Anyone here mess with a .38 Super?

[Bill in Oregon]

It's a cartridge I have never even fired, much less owned a 1911 chambered for it. But it is a classic with some horsepower. Closest I have come would be a couple of the old Star Model Bs in 9mm Largo, which has considerably less starch than the Super.
There was something in years past -- possibly headspacing -- that made a lot of Supers less than stellar in the accuracy department, but I believe that issue has been resolved or is resolvable.

[Scott Tschirhart]

My friend Jim Wilson got on a .38 Super kick a few years ago.

It shoots very flat but I found it to be too loud and I much prefer the .45 ACP in the same sized pistol.

We shot jackrabbits from the truck and it did the job.

[JimT]

I shot them quite a lot in my Old Model River 357 single action revolver. They shot well, were accurate and seemed about like a lower end 357 load.

[Ray]

One chamber in the .357 vaquero needs them to be straightened in a Lee carbide die. Likewise one in the sp-101 and two in the gp-100. The several contender barrels (.357 mag. & max.) all require a bit of sizing with some brands. Surprisingly never had a loose bullet that I knew of after sizing . All minute of medium pizza box at 15 paces.

[Paul105]

I shot them quite a lot in my Old Model River 357 single action revolver. They shot well, were accurate and seemed about like a lower end 357 load.

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Did you have a 38 super aux cyl or?
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Thanks

[Rimfire McNutjob]

The original guns headspaced on the very minimal rim while the newer guns, since the mid-80's maybe, headspace on the case mouth. That's probably the issue you remember. The best powder for full power 38 Super is/was VV N105. It's a solid 'is' for me as I'm sitting on about 9lbs still. But it is no longer imported by Vihtavuori ... so 'was' for most people. I sold my Colt super off years ago. But now ... seems like I have the itch.

[JimT]

I shot them quite a lot in my Old Model River 357 single action revolver. They shot well, were accurate and seemed about like a lower end 357 load.

.
Did you have a 38 super aux cyl or?
.
Thanks

No sir. They fit the 357 cylinder and with the semi-rim work just fine.

[765x53]

I have done a small amount of loading using Lee 124 grain TL 's and Lil' Gun. I got good accuracy with just short of maximum loads.

[Ray]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MQxhUrckF ... Y2tGd2c%3D

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dKvITAIEorI

In the summer of 1979 we, a handful of bicycle riding juvenile delinquents, found a garbage bag full of penthouse glossies and a smith & wesson revolver in the vacant woodlot at the corner of oakdale & 41st. The magazines had just started to dampen inside the bag and the blued revolver was beginning to freckle and the stocks moulder somewhat.

I was the gun-nut of the group. I spent most of my grass mowing and bottle collecting wages on news-stand gun periodicals and i volunteered to take custody of the revolver. The girly glossies were divied-up and I noticed the forsythe kid from up the hill on skyline was strangely quiet. Back home I put the penthouse and gallery magazines that fell to me behind the water heater in the bathroom closet to dry out. Then I began to clean and oil the revolver with pop's wd-40 spray and mom's sewing machine oil.

A few anomalies about that event.....the revolver was a model 581 no-dash which wasn't yet in actual production......and it was loaded with Winchester super-.38 silvertips with two of the six cartridges spent. That's right, .38 super !

I mentioned the forsythe kid and his uncharacteristic demeanour. His dad was the chief of detectives for the next big city over's constabulary and captain forsythe had one of those old-fashioned home-offices that was a veritable museum. All sorts of contraband, brought-home items from the city's evidence room decorated the place including dozens of firearms.

It didn't take a genius to ken where a preproduction revolver could come from when you consider that capt. forsythe in his capacity as under-chief was tasked with choosing the duty sidearms.

A few years later, both misters ayoob & sanow would write about the super .38 being superior to the special in magnum revolvers provided they would easily chamber and extract. Current ammo is just wonky enough in bullet seating run-out and out-of roundness to not chamber in some .357 revolvers and a quick bump up into a 9mm sizer will make things right.

