What about .38 Super?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Country Boy2
  • Start date Start date
C

Country Boy2

Guest
First off, I don't need to be welcomed aboard. (Can you tell by the grouchiness that I've been here before?) I was "Country Boy", but for whatever reason, I couldn't post under that username, so here I am under a new label (althought not a real original one). With that...

What's so wrong with the .38 super? I was looking through the Brownells catalog, and some .38 Super parts caught my eye. So I thought to myself, "Self, why don't you get youself a .38 Super? It would be a rather interesting shooter, one which not many people have. Is there anything wrong with it that I don't know about?"

So I pose that question to you. Other than its lack of popularity and some difficulty in finding ammunition, is there anything significantly wrong with the caliber? What does the .38 Super do well? Self Defense? Competition? Longer range? I'm going to do some more research, but I thought I would try here as one of my first stops on the information superhighway. Thanks! Rod
 
38 Super used to be a great self defense round, but 9mm (+P) closed the velocity gap between the Super and the nine. The cartridge earned a bad rap in the accuracy department. This was primarily due to Colt's design in which the cartridge is supposed to head space on that tiny semi-rim. With barrels that head space on the case mouth, accuracy is greatly improved.

The IPSC crowd is the biggest supporter of the Super, since they are able to hot rod the cartridge and make it qualify for major caliber. The Super has lost much of it's popularity among the average shooter.
 
.38 Super is a good caliber, sort of like a souped-up 9mm for the 1911 (although other platforms exist). The main problem with .38 Super is that the case is fairly weak, so if you push it load-wise you run the risk of a case failure. A fair number of guns have been blown up over the years for this reason. 9x23 Winchester is a bit less easy to find than .38 Super, although ammo prices are about the same. But has a MUCH stronger case and better ballistics (124gr @ no-kidding 1500 FPS with factory ammo). I'd tend towards converting a .38 Super or 9mm 1911 to 9x23 if I was into that sort of thing.
 
It is a fun round to go shoot..It and its cousins are very popular in the action shooting games..it can be made very accurate..I think George Smith at EGW was building a Bianchi Cup competition gun for Doug Koenig and with all the testing of barrels and loads got ti a 3/4 inch gun at 50 yards..

I have had several supers in my short life..many IPSC gun, one single stack 1911..it was a very pleasant and fun shooter..for me, almost like going out with my .22lr

If you do not plan on reloading you options are few for loadings, and not as cheap as 9mm...if you reload..there is everything from 90gr to 170 gr loads going from 900fps to 1650fps..
 
38 Super

I love the .38 super and being a little longer than the 9mm it feeds a little better in a 1911. My latest project is a 9x23 mm conversion on a SA loaded 1911 and so far it is very accurate.
 
Hello CountyrBoy(2).

Like some of the other guys here, I had a 38 Super that I got converted to 9X23 Win.

The 38 Super is a pretty good round. It has always been considered a pretty good defense round, but the accuracy for years was bad due to the headspacing on the rim. Once manufacturers started headspacing on the case mouth, things were better but there is now a lot of competition in the mid-weight/fast arena.

I like the 9x23 Win, the case is much stronger so you can push it quite a bit faster. Others like the 9X19 when it is pushed, theres the 9x21 and the 9X25, etc....

I would not feel undergunned too much with a 38 Super. The 1911's I've shot were very smooth. Other manufacturers either make or did make pistols in this caliber.

Casey
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top