XDs-38, a hair brained idea.

So first, let me start off by saying I am not advocating anyone actually do this as it could represent a very unsafe act resulting in injury or death. DON"T DO THIS.

A recent private discussion with a few folks lead me down the line of how cool a SA XDs in 38 super would be. You'd probably have about the same reoil as the XDs-45 when shooting 230 gr self defense loads, but would get a flat shooting, fast moving bullet in a small carry package, and you would retain the same capacity it seems as the 9mm luger version. I call my XDs-45 my pocket cannon. Well this would be a pocket laser.

Here's my thoughts. I can't speak for the mod 2, but the original XDs was chambered in 45 acp, which means the frame is large enough to accommodate the 38 super cartridge. Due to the same sized gun later being adapted to shoot 40 S&W and 9mm Luger, I looked at the pressures involved. When looking at my loading manuals, 38 Super seems to be somewhat in line with the pressures of 40 S&W and 9mm both.

So I did a little Googling. Look at the additional metal on the 9mm barrel vs the 45. Granted, the 45 is much lower pressure. But I can't help but wonder if a 9mm barrel reamed to accept rimless 38 Super Super Comp brass wouldn't be perfectly safe?



I believe the extractor on a 9mm slide would probably grab the rimless 38 brass without problem, but of course it could need tuning. The ejection port would be large enough too. A recoil spring from a 45 would perhaps suffice for this project also.

The way I see it, the greatest challenge to overcome would be the magazine issue. Look at the depth difference with the 9mm vs 45 magazines.

9mm


45acp


Clearly the 45 is deeper. So the 38 Super wouldn't fit in the 9mm magazine. You'd need the 45 magazine, but the feed lips would be likely too wide, and the follower would be the wrong size.

In any case, I'm more interested in what folks think about the chamber of a reamed 9mm barrel in this gun handling the 38 super. It's just a pipe dream, and more of a curiosity.

If I had a 9mm XDs I'd try fiddling around with parts interchanging, but I don't. If the chamber wouldn't take it, it sure wouldn't be worth it to buy one and look for a smith to ream it, to have this bizarre Franken-pistol.

Just fantasizing.

Again, don't do this, as it could be totally unsafe.

tarosean said:

38Super doesn't even fit in the 9mm Magwell. I dropped a cartridge down the chute just to see and it stuck 3/4 down.
Clearly the frames are different so it's more than porting down in sizes.. No clue about interchangeably though. I only have the one flavor.
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I’ll try it on my 45.

Actually that makes sense on the 9mm version. You wouldn’t want too much play in the mag well or it’d shift around, likely causing failure in the mag release and maybe feeding issues.

Checked my 45 cal XDs. A 38 Super with an over all length of 1.26” fits through the magwell with room to spare.

However the magazine will not retain the cartridges at all. So assuming it functioned properly, the magazine is the constraining factor.

So a complete 9mm upper on a 45 framed lower, assuming there’s no other dimensional differences, with reaming and a modified magazine.

But, still no input on pressure. And the magazine is a conundrum.