IMG_20250616_130201.jpg

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I think Smith & Wesson actually had a dedicated target revolver chambered in 38 Super at some point. I think it's now in 9mm ... with the 38 Super chambering retired. I can't remember the model number.

[2ndovc]

Bill,


i bought an SDS in 9mm that came with a .38 Super conversion kit. I haven't fired the .38 super yet but now that the oddball ammo is becoming easier to find, 'I plan to shoot it soon. There's a big show coming up that we'll be set up all weekend and I'm sure I'll find a box or two. I want to try it before I buy dies and components for it.
With the 9mm barrel/ mag , etc. it's a pleasure to shoot and quite accurate. The really amazing part is that the factory trigger is as good as my Colt National Match!
I'll get a range report up as soon as I shoot it!

jb

[Bill in Oregon]

Jason, I have been reading about that very Tisas 1911 with the two barrels. When I looked up .38 Super ammo on Ammoseek.com this morning, there was all kinds of it and pretty reasonably priced, too -- lots of choice well under 50 cents a round.

[oldebear1950]

back in 1976 when stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, I purchased a COLT 1911 in 38 super, that needed a blue job really bad. I kept it until 1983 as is, and then had the frame hard chromed, the slide bead blasted and blued,
replaced the old barrel that headspaced on the semi rim with a brand new BAR STO match barrel and bushing, replaced the sights with high profile fixed sights, and generally made a new gun.
It was so different in fact my wife at the time thought I had bought a new gun.
Fast forward to two years ago I finally sold it off. I had bought an ED BROWN drop in 9 mm barrel and bushing, sold them off too.
Late last year I bought one of the new SDS/TISAS STAKEOUT model 9mm with the 38 super conversion kit.
I have not fired either one yet, but do have reloading equipment for both the 9 mm and 38 super.

It is my understanding that when first came out, it was the first pistol round that would actually penatrate the engine block and steel bodies of cars. Thompson also made a few 38 super sub machine guns for the FBI.

That was about 2 or 3 years before the 357 magnum came out.

It never really got very popular here in the states but was really popular in Mexico because they could not privately own any 45 acp which was their military round.

Back in the 1980s some the race gun guys found they could load it to make major caliber, and most of them converted to 38 super.

But it still never really caught on here. Prices for ammo was sky high

[AmBraCol]

Years ago a friend showed me a pre-war Colt he inherited from his father. It was pretty close to "New In Box" condition even after a good 7 decades since it left the factory. For some odd reason that slung a hankering on me for such a pistola. Who knows? Maybe some day. There's a lot to like about the round, but I suspect it's about as nasty to shoot as a 357, smaller bore hotrod rounds tend to CRACK annoyingly which is why I've never owned a 357, although I've shot a few.

[Bill in Oregon]

Paul, that "annoying crack" of the .357 is what drove me away from the chambering. Although a big N-frame Model 28 was my first centerfire pistol, I quickly moved on to the .44 Magnum in a Super Blackhawk. When my late father-in-law gave me his Model 19 with 2 1/2-inch barrel, I ran a few cylinders of full-house loads through it and decided I had enjoyed enough of the .357 from short-barreled revolvers and traded it off. I think it is far more useful from a handy lever gun like the "trapper" Model 92s that many here seem to like.
I have no idea if the Super is as unpleasant, but suspect not.

[coyote nose]

Wow, perfect timing as I am kicking over a 38 Super. I had a question regarding how loud it was, and posted the question on another forum, and got most replies only telling me to wear ear protection for all shooting (DUH!) with only 1 actually answering the question! I gave up. On this forum the 1st reply (from Scott) told me it was loud! Thanks guys. I do have another follow up question....38 Super was a higher pressure round, but same case, as the 38ACP. Does anyone have experience shooting old factory 38ACP out of theirs? How loud is that? Like a std pressure 9mm? Like a 45 ACP? Like a 380? I can reload the 38 Super down if I get one (changing springs if necessary) but really wonder if that would be less loud than a 45ACP.

