Hurley's Gold

.38 Super. What's the deal on this?

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  • m5215

    Pistoleer
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    0   0   0
    Sep 3, 2018
    1,430
    96
    McKinney, TX
    I looked into the specs on this round and it seemed interesting. I have read reviews that vary widely about this round. Anyone here have direct experience with it that can give some accurate observations about it? Is is great, all hype, or ?
    Hurley's Gold
     

    Eli

    Well-Known
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Dec 28, 2008
    2,047
    96
    Ghettohood - SW Houston
    My late father liked it for 1911s, it was a popular round in Mexico when their gun laws were far more lax but 'military calibers' were prohibited. While I wouldn't mind a vintage Colt 1911 in .38 Super for nostalgic purposes, I couldn't justify the cost - and wouldn't buy a modern production one in a rather rare caliber.

    Eli
     

    TheMailMan

    TGT Addict
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    4   0   0
    Dec 3, 2015
    3,428
    96
    North of Kaufman
    It's another cartridge that really favors the reloaded.

    Early pistols headspaced on the rim and were a bit lacking in the accuracy department.

    Newer pistols headspace on the case mouth and can be quite accurate.

    Not as powerful as the .357, unless one is loading 38 Super Major, something not to be done unless you have a pistol built for it.

    A .38 Super in 1911 is on my wish list.
     

    Chips n Salsa

    Member
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    0   0   0
    Jun 4, 2017
    135
    11
    Plano
    The guys I saw shooting .38 Super at DAPS, action steel, etc. were running comps. I believe it works well as a higher velocity round that you run with a compensator.
     

    Moonpie

    Omnipotent Potentate for hire.
    Lifetime Member
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    21   0   0
    Oct 4, 2013
    24,102
    96
    Gunz are icky.
    The Super 38 is a superb round.
    The caliber was an early attempt to bring a .357 Magnum type round into a 1911.
    Properly loaded it certainly gets close.
    In a correctly chambered barrel its capable of great accuracy. Colt used to headspace their 1911 barrels on the cartrdge rim which resulted in mediocre accuracy. Currently everyone chambers their barrels to headspace on the cratridge mouth which results in much better accuracy. So if you have an older gun you’ll want to have a new barrel installed.
    The caliber also allows one or two more rounds in a standard 1911 magazine.
    The downside is ammo cost. Factory ammo is available but its expensive and can be difficult to find.
    Handloading is the way to to if you’re going to shoot much.
    Its a classic.
     

    gdr_11

    TGT Addict
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    Aug 1, 2014
    2,895
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    I bought my first .38 Super in a Colt Combat Commander in 1970. I used it as my carry gun for years and loaded/fired thousands of rounds through it and my other .38 Super 1911s. At that time I was young and foolish in that I believed that velocity was everything. I can tell you that my favorite load that I carried more than others was a 100 gr. JHP loaded to 1400 fps velocity. I also loaded 90 gr. JHP to 1450 fps and never had a misfire or mishap in my Colts. One of my favorite sports was taking turns riding in the back of a truck in the dark of night cruising the dirt roads among the thousands of acres of rice fields near my rural home town. At night, when the rice fields were flooded, the roads were full of rats, ground squirrels, muskrats, feral cats and other pests and varmits. I can tell you that I was very adept at one hand shooting with my .38 Super hitting running rats while trying to avoid getting thrown out of the back of a slow moving truck. The effect of the hollow points at magnum velocity was astounding and the accuracy of these loads was excellent.

    With the above said, if you are not a handloader, the availability and cost of ammo for the .38 Super makes it cost prohibitive. On the other hand, the light weight of the cartridges and the wide range of loads you can cook up make it a joy to shoot. Remember, when I was doing most of my shooting, the 9mm was an anemic autoload round while today it has a robust choice of high performing loads, so the .38 Super is a lot like me...a dinosaur in another era but still able to kick up some dust when the occasion warrants it.
     

