38 Super Suggestions

Wiresguy

Wiresguy

Well-Known Member
I have never owned a 1911 chambered in 38 Super, and presently have a DW PM-7 45 and a 9mm Valor.

Looking into replacing the 9mm Valor barrel with one in Super, but it might be simpler to purchase a DW Guardian in 38 Super.

Besides the gun I’ll need to purchase dies and brass. And maybe another mold? ;)

Accurate 35-125C and 35-130A work well in the 9mm, and maybe the 36-140M and 35-150A might also be useful in the 38 Super.

Starline has 38 Super and 38 Super Comp brass. Any suggestions on which to get, and why?

Favorite dies for this cartridge? Favorite molds?

This will be used for paper punching. I shoot tighter groups with the 45 than with the 9mm and am curious to see how the Super will fit in. Looking to learn something new while having fun.

Suggestions and comments welcome. Thanks!
 
I forget exactly how it goes Ibread something once to the effect that if you offered ten pistolsmiths to build a 1911 strictly for a mechanical accuracy competition with a large cashnprize for the winner, all yen would show up with a .38 Super.

I run the Lee 150 grain plain round nose in mine, never saw a need for anything else for paper. It's been a while since I shot it but iirc I used nickel Starline .38 Super Auto brass that has the semi-rim and won't accidentally chamber in an antique .38 Auto.
 
The 38 Super saw a resurgence when competitors were using it to make major with a cartridge that had a smaller diameter than 45 ACP. The net result was a lighter recoiling gun with higher magazine capacity, giving competitors an edge. (faster follow up shots and fewer mag changes).

The slightly greater case capacity of the 38 Super over the 9mm Luger made it possible to “make major” (reach the required power factor to avoid a scoring penalty) in competitions such as USPSA or IPSC; and do it without much fanfare.

Other than the slighter longer, semi-rimmed case, the 38 Super for all practical purposes, is an American 9mm Luger +P. Yeah, you can run a little heavier bullet but it’s not an earth-shattering difference. Were it not for the power factor scoring regimes, competitors would have simply run the 9mm Luger.

When seeking the best possible mechanical accuracy out of a 1911 platform, the keys are consistent, tight, barrel to slide lockup, and to a lessor extent, slide to frame fit. The differences between the inherent accuracy of the 45 ACP, 9mm Luger and 38 Super cartridges are just not that great.

A good pistol smith can set up a 1911 in any of those cartridges that will hold a tight group.

So, acquiring a 1911 pistol chambered in 38 Super, isn’t by itself going to be a game changer. And if you don’t need to “Make Major”, the 9mm Luger cartridge holds just as much promise to be accurate as the 38 Super.
 
I usually end up loading a Lyman 356637. I have a 135g swc that I like the looks of but haven't spent much time with it. Its a single mold where my '637 is a 4 cav.
 
I have a Colt competition series in 38 Super that is one of my favorite to shoot. I really like the round.
 
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Mainiac said:
I have a sti 1911 in 38 super.very accurate rig.
Hot load of aa7,125hp,,,or cream puff hp38 load with 133swc,,,it shoots amazing.
Click to expand...
Btw,,I use standard super brass.ive read where you may have to adjust extractor,to run the comp brass, to i stay clear.
I once play around with that major power factor loads,big blast,recoil,i soon figured out that it aint no fun.but,the 38 super will run some very high speeds,
 
Thanks for the input! The standard brass looks like the way to go. Working on my shopping list. The gun situation is yet to be determined, but no hurry.
 
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The first autoloading centerfire pistol that I ever fired was a very nice commercial Star .38 Super that belonged to a cousin. It was loud to my young bare ears and I hit some mud turtles with it before I cleaned and returned it…..impressed!
Later one of my brothers had a 1968 Colt Govt and an Astra A75 in .38 Super. He was a good shot and stated that the Astra shot better; I couldn’t tell the difference lol.
I just never strayed from the .45 in 1911ish pistols I guess.
 
Brass and dies - thanks, Jon!
Barrel should arrive in a couple of weeks.
Looks like a couple of magazines will complete the shopping list. ;)
 
38 Super Comp is a rimless version of the 38 Super, takes a different shell holder or shell plate to reload, and factory 125s are almost 1300fps.
In a ramped, fully supported barrel they can be loaded to higher pressures and velocities. The 9x23 Winchester is the same length loaded to 50K psi for even more speed in the same 1911s with ramped/fully supported barrels (124s at 1450fps)

These rimless rounds may need extractor tuning and heavier recoil springs.

I have loaded 38 Super Comp with 124/125gr jacketed for a friend's 5" and worked up accuracy loads pushing 1350fps. We went faster, but accuracy suffered, and he was satisfied with 4" 357 mag performance. BE86 gave better accuracy than did AA#7.
 
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Update - Thanks for all the suggestions!

I found a 38 Super barrel for my 9mm Dan Wesson Valkyrie Commander and bought a Colt Combat Commander.

The DW with its ramped barrel feeds everything, but I had to do some tinkering on cartridge OAL to get the Colt to feed reliably.

Bullets I have tried are NOE 358-128-TC (thanks JonB!) Accurate 35-125C, 35-130A, 36-140M, and 36-150A.

Best accuracy with 180 rounds through the Colt and 80 rounds through the Valkyrie (1345 rounds of 9mm previously) has been with the NOE, 35-125C, and 36-150A. My bullets sized to .3567”.

The 36-150A over a modest charge of W231 gave the tightest groups so far with a velocity average of 1017 fps. Bullseye under the 35-125C at 1028 fps average was another promising combination.

The MecGar magazines have worked fine in both guns.

I’m enjoying this new-to-me cartridge.
 
Thanks for your suggestions, CW. I've read good things about the #383. Grafs had one in stock and it will be on its way this week.
Any excuse for another mold, right?
 
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