Who here owns a 38Super Revolver

Interesting. I don’t believe I have ever heard of one.

There was a member here (of course I can’t remember who specifically) that took a scandium .357 J frame and had a cylinder reamed in such a way as to allow several calibers to be used with moon clips like 9x23, 9x19, and as I recall .38 Super was one of them as well. It seemed like a more functional take on the concept of the old M47 “Medusa” multi-caliber revolver and I would love to have such a gun myself one of these days. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a factory made .38 Super revolver.

Another close miss would be the old Webley Fosberry which around 1902 was chambered for the up and coming .38 Automatic cartridge from Colt. This was a semi automatic single action only top break revolver and a special swirled moonclip was used to hold 8 rounds of .38 Auto in the guns cylinder. This round was dimensionally identical to the later .38 Super, but was less powerful throwing a 130gr bullet at about 1000 feet per second, I believe.

There are three different cartridges mostly popularized in the 1920s and 1930s loosely called .38 Super, and all have been used in revolvers.

Which?

A revolver chambered for the actual .38 Super variant of the .38 Automatic Colt Pistol cartridge (.38 Super from .38 ACP, kinda like .38 ACP +P+)?

I'll bet very few.

Or a revolver chambered for .38 S&W that will take the .38 S&W Super (200 gr bullet) cartridge?

A few million.

Or a revolver chambered for .38 Special or .357 Magnum that will take the .38 Spl Super (200 gr bullet) cartridge?

Quite a few million.

ADDED: I went through my box of curious range findings and had two WIN 38 SUPER AUTO +P casings. .38 Super casings have a semi-rim. They did not fully chamber in my .38 Spl or .357 Mag revolvers but the fired casings were noticeably swollen in the area where the feed ramp was cut in the auto barrel. The .38 Super casings did chamber in my 19th century F&W revolver chambered for nominally .38 S&W and the .38 Super cartridge semi-rim held the casing in firing position. That's scary, given the obvious signs that .38 Super exceeds the design limits of a 19th century black powder revolver. Personally I would not fire .38 Super in any revolver not specifically designed for it, and there are few of those.

S&W made a short run of 627 8-shot N-frames in 38 Super. I believe Rob Latham used a heavily modified one in 2014 to win his first USPSA Revolver Nationals.

Much like most 38/357 Mag revolvers can be converted to 9mm, most can also be converted to 38 Super if so inclined.

There is only one cartridge, technically, that bears the name 38 Super. It is the 38 Super Automatic (+P), which is a high pressure loading of the 38 Automatic. Variations of the 38 Super are rimless rounds 38 Super Comp and 38 TJ.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Super
Sheldon, Douglas G. 1997. Colt's Super .38, The Production History From 1929 Through 1971. Quick Vend, Inc. Willernie, MN.

S&W made revolvers chambered in 38 Super.
http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2009/07/29/smith-wesson-model-627-in-38-super/
https://lsbauctions.com/10386/smith...-170205-double-action-revolver-case-38-super/
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/07/30/sw-model-627-38-super/
https://www.durysguns.com/shop/smith-wesson-627-4-pc-38-super-used-gun-inv-220194
https://www.gunsamerica.com/998229214/Smith-Wesson-686P-38-SUPER-Performance-Center-Revolver.htm
https://gunvalues.gundigest.com/smith-wesson/12610/model-686-7-38-super-performance-center/

I’ve never seen one either. Interesting concept .

Stay safe.

Around 25 years ago, an outfit called Phillips and Rodgers made a revolver called the Medusa. It was not made for the Colt 38 Super specifically; instead, it was meant to be able to fire just about any 38/357/9mm ammunition, which of course includes 38 Super. It was very expensive and did not sell in large numbers. There is a video about it here:



Nothing else comes to my mind. I would not be surprised if there were a few custom revolvers made for 38 Super, because for just about anything, there is at least one person who wants it, and sometimes they have the money to buy it or the skills to make it. I suppose that a Colt SAA or Ruger Blackhawk conversion would not be too hard.

