Becoming a 38 Super junkie.

You know I empathize with your addiction. We’ll start a support group.

460Shooter said:

You know I empathize with your addiction. We’ll start a support group.

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1911addicts dot com exists for a reason...

Yes, I had a similar experience with 38 Super and 5.7x28 and 22tcm....

A .38 super Guardian is very high on my own "next gun" list. Good job!

However, I'm currently saving for a Wilson Combat Carry Comp in .45.

I'll be saving for quite while...

I should probably get that Guardian while I wait.

JR24 said:

I'll be saving for quite while...

I should probably get that Guardian while I wait.

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I have the same saving methodology.

brutus51

I got hooked on the .38 Super many years ago by a couple of friends of mine! Then I found out you can easily make your .38 Super in to a convertible by adding a 9mm. barrel assembly and magazines! Gives me the option of shooting some mildly warm .38 Super handloads or practice very inexpensively with the 9mm.! Best of both worlds!

Not to take away from any of the other fine .38 Supers out there but I have always been a Colt devotee when it comes to the .38 Super, especially in a Commander!

brutus51 said:

Some time back I was contemplating getting a Wilson Combat Carry or an Ed Brown Cobra carry but my meager budget contemplated otherwise. Bought a DW Bobtail Valor instead and couldn't be happier, so happy in fact I now have 3 DW's.
My budget didn't contemplate that.
Glad it worked out that way, definitely couldn't afford 3 Wilson's or Ed Brown's.
DW's are habit forming enough.

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I am a very big DW fan, love my VBob and Valkyrie.

brutus51

Thanks, it's everything I want in a .38 Super, especially it's size.

I'm sure your Dan Wesson Bobtail Valor will be more than up to the challenge of providing you with many, many years of exceptional service.

Enjoy the .38 Super goodness!

I was just thinking we needed more 38 Super pics.

Since I probably won't be able to find a four click Colt Bisely clone for a reasonable amount of money, I'm still looking at a .38 Super M1911 for Christmas.

I'm looking at either Rock Island or Iver Johnson, depending upon what features I want at the time.

brutus51 said:

A Colt 38 super was always on my bucket list.

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I understand. I got interested in the 38 Super in the mid-1980's. I have several Colt M1911's and a Kimber M1911 chambered in 38 Super including one Colt originally built in the mid 1950's.

With an old "headspace on the rim" barrel in the fifties vintage M1911, I could load and shoot 38 caliber 158 grain SWC bullets. Excellent accuracy. Unfortunately, those reloads would not work in a new, "headspace on the case mouth" barrel.

Currently, the mid fifties M1911 has a 38 Special wadcutter barrel in it but that is another discussion.

The 38 Super has lots of capability. Enjoy your Dan Wesson.

So help a guy out and please describe what it is about the .38 Super that you like?

SSN Vet said:

So help a guy out and please describe what it is about the .38 Super that you like?

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I can't speak for brutus51 but we are talking about a cartridge, when loaded properly, can attain high velocities. I'm breaking 1400 fps with my 124 gr load, and I'm going to push it a tenth of a grain further. So you get a corresponding laser like trajectory at longer distances than you will with a 9 mm. It's a smaller cartridge so you get a bit more ammo than in a 45 caliber or a 10mm also. Surprisingly also out of a 1911 the recoil, despite the high velocities possible, is really quite mild. I'm pretty new to 38 Super, but even running warm loads I was surprised at how light the recoil is.

So depending on the environment you live in, you get a very capable cartridge for anti personnel and smallish angry critter defense (I'm thinking small black bear at most, with heavy bullets.), in a fun platform, in a handsome gun, that has an interesting history if you are into that sort of thing.

If you are talking ballistic capability only, and you were trying to cover all your basses with a semiauto, the 10mm auto is really a more capable cartridge. But that in no way detracts from the fun factor and capability of 38 Super.

Where I think the real sweet spot would be is if the companies that make small single stack 45 acp carry guns, like S&W and Springfield Armory, chambered those guns in 38 Super. You'd get more ammo, and the recoil would probably be equivalent. However the semi rimmed and rimless brass differences would make them harder to tune the extractors for, and could lead to customers using the wrong ammo, and being displeased. It's also a cult following as it is, so the sales would likely be a little deficient to warrant the cost.

SSN Vet said:

So help a guy out and please describe what it is about the .38 Super that you like?

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I will reiterate what 460 shooter said, with references.

Versatility, from mild to wild, including mid weight bullets (124/5 gr) at the same speed as a 357 Magnum from a 4" barrel and the same as a 9X23 Winchester from a 5" barrel - while still at the 38 Super's pressure limit. https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/super-powders-for-the-38-super/99160

Superb accuracy. https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/super-accurate-38-super-loads/326242

More power than a 45 Auto but with less recoil. https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/recoil-comparison-pistol-competition-cartridges/137951

Rimless 38 Super brass feeds more reliably than the semi-rimmed 38 Super cases. https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2019/7/23/rimless-38-super-brass-everything-you-need-to-know/