Clark. It had a non-dropping barrel and the slide had numerous lightening cuts inside that are not visible from an examination of the exterior. A key was used to cut away a portion of the slide on the left side. Similarly, the right side was also cut so you could see part of the extractor. The slide had a boring bar dropped into it and a lot of metal was removed from it too. The feed ramp was modified for a little bump against which the barrel lug (if there was one) would bear.

The chamber looked like it had a spiral groove cut into it. I'm not sure what that was for.
 
.38 Special 1911

The Colt Gold Cup MkIII was a low production .38 Special wad cutter target pistol. The chamber was grooved to delay extraction and the functional reliability suffered. It was discontinued because bullseye shooters who wanted a .38 special autoloder chose the S&W 52 most of the time as it functioned more reliably. The Clark you saw was probably one of the conversion units by Colt reworked by Clark.
 
That sounds more like the Gold Cup .38 Mk III, perhaps tuned up by Clark.
It runs in blowback, delayed by the short rear barrel movement and grooved chamber.

Clark guns were converted .38 Supers or Colt kit sets, operating in normal Colt/Browning tilt lock.

Got pictures?
 
Sorry Jim, no pictures. Didn't even carry my cellphone with me yesterday. It's at a classmate's place and he is working on it for someone. Fellow wanted another barrel and Clark sold out of them years ago. Friend told the owner that there's none to be had and if he were to make one, it would cost him at least $300 to turn and chamber one.

Turning one on a lathe would not be hard but and that spiral groove in the chamber could be cut with a boring bar.
 
Yeah, the description sounds like a Colt Mk. III.
All the Clark conversions that I've "seen" started as .38 Supers, and still had tilting barrels.
 
A .38 special wadcutter 1911?? That sounds about as cool as it gets right there! Interesting to see what happens with it OP.
 
Other than making nice clean holes in targets, what was the motivation to go to all that trouble just to be able to shoot wadcutters?
Wouldn't other types of bullets and ammo do as well for accuracy and scoring?
 
Apparently not at the time.
The .38 wadcutter autos, Smith, Colt, and gunsmith, were considered a step up from the .38 revolver. Clean holes, low recoil.
But many, likely most, target shooters now just shoot the .45 in Centerfire. One less gun to buy, load for, and learn peculiarities of.

I had an old article by a gunsmith who accurized a .38 Super in its original caliber. In the "semi-rim" headspace era, it did not do much. So he bushed the chamber for case mouth headspacing like his good .45s and it did very well. A 146 gr SWC and 2.7 gr Bullseye, same ballistics as .38 Special WC, but a lot less labor on the gun.
 
Yeah, that's what I remember.
Semi wadcutters being the most popular for clean holes and excellent accuracy for pistols, without having to re-invent the wheel.
 
My grandfather, a bullseye shooter from way back, taught me how to shoot with one of these back in the 80's. Lots of good memories. He was an amazing shot; I've never been able to equal his skill. The pistol now resides in my safe as a nice memento of him. :cool:
 
I don't know if its related or not.

The chamber looked like it had a spiral groove cut into it. I'm not sure what that was for.
Click to expand...

delay extraction
Click to expand...

I had a Clark Colt 38 Super conversion back in the early 80s that didn't have that grove you mentioned. For some reason I never could figure out, it would go full auto every now and then. Nothing ruins a Bullseye string like one round hitting the target, one way above the target, and one in the sky.

I couldn't fix it, I couldn't find anyone else to fix it. I got rid of it and bought a Smith 52.

Now I wonder if that might have been the problem.
 
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