Anyone shoot 38 Super?

[toysoldier]

I always scavenge brass when I'm at the range, and have accumulated ~100 of 38 Super brass. It has me wondering why anyone shoots it. The only pistols I find are expensive target types, factory ammo is high, and doing some comparisons in the Lee reloading manual shows you only get an extra 90-180 fps over an equivalent 9mm, with more powder. Is it really worth it?

 

[WIL TERRY]

YEP !!

And so it goes...

 

[Kevin]

Interesting, I’ve heard of 38 Super, but not in detail, or have ever seen the ammo.

Here is a quote from LuckyGunner website:

A 130 grain bullet from a .38 Super travels at over 1300 fps, and could penetrate the ballistic vests and car bodies of the 1930s. You might think a cartridge like that would have been a dream come true for law enforcement stuck in the arms race of the violent depression/prohibition-era gang violence. And it might have been, had the .38 Super not been completely overshadowed by the arrival of .357 magnum in 1934..

They started the article talking about how rare the caliber is, and just a handful of guns are still made for it.

 

[loaded round]

Several years most of our club's action shooting groups were running 38 supers, these day most are running hot 9mm rounds. Also starting to find a lot of 357 Sig brass in the recycle cans with the Glock firing pin mark. Is that a sign of the future?

 

[contender]

38 Super is mostly used in competition. And as such,,, it's not as common on the street so to speak. For the shooters who use it,,, they love it. But,, brass,,, expensive to many.
The biggest confusion is for those who don't shoot one. Why? Well there is 38 Super, 38 Super Comp, 38 Super +P, 38 TJ to name a few. All of them are very close to one another,,, and often interchange. Lots of confusion.

 

[arfmel]

.38 Super is more popular along the US/Mexican border. On both sides. It is closer in length to the .45acp and feeds better in 1911 type pistols than the 9mm does, supposedly.

I kind of think the modern 9mm self defense ammo has improved to such an extent that it's more effective than the speedier .38 Super.

 

[Heliman]

I have owned several 38 Supers in the past. Nice accurate round. My problem was that the platforms I owned were collectors, not shooters. Ammo can be hard to find if you don’t reload. Sold my Colt Combat Commander lightweight about a year ago. I miss it.....

Dave

 

[tunnug]

.38 Super is more popular along the US/Mexican border. On both sides. It is closer in length to the .45acp and feeds better in 1911 type pistols than the 9mm does, supposedly.

I kind of think the modern 9mm self defense ammo has improved to such an extent that it's more effective than the speedier .38 Super.

.38 super is popular in Mexico because the use of any caliber used by the military is outlawed for the masses so no .45 or 9mm, I've got a Kimber compact and a Tanfoglio Witness in .38 super, I call them my hot rod 9's.
I reload so price is not really an issue, I bought 1K worth of Aguila ammo a while back and it wasn't much more expensive than 9mm, it's been a few years and have not checked current prices.

 

[contender]

I get 38 Super brass of most species due to lost brass on my range & working as a RO at bigger matches. (In USPSA,,, at most State & regional matches are lost brass matches. The RO's get to pick up the lost brass as part of a reward for working.)
I get a few hundred each of Super, Super Comp & +P annually & let others with guns enjoy the brass.

But since the USPSA started allowing 9mm in race guns & pushing the power level to "Major" power factor,,, many have switched to that. But while they do it all the time,,, pushing the power level in 9mm is higher,,, most Factory stuff isn't quite to the same level. Many normal factory produced 9mm handguns are not quite strong enough to handle the hotter loads. I often worry about some of the hotter competition ammo being put into a weaker handgun.
On a side note,,, we had a race gun shooter who accidentally loaded a 380 Auto case with his 9mm load. I have the single round,, as it was discovered before he actually shot it.
But in the 38 Super arena,,, there are several out there.

 

[Johnnu2]

I DO.... I converted a SS Springfield Armory Range Office (9mm) to 38 Super just because I could. Now I can shoot an unusual caliber out of my classy 1911. CCDN had a special on new, Sig. 38Super barrels for 1911's.... I think I paid a whopping $40 shipped....then bought a barrel link and pin and a new bbl bushing; 500 rounds of brass and 'voila' (as they say at the range).... ))

 

[BearBio]

Carried 38 Super in a Commander until I discovered 357 Sig in a G27 (converted).

 

[Rick Courtright]

.38 Super is more popular along the US/Mexican border. On both sides. It is closer in length to the .45acp and feeds better in 1911 type pistols than the 9mm does, supposedly.

Hi,

I've only handled one .38 Super, a Colt 1911 brought here by a fellow who bought it as a young man living in Mexico, probably late '50s. It accompanied him when he came to the States (yes, legally!)

The story I got from him echoes others I've heard: Mexican law doesn't allow its citizens to own firearms chambered in common military calibers, even if they are "militarily obsolete." So a 1911 in .45 ACP was a no-no, as was anything in 9mm Luger/Parabellum, but .38 Super was ok. Someone also suggested Colt sold more of their .38 Super 1911s in Mexico than the US years ago when they were making them. Hence the popularity along the border.

At least that's the story around here!

Rick C

 

[blume357]

Buddy of my late brother in law called and inquired a few years ago about some of his guns, which is wife had given to me, I gave him a 22lr pistol that they shot a lot back when they were young and he had by accident bought about six boxes of 38 super by mistake and the store would not take them back and so we sort of made a trade. Then I gave it all away here in a karma.... used to be a guy here from down under that had a 38 super I think.

 

[blackhawknj]

I read an article in one of the gun magazines (Guns & Ammo ?) some years ago, the writer said that all it took to fire 38 Super out of a 9MM Government Model was a new barrel and magazine.

 

[WendyZXZ]

The .38 Super is a favorite of mine, we have a Colt chambered in the caliber here!

 

[Bob Wright]

I have limited experience with the .38 Super. While I was in the Army stationed at Camp Roberts, a friend of mine bought a Llama in .38 Super. This gun was sort of a copy of the Colt Government Model, but slightly more deluxe.

The .38 Super performed about as well as my Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnum in taking ground squirrels that populated the area. It proved to be very flat shooting. As to comparing it to the 9 mm I have no idea, as the 9 mm was virtually unheard of then except in German war trophies.

Bob Wright

 

[blackhawknj]

IIRC for years the 38 Super had a reputation for so-so accuracy. Then it was found that headspacing it on the cartridge mouth instead of the rim greatly improved accuracy.
A project that has intrigued me is a carbine with interchangeable barrels for the various 9MM rounds-380 ACP, 9MM, 38 Super etc. In my case-bolt action. Easier to retrieve the brass