38 Super the .44 special of semi's

The witness is sweet though I had one, but agree it's best in a good old 1911.
I've owned 5 bulldogs of various eras of Charter all have been pretty good. The last 3 are all of recent manufacture one I sold to my brother the other went to a friend.

Interesting thread. The original article premise for the thread is interesting. I've enjoyed the reading.

I'm a fan of both 38 Super and the 44 Special.

I like the M1911 platform and the 38 Super is a cool cartridge for it.

I like heavy, slow moving , large diameter slugs shot from a revolver. The 44 Special fits that to a tee. Same for 45 Colt.

Thanks to all that have participated in this thread. I've enjoyed it.

If I were going to compare a .44 special to a rimless pistol cartridge it would be .45acp.

I don't shoot IPSIC so I really don't have any use for .38 super. At least .44 special will get you into a larger diameter bullet in a smaller more carryable frame so it makes some sense to me.

More like the .357 Magnum of semi autos IMHO
Both advertised as being capable of cracking an engine block.

brutus51 said:

I don't know about the Witness, seems the Super belongs in an American made 1911 only but that's just me.

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Don’t know about best, but dang nice for sure.


I’d take one in a CZ 97 conversion.

I like the Witness and the Bulldog, too.

I have a bunch of Witnesses myself, a Bulldog, and a Pitbull.

My Bulldog is my go-to coat pocket carry for winter.

I've been tempted by the .38 Super many times before but I've always passed. Had the chambered been in the unfortunately forgotten 9x23 Winchester, things may have been different and I'd be reloading for it by now.

Snowdog said:

unfortunately forgotten 9x23 Winchester

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IMHO, "unfortunately forgotten" 9X23 Winchester is exactly right. And I actually had a 38 Super. If it would have been a 9X23 Winchester, I'd probably still have it.

I don't have the 44 yet... but here are two of my 3 Supers. I didn't intend to have 3, but they are hard for me to pass up.

brutus51 said:

That's because most patriotic Americans dislike anything measured in sillymeters

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You could be right about that. Even though I wish I had a 1911 chambered for the 9X23 Winchester, and I’ve kind of accepted the 9mm as an okay cartridge for EDC, I’ll take a 280 Remington over a 7mm Express any day of the week. We don’t need no s-t-i-n-k-ing millymeter rifles for hunting American deer.

brutus51 said:

I guess in reality I have to agree with cowboy77845 in that the .45ACP/.44Special are a closer match but if I did that us Super Duper fan's wouldn't have anything to talk about.

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Sure if you're comparing ballistics and 38 Super/357 mag prolly makes better sense but if you're comparing popularity and the goldilocks factor. The 357/45 acp comparison makes more sense then as every body makes them in about every configuration imaginable.

Like this from about 1951 IIRC.

My only .38 Super and I'm really loving shooting it, made in '48. Shoots fairly well even headspacing on it's scant rim. One of these days I've thought about fitting a modern barrel and bushing to see what it will do.

Shimitup

Shoots fairly well even headspacing on it's scant rim. One of these days I've thought about fitting a modern barrel and bushing to see what it will do.

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Yep that old headspacing on the rim certainly made for some interesting results when it came to accuracy in your .38 Super!

tipoc

Like this from about 1951 IIRC.

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A beautiful classic Commander from the '50s!

Diggin' those groovy grips too! Peace and love my brother!

I sort-of get it. They're pretty dissimilar ballistically, but both are old, underated cartridges with a lot of history, and both are still quite useful today.

At one time I had a Colt marked "Super .38". It was never especially accurate or reliable, but it still was charming - though not enough that I bothered to replace it after it was stolen.

I cannot imagine maintaining a household without at least one good .44 Special, though. I never can be quite sure whether it is my favorite cartridge - the .45 Colt probably is "better" in objective terms - but if I did not have a gun chambered for it I would buy one immediately!

Picked up a small bucket of brass at my range last week. Ran it trough the sorting baskets today. Other than a few assorted 380's, 90% of it was 9mm, the rest 45 ACP.

After polishing and culling, I had a gallon jug of free 9mm brass. If that had been 38 Super brass, I would own one hands down. It's the same wherever I shoot.

It's been a long time since I bought any factory ammo but I would bet 9mm is more available and much cheaper than 38 Super. Great round no doubt.