Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 10mm vs 38Super

I really like the Colt Super Match.

I love the super and bought a used series 70 back in 86 and it shot like carp because of the head space problems and never liked the collet bushing.Now some 30 years later I bought a Swenson drop in barrel and bushing and it still shot like carp,any way I thought I would experiment on that cheap barrel opened the slide stop hole on the link so when it went into battery it rested on the bottom lugs got some original JB weld and put some at 10 and 2 o'clock on the back female lug and when it was almost set up I oiled the male lugs and put the gun back together and eased into battery for a perfect fit on the lockup after a couple of mins. I took it apart and now it shoots as good as my Novak custom 45.I have about 200 rounds through it now and it was not wore.Anyway I love the 38 super.

There ya have it.

Whats the reasoning against the checkering? Just curious as I don't really have an opinion either way.


The gap between the high pressure 9mm and 38 Super rounds seems pretty slim these days. I'm sure hand loading could eeek some more out of the obviously larger 38 Super case, but the gap is still not that large.

That and 9mm bulk availability would likely push me there.

This is true. Modern +P+ 9mm loads nip on the heels of most "hot" 38 Super loads; not saying they're equal but there is not much of a gap. The 357 Sig has a much bigger gap above either of those two.

I'll second RJM's follow up comment - you're not even close on that comparison.

My 200gr 10mm load (which is not much different than what Underwood sells) does 1275 fps from a Glock 20, with the stock barrel.

And, if you think a 6" 41 Mag revolver is the same size as a 5" 10mm, you've clearly never put them side by side. My long slide Glock, even with the 6.5" barrel, is still smaller than a 6" N frame, and that one does 1350 fps with the above mentioned 200gr load.

It's not always about the fastest or the most powerful. Sometimes, history, nostalgia or "just because" are as, if not more important.

Absolutely!

I prefer smooth for several reasons...

Found that when I draw with an aggressively checkered gun if the grip isn't just right I had to slow down to adjust the grip or shoot it the way I grabbed it. With smooth grips and frontstrap I just have to loosen my grip slightly and the gun just slides into the right place.

Don't like the way it feels when shooting.

From the late 1970s till 2007 I never used a holster when CCing a 1911...just stuck it in my belt. If the gun had aggressive checking and grips it would have torn up the top of my pants waistband and belt.

With top end factory loads there is between 50 and 100 fps difference depending on the grain weight if shot in barrels of equal length. Once you get to 140 grains however the gap widens by quite a bit.

The Buffalo Bore 147 Outdoorsman Load is not even making 1100 fps. My 140 grain SAECO 383 can be easily pushed to 1300 fps. I used to run 158-160 grain RNL bullets at 1170 fps to make the original 185K Major in IPSC....something that a stock 9mm can not do.

But you are correct...unless you just happen to like .38 Super a 9mm will work and the ammo is much less expensive. But by dropping a 9mm barrel in a 1911 one can have inexpensive practice ammo and then load up with the best rounds possible for personal defense...

Just works for me....

.and is a real good answer. If I was back in LE it is the round I would want to be issued simply because there are no bad rounds.

The Hornady 147 is slowest round made and it still clocks at 1200 fps... I have a G40 and G23 that have .357 SIG accessory barrels and the rounds really smoke from the 6" barrel of the 40. One day I would like to get a barrel for the multi-caliber Kimber Stainless Target II I have but that said I have known several people who have had a lot of FTF problems with the SIG round....but I will get one one day...