Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .38 Super itch has finally been scratched

As many may know, I�ve had the desire for a .38 Super for quite a while. So this weekend I went on the prowl for one. Originally, I was hoping for something older in a Series 70 or earlier, but in all of NW Arkansas, .38 Supers are a pretty scarce item. Could have had a lightly used Taurus for a song. Found an RIA in bright nickel that lacked the ramped barrel and I came within an inch of buying it. But finally, it came down to a brand new Colt�s 1991 Series with �100 Years of Service� stamped on the right side. The Colt�s was quite a bit more and I left the place with chest pain having dropped a lot of coin on a fairly plain 1911. It wasn�t until I got it home and inspected it very closely that the anxiety went away (I�m anything but a rich man, and it�s RARE that I spend over $500 for a handgun�I tend to find damn good deals). But I intend this to be a �Legacy Gun�, one I�ll pass down to my kids when I�m gone.

I really love that classic 1911 look and this gun just seems to have it. My first concern at the gun shop was the finish. The new Colt�s blue finish is so very different from the finishes in the past. The very obvious polishing marks left on the flats from using a course polish compound just looks a bit rough. But the more I look at it, the more it�s drawing me in. The bluing is actually a very pleasing matte finish. It�s nice without reflecting too much light; kinda semi-opaque in appearance. Not the same sort of matte found with rust bluing or Carbona bluing, but still very nice.

As for the rest of the pistol, all I can say is; Colt�s quality is back in spades! I can�t find an imperfection anywhere on the entire pistol�seriously! I can�t remember the last time I�ve seen such attention to detail on a brand new factory gun; especially a 1911. No machine marks, no lines that are not perfectly straight, no casting seams on the internals; nothing. This is a 1991 which is basically a Series 80 pistol, but it�s so much nicer than any Series 80 that I�ve ever seen. In many ways it�s nicer than a Series 70 gun. It does have the synthetic trigger and mainspring housing that I�m very likely to keep. I�m definitely keeping the trigger�It matches the color of the gun perfectly, it�s long, but most importantly it�s LIGHT weight, which means if I decide to tune up the hammer/sear engagement, it will remain safe. Being synthetic means it will never attain the scratches on the side; it�s really a downright decent trigger. As for the mainspring housing, slightly mixed. I�m not offended by synthetic in the least. I dry fire practice every night, and I life fire every chance I get. So often the finish on the mainspring housing will get rubbed off, but that won�t happen with the synthetic one; and again, the color matches perfectly. The only reason I would change it is to change to an arched MSH for even more of a classic look; but I�m still out on that one, so I�ll just use it as it is now.

200 rounds into it and function is thus far 100% and accuracy seems very good.

The last Colt�s .38 Super I shot was about 2 years ago, and it was another new one; the XSE LW Commander in .38 Super. Again, build execution was nearly flawless, and after shooting it, I really regretted buying my S&W when I could have had the Colt�s for the same price. Not to disparage my S&W, it�s been a flawless performer, but it�s not flawless in the looks department, that�s for sure.

So given my more recent experiences with new Colt�s, I�d have to say the old Colt�s we all loved is back and their guns are very good.

Nice gun.......I have a 9mm barrel for you Kevin...Picked it up this morning.

Oh you KNOW I'm interested!! I'll be e-mailing you pronto.

I've not shot the 9x23 but think it would be interesting...