    Moonpie

    Omnipotent Potentate for hire.
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    21   0   0
    Oct 4, 2013
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    Gunz are icky.
    Somewhere I read the 38 Super was originally designed to “shoot through car bodies”.
    During the 1920’s and early 30’s it was the age of the infamous “motor bandits” aka Bonnie&Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc.
    The old .45acp just didn’t the horsepower to punch thru the metal body of the automobiles these robbers used.
    So a new cartridge was developed to do so.
    This gave LEO’s a round capable of penetrating thru the sheet metal and the baddies.
    Is this a true story? I don’t know. It sure sounds good though. LoL.
     

    motorcarman

    Compulsive Collector
    Rating - 100%
    9   0   0
    Feb 13, 2015
    4,731
    96
    Rural Wise County, TX.
    Years ago I bought a Norinco Type 54-1 chambered for 38 Super Auto at my local pawn shop.
    I bought a replacement barrel 7.62 x 25 so it can fire both rounds.
    I also bought a Norinco 213 barrel and chambered it to 9mm Largo (9x23Largo) so it fires that also.
    The 9x19 did NOT chamber reliably because the Luger is too short (I tried). The Largo is about the same length so it fills the magazine properly and feeds reliably.

    I have a 3-in-1 and it works fine with all three calibers.

    I bought a CZ vz52 chambered for 9x19 and it did not feed reliably (rounds too short) so I rechambered for 9mm Largo (9x23) and it also feeds reliably. I also bought another standard vz52 barrel in 7.62 x 25 so it shoots both.

    Now I need to find another 9x19 vz52 barrel to chamber to 38 Super Auto so I have the same options as the Norinco!!!!

    The 38 Super Auto is the easiest to find ammo for and reloading is cheap.

    bob
     

    Rocky Carey

    Member
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    0   0   0
    Jun 14, 2017
    76
    11
    Lubbock
    Great round like been said like 357 Sig. 9mm on steroids accurate love it in my Dan Wesson Pointman. Easy to load for accurate low recoil what’s not to like. It is a reloaders cartridge because of ammo prices I admit but I enjoy loading to so no issues
     

    zincwarrior

    TGT Addict
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    0   0   0
    Jan 27, 2010
    4,775
    66
    Texas, land of Tex-Mex
    I looked into the specs on this round and it seemed interesting. I have read reviews that vary widely about this round. Anyone here have direct experience with it that can give some accurate observations about it? Is is great, all hype, or ?
    It's a big USPSA round due to a rules twitch on scoring.

    It can be loaded to be quite accurate and reliable in 1911/2011 frames.
     

    BRD@66

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jan 23, 2014
    10,771
    96
    Liberty Hill
    Somewhere I read the 38 Super was originally designed to “shoot through car bodies”.
    During the 1920’s and early 30’s it was the age of the infamous “motor bandits” aka Bonnie&Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc.
    The old .45acp just didn’t the horsepower to punch thru the metal body of the automobiles these robbers used.
    So a new cartridge was developed to do so.
    This gave LEO’s a round capable of penetrating thru the sheet metal and the baddies.
    Is this a true story? I don’t know. It sure sounds good though. LoL.
    May or mayn't be true but this version gets told every time this topic arises.
     

    Mad John

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jan 15, 2019
    746
    76
    Rural Illinois
    I looked into the specs on this round and it seemed interesting. I have read reviews that vary widely about this round. Anyone here have direct experience with it that can give some accurate observations about it? Is is great, all hype, or ?
    The 38 Super started life as the old .38 automatic/rimless/smokeless cartridge in 1902 as a step up from the 9mm of the day. It was an okay round tried out by our military for the Colt Model 1902 pistol. It remained in use until the late 1920's when the .38 Super was marketed in 1929. Bot cartridges are IDENTICAL and do not shoot .38 Super in a .38 acp chambered gun. Exact same bullet and design but that is where similarity ends. You can shoot the old .38 acp in a Super but it it a wimp in comparison to the Super. Have fun and be safe! John
     

    Army 1911

    TGT Addict
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    1   0   0
    Mar 17, 2008
    6,504
    96
    Dallas Texas or so
    .357 Smith and Wesson magnum was developed to compete with the Super .38, as Colt called it back then.

    The super was developed to penetrate the body armor of the day.
     

    jar

    Active Member
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    0   0   0
    Aug 26, 2008
    385
    46
    The Valley
    There was also the 38/44 IIRC. It too was the same size as the 38Special but may have been even hotter than the 357Magnum. But I'm old and often forgetful so I may be wrong.
     
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