Personally, I think the only time this would have made much sense would be in the few years between Colt's introduction of 38 Super and Smith & Wesson's introduction of 357 Magnum. During that period, I think 38 Super was the most powerful factory-loaded pistol cartridge you could get. Of course, things were different if you were a personal friend of Elmer Keith.

fxvr5,

Thanks for posting that. I knew about the N-frame offering but hadn't heard about the L-frame version. Interesting.

Dave

Riomouse911 said:

I’ve never seen one either. Interesting concept .

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+1

Considering much of the conventional wisdom of the story behind the .357 was to do what the Super .38 did but maybe more so and in a revolver to boot - a Super .38 revolver seems a bit, well superfluous or even supererogatory. Hell one might even lay a handle on a Super .38 revolver of; supernumerary.

I guess one gets rid of the rim.... or most of it anyhow.

Todd.

FFGColorado said:

The reason I ask is that I have a mis-bought(thanks Cabelas sales guy) 50r box of Armscor 38Super FMJ that I'm trying to sell...and am getting the feeling that any 38Super firearm is pretty scarce.

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????

38 Super is for semi-auto pistols. There are plenty of those around.

FFGColorado said:

I'm getting that..I have no experience with anything but 38Special and walked out with the 38Super from Cabelas(thanks sales guy)..went to outdoor range and viola, it wouldn't fit into my 642..new guy with the 642, first range trip. BUT, trying to sell, no takers and learning now just what 38Super really is.

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The Cabela guy is obviously clueless. Many gun salesmen are.

A google search would have produced this link and you would have a better idea of what 38 Super is;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Super

FFGColorado said:

I'm getting that..I have no experience with anything but 38Special and walked out with the 38Super from Cabelas(thanks sales guy)..went to outdoor range and viola, it wouldn't fit into my 642..new guy with the 642, first range trip. BUT, trying to sell, no takers and learning now just what 38Super really is.

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I've seen the post you made. No one is buying it because it's simply not economical to acquire a single box of ammo over the internet. Combined with the fact that a great many .38 Super owners reload, the market for factory ammo has always been a bit of a niche.

.38 Super is commonly found in 1911 models and in various competition guns (the Witness series in particular). Rarely do I see more than a box or two on the local shelves.

fxvr5 said:

????

38 Super is for semi-auto pistols. There are plenty of those around.

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So are 9mm and 45ACP, they're not just auto cartridges either.

So here’s the better question what shop can convert a 357 mag revolver to 38 super for me?? Lol. I love that round!! Now I want one!

shoebox1.1 said:

So here’s the better question what shop can convert a 357 mag revolver to 38 super for me?? Lol. I love that round!! Now I want one!

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https://tkcustom.com/services/38-super-rechmabering

Bush Pilot said:

So are 9mm and 45ACP, they're not just auto cartridges either.

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I never said they couldn't be used in a revolver. Or any other cartridge. I have a revolver chambered in 380 Auto.

fxvr5 said:

https://tkcustom.com/services/38-super-rechmabering

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Man a 66 three inch with this done??!!! Heaven!!

I looked hard at the 686P .38 Super clip gun for IDPA but was glad I didn't buy when they changed the rules. I was also searching for a Speed Six 9mm with 4" barrel and even considering the .40 revolver for the purpose, but the power factor increase led me to stay with the heavier .45.

Jim Watson said:

I looked hard at the 686P .38 Super clip gun for IDPA but was glad I didn't buy when they changed the rules. I was also searching for a Speed Six 9mm with 4" barrel and even considering the .40 revolver for the purpose, but the power factor increase led me to stay with the heavier .45.

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I thought they reduced the power factor when the combine SSR and ESR divisions into the new Revolver division. 105 PF for speed-loader fed revolvers and 155 pf for moonclips fed guns. I though it has been 125 and 165 respectively before the change.