Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Kimber 38 Super

Recently picked up a Kimber Gold Match in 45 ACP & it shoots great with 3 different cast bullets, any of you have any experience with a Kimber in 38 Super? I've never owned a Super & would like to hear your thoughts.

Dick

If I remember correctly, Brian Pearce did a .38 Super writeup in Handloader and/or a Handloader special edition using that pistol. I think he really liked it.

One thing about the Kimber Supers, they use a ramped barrel, which is better if you use a stiff load now and then. Colt still doesn't use a ramped barrel on their higher pressure load guns. They should.

Odds are, it will shoot accurately, and the ramped barrel is a nice plus. Downside will be it may need a lot of tinkering to get it to feed reliably. That's been my experience with a Kimber 10mm.

The weak link on the Kimber 9mm and 38-Super guns are the factory magazines. I've had good luck with my 9mm Kimber 5" gun using Wilson magazines; the factory mags never worked right for me.

Mentioned article Dick.

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/38-super-automatic-p

I have 2 Kimber .38 Supers, a Pro-Carry II and a Team Match II. Both feed just fine from the factory mags and the collection of Wilson and Virgil Tripp mags I use. Both shoot the same fodder I feed my STI Grand Master race gun, 124 gr HAP hollow point @ 1340 fps.

Dick, shoot RJM a PM.

Every gun can be a bit different and it was mentioned in the handloader article. Most of the 38 Supers I have had much prefer .356" diameter bullets over the much more common .355" bullets. All the factory ammo I have tried used .355" bullets.
The HAP bullets that Borchardt mentioned are .356" bullets and shoot much better in my pistols, there are other .356" bullets that shoot well also.

Me & Bob "visit" almost everyday, he's he the rascal that's got me on this 38 Super hunt but I can't find one. Just trying to see what everyone thinks about them. Bob seems to be the guy! I"m still not sure why I want one but I do, running the back roads a lot & seeing Jackrabbits, Rock Chucks, etc. It seems like a nice match up for small varmints if I can just locate one. I have Dillon dies & plenty of brass, just need a gun. Thanks for the article Ed.

Dick

I had a Barsto barrel in my Super, and they told me the bore size was .3565", and indeed it shot better with my cast bullets better than any 9mm jacketed bullet I shot in it. It was a dandy gun (I bought it when Colt was switching to the Series '80 guns, it was left over and I got it on a real deal back then). I built it as a field gun, I had some old Micro sights cut into the slide, did the beavertail myself, and had a buddy do the Clark TigerTooth stippling on the front strap. I had a lot of fun with that pistol.

He be infectious.

My Colt is a 5” steel frame. Very accurate 10 shot 357. I run Starline plus p brass and cast the Elco bullet for it. AA7 is the speed and accuracy winner. Recoil is nothing

My 38 Super shot the most accurate with .357 bullets. You just have to find the ones that will feed.

Forgot to say mine has a Barstow barrel also, it is a Combat Commander.

Damn right he is Men, Bob traveled through the area last Feb/Mar, I met him at his hotel room and looked over his pistols, we had a good breakfast and talked guns for a couple hours, I wound up spending another 400 bucks on my 1911 38 Super I only thought was perfect as is! ; ]