Researching the 38 Super

[D.M.C.]

I'm not generally one to dive into firearms purchases without homework for a good length of time, partially to avoid impulsive buying, and also so I can be as well informed as possible before committing to something as expensive as a firearm.

Well, I've become intrigued lately with the 38 Super round and have been looking around at various pistols that fire it. It seems that the vast majority of them are based on the Colt 1911 platform, which leads me to have a few questions.

1) Are the various 38 Super Colts/Clones able to use the same grips and accessories as .45 ACP Colts?

2) Is there a recommended make and model for 38 Super that sets the "gold standard" for the rest?

3) Given that a great many of the pistols I've found online tend to be IPSC competition guns in the priced at thousands of dollars, is there a "normal" range for the pistols that aren't competition level?

4) Are there any recommended non-Colt models out there?

5) From an ammunition perspective, how expensive and accessible is 38 Super ammunition? This is of particular interest to me because I live in Southern California, and I have heard that the round is very popular with Hispanic gun owners, particularly across the border. Is it likely that I will see more of it for sale, or less?

Thanks for your assistance and responses!

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

1) Are the various 38 Super Colts/Clones able to use the same grips and accessories as .45 ACP Colts?

I can answer that one. Yes, external parts like this are identical. Barrels, magazines, slides (due to the breechface/extractor dimensions, not external dimensions), extractors, recoil springs, etc. must be .38 Super-specific.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

5) From an ammunition perspective, how expensive and accessible is 38 Super ammunition? This is of particular interest to me because I live in Southern California, and I have heard that the round is very popular with Hispanic gun owners, particularly across the border.

I can sort of answer that one. It may have been popular at one time in Mexico because that country once prohibited firearms chambered for military cartridges for citizens and it is not a standard issue military cartridge. I doubt if even that is true today, as they prohibit nearly everything.

In my experience it costs roughly 20% more than .45 Auto for "generic" FMJ loads, more for defensive hollowpoints. I can't speak for availability in your area.

 

[jerkface11]

The Armscor/Rock Island/High Standard ones are good guns for not a lot of money. I can't stand 1911's in .45 but .38 super makes them into a great gun.

 

[BlindJustice]

.38 Super

1929 introduction as a cartridge in the 1911 that would have bettter
barrier penetration than the standard .38 Special which most LEOs used as
well as .45 ACP. Mostly wanted to penetrate car bodies. Colt seeing the
velocitiy of the 9mm Parabellum, aka 9mm Luger designed a case that was
the length that fit the 1911/.45 ACP magazine but then got weird and gave it a rebated ( rim smaller in diameter than the case - most ri semi-auto cases have rims the same diameter as the back of the case dia. ) and they
chambered it to headspace on the rear rim, not the case mouth (!?!).
It was loaded hotter in those days and never was known for accuracy until
COlt finally chambered it to headspace on the case mouth in the 1980s I t
think. These past few decades .38 Super is loaded to nominal 9mmX19
ballistically although it's larger case can realize better performance.

.38 Super new unprimed cases only cost a few dollars more than 9mm
Parabellum, and used cases are hard to find becasue of the low number of users thus sellers of same charge more. For a handloader given the same
new unprimed brass, and bullets being equal it wouldn't cost much more than 9mm Parabellum to reload. Starline brass offers a heavy duty case in .38 Super +P, as well as a .38 Super Comp case that has a normal rim - if using
.38 Super Comp the extractor would most likely require 'tuning.'

The Barrel, Magazine, and the slide with the extractor,
firing pin and where the barrel lugs match up are the main differences,
I've always wanted a Commander in .38 Super. The trigge, hammer
sear, and lowers are the same.

R-

 

[Gunfighter123]

Check out the EAA Witness Elite Match --- for under $600 it is the most accurate 38 Super I have ever owned.

I have custom 38Supers with Bar-Sto , Wilson and Clark barrels handfitted -- the Elite MAtch will group with them all and it is factory stock.
And the Witness Elite Match HOLDS 18 rounds !!!!
http://eaacorp.com/handguns-witness-elite-match-description.html

 

[Jim Watson]

There are a few things in BlindJustice's post that do not agree with my recollections.

The .38 Auto predates the 9mm Parabellum, being offered by Colt from 1900 til 1929 in the early Browning designed "parallel ruler" or "twin link" guns.
In 1929 Colt adapted the Government Model to .38 caliber and had the the .38 Auto loading increased to give a claimed 1300 fps, calling it the .38 Super.

The .38 Auto - .38 Super case does not have a rebated rim smaller than the body, it has a semi-rim slightly larger than the case body. This goes back to the original design when nobody was sure what it would take to make an automatic pistol work and Mr Browning played it safe and left some rim to control headspace.


If the OP is not a handloader, and is concerned about the price and availability of ammunition, perhaps .38 Super is not the caliber for him.