[Sox]

I have been surfing around for quite a while, and have noticed these other loadings out there. I have yet to shoot any of them, but they sound appealing. I wish there was more factory support for these. What have been your experiences with these with respect to recoil, expense, and just plain fun. You can include any "off beat" calibers like .356 TSW, .41 AE, etc. Thanks, I look forward to your opinions.:)

[farscott]

I shoot 9x23 in a Colt Goverment Model, and I very much like the caliber. It really is the equivalent of a .357 Magnum, only in a much more ergonomic platform. I have been trying my hand at fifty-yard shooting with 9x23 since it is a flat shooting round. It is not too tough to hit hanging gongs at that distance, but my shooting for groups is, to put it mildly, abysmal. Still I have been having a lot of fun.

Recoil is not very bad, but is noticeably sharper than .45 ACP. Loaded ammo is hard to find, but MidwayUSA has it for about $12.50/50 for 124-grain softpoints. I usually buy loaded ammo, and then reload the once-fired brass with my own heavier 158-grain loads.

[Robert inOregon]

Only thing "cool" about these cartridges, especially the wonder nines, is the caliber war that is about to erupt in this thread. You never mention 38 Super and 9x23 in the same sentence. :D

[QB]

I am a huge fan of the 38 super round. Flat shooting, a little more "umpf" than the 9mm (and louder) which makes it really fun to shoot. I buy ammo by the case and find it to be readily available and not cost prohibitive (usually buy it from Natchez). I don't reload which is why I did not consider the 9x23. Yes, there is factory 9x23 ammo out there but it costs considerably more than the 38 super that I buy. I've had 38 super guns made by: STI, SVI, Colt, Kimber and SIGARMS. I currently only have Colt and SIGARMS. All of my 38 supers have been reliable and just a "blast" to shoot!!!

[Dr.Rob]

You know whats BAD about 38 super? It means that guy is shooting in my ESP division of IDPA. And those 38 super guys are always GOOD.

I've NEVER met a 38 super shooter that wasn't a heck of a shot. Maybe thay just shoot more than the rest of us. (then again the 38 super "makes major" in IPSC)

The 38 Super is the one "other" auto pistol caliber I might pick up, but the price would have to be right and of course it would have to be a Colt.

I've fired a few, no real difference in recoil to me than a hot 9mm.

[Grayrider]

I recently acquired a .38 Super Kimber Pro-Carry HDII. It is an amazing pistol. Deadly accurate, utterly reliable, and very little recoil. The heavy bull barrel coupled with the already light recoil of the .38 Super makes it feel considerably tamer than a 9mm. Yet .38 Super is far from tame, pushing well beyond +P 9mm loads. If my state gets CCW in the near future, I will be carrying this Kimber. 10mm is still my favorite round, but the .38 Super is a great cartridge.

GR

[Sean Smith]

then again the 38 super "makes major" in IPSC

Not in most classes it doesn't... minimum .40 for Major PF in Standard, Modified, Limited and Limited-10 (at least according to the USPSA manual I've got).

[warddc]

Would someone please educate me as to the differences between a 38 super and a 9x23. According to my winchester load book, the case dimensions are exact except for rim diameter.

D.

[eerw]

I think I might have had them all..Right now I shoot 9x23 and 38 super..
The 9x23 is a tapered case that is very thick compared to the others.. shoots very well in a wide body gun and single stack. It also has no rim compared to the 38 super. I have 9x23s in both widebody IPSC race guns, and a widebody carry gun and a single stack carry gun.

The 38 super is also a fun gun to shoot..especially if you reload..lots of ways to reload it like the 9x23..a few more factory loads are available..mostly in the 130FMJs. I shoot this in a carry comp gun that I have..but have had IPSC raceguns and single stack guns in this caliber.

9x21 is a little more difficult to find.. I became semi-popular in IPSC when hi-cap 9mm were the rage and STI/SV/caspian did not exist..9x19 was not loadable to major unless you loaded it to 1.250..so out came 9x21 loaded to 9x19OAL and shot in the springfield p9..pretty easy to load for..shot 115s and 124s out of this for about 2 years...hard on the gun. but it was a hi-cap.

Shot the .356TSW round which was Federal and S&W answer to the hi-cap race in IPSC..it is pretty much a 9x22 or 9x22.5 something like that...never went too far..shoots like the other 9xXX cartridges.

I really enjoy shooting the 38 super, 9x23 and 9x19 cartridges...they offer a lot of variation and experimentation on the reloading bench and they are all easy and fun to shoot.

[Mikul]

I considered all of these cartridges in my grand quest to push handgun bullets to ridiculous velocities. Load manuals tend to put these cartridges in line with 9mm+P loads which is underwhelming and means that I might be able to find a load pushing 124gr bullets at 1,450fps.

Now I'm trying to push 180 grain bullets at 1,800fps out of a 5-1/2" .44 magnum. Now THAT's velocity.

[Sean Smith]

Factory Winchester 9x23 is 1,450 (silvertip)-1,500+ (white box soft points) ft/sec. Duplicating that with Winchester brass, small rifle primers and appropriate powders would be a no-brainer. Indeed, getting 147gr @ 1,400 is a safe target for that cartridge. 9x23 is really cool, but it is also a little bit obscure, even by the standards of a 10mm fan like me.

[Sox]

Thanks guys, I am itching to shoot some of these. Just lately, I have been eyeballin some of these other calibers. On paper, they sound great. I just wish there were more platforms available for them like HK's,SIG's,Glocks, etc. I think even the 10mm could gain momentum if there were was more hardware out there. Now that is the single stack Glock should have brought out! Instead of that stupid 37 in GAP? What is the smallest 1911 frame one could use for either .38 super or 9x23?:)

[eerw]

Officer model frame pretty easily..Metalform makes mags for the frame..

not sure if you could go to a smaller frame..mags might be difficult to fabricate..