Crazy Horse
Member
GM,
I have an ATI 1911 in 9mm. It shoots well, but the shells were not ejecting strong. I have never had any issues with it and love the weight and feel of it.
I decided to convert it to 38 super as I had read that the changeover is fairly straightforward requiring only a barrel, spring, and magazine.
I purchased a barrel from SARCO (great barrels BTW) and a 16 # spring and magazine from Midway. Way back in the day, I mistakenly purchased 38 Super +p Aguila rounds thinking they were 38 special +p so I had a box of 50 ready to go.
I finally got everything put together (the barrel link took a bit of smoothing out after the install as well as expansion to keep it from locking up the slide) yesterday.
I took it to the range and took my first shots. Man, it is an awesome round. Not only that, it really changed the feel and function of the 1911. Plus the light show coming out of the 1911 is cool.
Now I can see why folks love this obscure round. The other interest in it is that it seems easier to reload. I reload 9mm just fine, but I have noticed that larger calibers are much easier to reload faster.
A few questions. I purchased the reloading dies and other parts easy enough. I then started looking 130 grain bullets. I found some Berry's bullets as well. I researched and read that using 124 grains (and saw some loads for 115 grain bullets on the Hodgdon site) is a good substitute. Would using 124gr FMJ 9mm bullets provide the same results as 130gr? For the shell plate, I plan on using the Hornady LnL 9mm shell plate, but I have a 380 shell plate as well. Will this work?
What Alliant powders are good candidates to use when putting together 130 gr 38 super +p loads? I have Power Pistol, Sport Pistol, BE 86 and Unique. Hodgdon on only lists HS-6, which I typically reserve for 40 S&W. I looked in the Alliant site and they only listed BE-86 for the 38 Super +p.
Last question. does anyone know where I can obtain 38 super cases? Diamond K Brass is the only site I've seen that has the cases, but they seem expensive as shipping gets added on to the end. I know some folks sell brass, and I have purchased brass on the forum, but I haven't seen 38 super cases advertised for sale on this site.
Overall, I am super happy that I converted the 9mm 1911 to 38 Super, it definitely makes the 1911 feel substantial (more so than 9mm).
TIA
CH
I have an ATI 1911 in 9mm. It shoots well, but the shells were not ejecting strong. I have never had any issues with it and love the weight and feel of it.
I decided to convert it to 38 super as I had read that the changeover is fairly straightforward requiring only a barrel, spring, and magazine.
I purchased a barrel from SARCO (great barrels BTW) and a 16 # spring and magazine from Midway. Way back in the day, I mistakenly purchased 38 Super +p Aguila rounds thinking they were 38 special +p so I had a box of 50 ready to go.
I finally got everything put together (the barrel link took a bit of smoothing out after the install as well as expansion to keep it from locking up the slide) yesterday.
I took it to the range and took my first shots. Man, it is an awesome round. Not only that, it really changed the feel and function of the 1911. Plus the light show coming out of the 1911 is cool.
Now I can see why folks love this obscure round. The other interest in it is that it seems easier to reload. I reload 9mm just fine, but I have noticed that larger calibers are much easier to reload faster.
A few questions. I purchased the reloading dies and other parts easy enough. I then started looking 130 grain bullets. I found some Berry's bullets as well. I researched and read that using 124 grains (and saw some loads for 115 grain bullets on the Hodgdon site) is a good substitute. Would using 124gr FMJ 9mm bullets provide the same results as 130gr? For the shell plate, I plan on using the Hornady LnL 9mm shell plate, but I have a 380 shell plate as well. Will this work?
What Alliant powders are good candidates to use when putting together 130 gr 38 super +p loads? I have Power Pistol, Sport Pistol, BE 86 and Unique. Hodgdon on only lists HS-6, which I typically reserve for 40 S&W. I looked in the Alliant site and they only listed BE-86 for the 38 Super +p.
Last question. does anyone know where I can obtain 38 super cases? Diamond K Brass is the only site I've seen that has the cases, but they seem expensive as shipping gets added on to the end. I know some folks sell brass, and I have purchased brass on the forum, but I haven't seen 38 super cases advertised for sale on this site.
Overall, I am super happy that I converted the 9mm 1911 to 38 Super, it definitely makes the 1911 feel substantial (more so than 9mm).
TIA
CH