[Bill in Oregon]

Coyote nose, my only experience with .38 ACP was running some through that Star, which could handle .38 ACP, 9mm Largo/Bergman-Bayard and 9mm Steyr.I don't remember it being unusually loud, but then I was also fooling with one of the surplus Czech CZ-52s in 7.62 Tokarev. Now that round is LOUD.

[Paladin]

I bought my first one in 1978, a Colt Commander. I carried it for years before a friend talked me out of it. Then a friend built me this one from spare parts he had lying around. IT has a titanium frame and is accurate. I refer to it as a 9mm Magnum. Before.357 Sig came out, and I used it a lot. Normal off duty as we we not allowed to carry anything not issued on duty till I got to BCI.

38 Super Ti 002.jpg

Before I had the barrel cut and after.

38 Super.jpg

[Bill in Oregon]

John Taffin liked the cartridge.
https://americanhandgunner.com/our-expe ... -super-38/

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Didn't Caspian make a double stack 38 Super frame with 19 round mags back in the 90's? That 19+1 in Super seems like a lot of firepower.

[Paladin]

Didn't Caspian make a double stack 38 Super frame with 19 round mags back in the 90's? That 19+1 in Super seems like a lot of firepower.

Yes, I believe so, it was a top race gun build for a while, TOP power factor, high capacity. Why my buddy had the single-stack frame left over.

[Bob Hatfield]

It is interesting to hear other guys like me having a recent interest in the 38 Super. Recently I have coon-fingered a few a few and almost whipped out the wallet. But for the life of me if you look at the ballistics it seems you can do almost as well with the 9mm chambering with specific loads. I shoot the Mil-spec Winchester M-1152 in my Beretta and with the 115 flat nose it is doing the 1300 fps + it claims to (probably +p+). Looking at the regular run of the mill 38 Super ball ammo with 124/125 bullets it seems to be loaded down somewhat. But it is American and that (Trumps) it over the 9mm any day.

But I do handload and can make up some nice 38 Supers. If I remember correctly a famous 20th century African hunter (Taylor?) liked the 38 super for its skull penetrating ability.

Bob

[samsi]

I'm in the camp of recent, renewed interest in the Super. I've been shooting a Springfield 9mm 1911 in local matches for the last year or so and got to thinking that it might be as easy as fitting a Super barrel and magazines. Cool as it might be I wouldn't shoot it in the match, recovering the brass would be a major pain.

[Bill in Oregon]

Articles like these do nothing to curb my enthusiasm.

https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial ... ads/326242

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/38-super-automatic-p

https://americanhandgunner.com/discover ... 38-part-2/

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I made the mistake of going to take a look up on GB. Man, the 38 Super has got to be the most pimped out pistol of all time. There's just a ton of them up there, many factory builds.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1111310731

[Bill in Oregon]

Rim, that is even too garish to be a Texas BBQ gun!

[Paladin]

It is interesting to hear other guys like me having a recent interest in the 38 Super. Recently I have coon-fingered a few a few and almost whipped out the wallet. But for the life of me if you look at the ballistics it seems you can do almost as well with the 9mm chambering with specific loads. I shoot the Mil-spec Winchester M-1152 in my Beretta and with the 115 flat nose it is doing the 1300 fps + it claims to (probably +p+). Looking at the regular run of the mill 38 Super ball ammo with 124/125 bullets it seems to be loaded down somewhat. But it is American and that (Trumps) it over the 9mm any day.

But I do handload and can make up some nice 38 Supers. If I remember correctly a famous 20th century African hunter (Taylor?) liked the 38 super for its skull penetrating ability.

Bob

I use that ammo often, and it splits cases in almost every 9mm I own. At last, one in 8 cases.

[Paladin]

I made the mistake of going to take a look up on GB. Man, the 38 Super has got to be the most pimped out pistol of all time. There's just a ton of them up there, many factory builds.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1111310731

That is the gun of choice for the Cartel member in Mexico. .38 Super is legal to own there, and it has BLING.