Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 38 super

I'm getting bored so I'm thinking about 38 super.I have my 1911 TCM/9mm so why not add 38 super to the mix.Will it be worth it?

If you plan to shoot it much, then only if you reload.

I have 38S & 9x23, but reality is 9mm goes to the range much more often

IF you handload, it's a fine cartridge, but if you don't handload, don't bother, factory ammo is pretty weak-kneed stuff and might as well be a 9mm. About the only factory stuff worth a hoot is Buffalo Bore and CorBon, and they don't give it away. Aguila makes a load that's close to the original specs, everyone else's is piss-weak stuff.

I've got one Colt Super, and three Springfield Armory 9mms that have Super barrels added to the mix. They are all fun to shoot, but the SAs, with their ramped barrels, are better shooters than the Colt.

If your TCM/9mm is a single stack pistol, yeah, it might be fun, but I wouldn't mess with a doublewide, as finding magazines that work will be an issue. Single stacks are quite reliable, though you might have to tweak the extractor a fuzz, and you might have to shorten the ejector's nose a fuzz, too. Neither of those things are hard to do, but make sure that Super cases will fit your breechface, as some pistols have tighter dimensions than others, and THAT is harder to fix.
My Springfields came with titanium firing pins, but I swapped those out with steel firing pins and extra strength springs, just to make sure that everything works right. That's probably not necessary with RIA pistols, but it's a thought.
If you go ahead with this, you can use the Super magazines you'll need with the other two cartridges, too. Win, win, win.

Agree & agree! If you handload then the 38 Super is a nice handgun. For the money I'm impressed with my Rock Island Super, shoots all of my cast handloads great.

Dick

thanks gentlemen -- I appreciate the advice

I bought a Kimber pro carry (4 inch) 9mm a couple years ago. Then sent it to Fusion for a Super barrel. It shoots very nice.

I have just begun loading 140 gr cast from the Saeco 383 mold with Power Pistol. I think it is going to be a nice load.

For some reason, the only way I’d want a .38 Super would be in a nickel, single stack Colt 1911 with ivory, Mexican Eagle grips.

I wouldn't go so far as to call factory Super "weak knee'd", it's always hotter than 9mm+P/NATO, but its true that there's only a couple of companies that load it to its potential. Super is my absolute favorite auto pistol cartridge, I'll never be without one. Mine has been fitted with a 9mm barrel, so I can practice on the cheap all I want. Bullet trajectory is so close between the two rounds all the way out to 150 yards, you just shoot them the same. I have made shots out to 250 yards with my super, and at more reasonable ranges she's a tack driver and a pure joy to shoot. If someone says they have a "better" pistol than my favorite Super...sorry, but you just don't. My Super suits me right down to the ground! And like I've always said... The most interesting 1911's all say Super .38 Automatic!

Earlier RIA TCM 1911 pistols came with .38SUPPER magazines to accommodate the overall length of the original .22TCM cartridge. Later ones come with 9x19 magazines, which accommodate only the shorter .22TCM9R cartridge and 9mmLUGER.

So, if your TCM came with a .38SUPER magazine, you’d only need a barrel and an appropriate strength recoil spring to complete your proposed conversion.

Ah yes, the popular EL TRAFICANTE DROGAS model.

What's not to love about a Super? Here's mine.

You really need a integal ramped fully supported barrel for the 38 Stupid. Otherwise, it is a 38 Spl power gun. The weak adz factory ammo is because of all the unsupported web 1911s made and sold over the years. Once a month we had an unsuported cartridge blow on the range.....Mag, follower, spring, mag base, and bullets hit the line, grips shattered. A call would go out from the other shooters, "another 38 stupid bites the dust."
Barstow makes a fully supported barrel to fit a slotted frame for the ramp. If you really want to do a 38 Super 1911 right.

I have a Colt slide and barrel with a muzzle brake that was made to shoot bowling pins back when that was popular. It is mated to my stainless Springfield 1911A1 NM and works well, easy to move between .38 Super to .45 ACP when the need arises.

.38 Super factory ammo is hard to find and expensive when found, so if you want to shoot much it is mostly a handloading proposition. If I wasn't already set up for the .38 Super, I don't think that I'd go to the effort and expense today, but there was a time when I'd go out of my way to swim against the current.

I think the 10mm has cooled the market for .38 Super a bit.

Kimber used to make some I think.

EDIT: Just looked, and Colt makes a bunch.

I have a Kimber Target II in 38 Super. I shot a small buck with it last year.
147 grain XTP at 1300fps

VV N105 is the #1 powder of choice for the 38 Super. It will toss 125's out at 1500fps.

Tony

My SS Target II started life as a 10 MM. I shot it a bit with the Super barrel, which convinced me to buy and convert the commander model. The Target II is a 10 MM full time now.

I’ve always had a 38 super or two. Just started the ball rolling on a new build ,commander , aluminum frame. Looking forward to it.

As Kevin said, "The most interesting 1911's all say Super .38 Automatic"

My stainless 1911 is not the best work they ever did, but it’s accurate and reliable with good ammo, and I really like the cartridge. So much so that I’m buying a Nowlin barrel for my recently purchased Ronin, so I’ll also have a lightweight commander. I mostly load it with 124gr. At about 1300, so I don’t push it too hard.

Old70

I got a recommendation today from a good friend to many here and known as enabler by several...RJM

Bob recently purchased a commander size Tisas Stingray in 9mm, then installed a 112 dollar 38 super barrel from ebay. He says "It shoots as well as the Dan Wesson Guardian for 1/3 the cost."

The SS Para Clark ramped match barrel is available from ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/265329583969