There’s a gentleman on this board that’s got a p80 running witness mags(iirc) in 38 super. The witness would get my nod if I wanted more modern. DA/SA similar to a CZ or a baby eagle with 18rd magazines.

Figure they're a Mexican or a time traveling Fed from the 1930's.

Hasta que comencé a disparar .38 Super, solo era un estadounidense normal.

Tenía sobrepeso y era perezoso, las mujeres me evitaban.

¡Pero ahora! Ellos ven mi obvio encanto latino y carisma.



I did carry that gun for a few years.  I finally realized that 9mm and more shots was better for everyday carry.

That gun shoots well enough for me that I was getting bored at the local bowling pin shoot.

Colt makes a beautiful .38 super.  With real ivory grips this thing is perfect.

The reason you usually find it in 1911s is because...it's a 1911 caliber. One could argue it was one of the original 1911 calibers (along with 45ACP and 455 Webley Auto)..and there are/were prototypes in a similar medium-caliber cartridge made in Europe as well, before the whole WWI thing happened..

Anyway, 38 Super works best in single-stack guns where rimlock can't be a problem...in double stacks, it can be an issue if you're not paying attention (it's semi-rimmed).

One way around that is to load your own using SuperComp brass...which is 38 Super but rimless instead of semi-rimmed; it's got the same rim as a 9x19 parabellum iirc.

If you have a 1911, and years of heavy 45ACP loads are causing wrist issues but you don't want to give up your favorite gun...38 Super is a way of stepping into a medium caliber that's incredibly effective and a lot easier on your wrists, while keeping 1911 reliability.

And, fortunately, as I recently learned - you can replace the ejector and top end of a 45ACP frame, and it should run 38 Super. The feed ramp should be the same for both. No need to mess with the frame beyond changing the ejector. Assuming you have a proper barrel for it.

Also - Colt didn't headspace 38 Super on the case mouth until the late 80s IIRC...so Colt barrels prior to then will be spotty in the accuracy department as they would headspace off the rim. It's one of the big reasons aftermarket barrels became a thing for 38 Supers in the first place...tying in with that, ramped barrels became a thing when people started trying to push 38 Super loads to maximum overdrive and were blowing up in standard 1911 barrels because the case support was designed for SAAMI loads, not for the monsters people were handloading to make major. Everything I've read says it wasn't for reliability reasons, but for case support reasons. So don't let someone sell you on a ramped barrel "because it's more reliable"...if anything, I'd argue the opposite; it requires more tuning and fiddling to make a ramped barrel gun as reliable as a standard barrel 1911, all other things being equal. More case support for if you want to go beyond any book 38 Super load? Sure, ramped barrels, go for it.

Beyond that, the usual 1911 shenanigans apply; need to have an appropriately fit extractor, ejector could stand to be tuned as well, and mags...fortunately there aren't a billion types of mags as there is for 45 ACP, so buying a handful of Metalforms should be fine.

It makes sense in a 1911 as the 1911 likes, and is set up, to feed 1.25"+- OAL cartridges, which the 38 Super is. One of the reasons 9mm was a red headed stepchild in the platform was because the mags (which were 38 super mags) needed a spacer in the rear, and the gun itself really wasn't set up to handle a shorter, tapered cartridge with a smaller rim. The single biggest reason 9mm 1911s have taken off in the last 5+ years was because STI finally figured out they should probably contact a magazine manufacturer who actually knows how to construct 9mm mags, and see if they could make one for a double stack 1911...instead of adapting existing 38 Super mag designs to take 9mm. That, and Wilson basically taking the Walther P99/PPQ/PDP mag and cutting it to work in their 1911-esque knockoff.

Honestly...38 Super should be way more popular IMO, at least in 1911s. 45's great; 38 Super's just fun. A little blasty compared to the rest, light recoil, and if only ammo was as plentiful as 45...I'd sell my 45s and concentrate entirely on Supers

Though, it's not great to suppress...well, I guess you could load 147s or 158s in it..

.38 Super is quite popular in some of the gun games, and the work that competitors have done with the cartridge has benefited those who handload the cartridge for other purposes.

A "SUper" loaded with appropriate bullets is nothing to sneeze at.

Yeah, the cartridge cannot be bought at the usual WalMarts or the like, but that doesn't mean that it's a useless archaic caliber from a more civilized age.

It hasn't been a race gun cartridge for some time since 9 major became a thing.

Lol brutal take, OP. My first center fire pistol was a .38 Super 1911 and I didn’t know any better. Cool gun.

I sold it

Awesome pistol and story.

That is so 2010. 7.5 FK or you aren't serious.

FPNI

This is the correct reason for owning a .38 super.

Anybody have a Rock Island in 38 Super? I've been thinking I should get in the cheap blaster 1911 game and I might like one.

I have the modern version of this. Carry it too.  

The Springfield P9 used to be the open gun platform of choice before Caspian then the 2011 frames took over.

I need a .38 Super...

I can do w/o the id*ot scratch though...  

m

10+ years ago, CDNN had a blowout sale on straight up Mexican model Philippine .38 Super 1911s.  We're talking Chrome and white grips for ~$330.  

I regret not buying one.

How ‘bout:  “Dude never heard of the 10mm AUTO?”

Why not get both

Nash Bridges agrees.
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American Rifleman back around 1992-1993 had a write up called "A 38 that's really super"

Really made me want one.

Cholo

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Mexican

I'd love to see Glock come out with one in 38sup, maybe others would follow then.

I’ve never sold a 38 Super to anyone who’s not Hispanic.

17 round capacity EAA witness in 38 super.


https://www.guns.com/firearms/handguns/semi-auto/eaa-witness-elite-match-38-super-single-action-17-1-rounds-4.8-barrel-2.8-new?p=912&soldout=1

But I’m Cuban B!

Wasn't  38 Super preferred/used by some of the gangster of the late 1920s and 30s?

Yes, IIRC it also had a bit of a following in Europe back then.

it was used to shoot through the car to try to hit the gangsters.

"The Battle of Barrington"

I have owned one about 8 or 9 years now.
Had Harrison Retro sights installed,so i can see them.
It will print golfball size groups with ease.
I want another Super in a Commander again,if
i ever run across one.The first Super i had was
an old Lt.Wt. Colt Commander,in 1976.
It was my first carry gun.

I bought a basic Colt 1911 in 38 super several years ago.  Blued with rosewood grips, Gi type sights.
The models with better sights were quite a bit pricier.  I guess they were custom shop models?

And a bunch of new brass and dies, but havent done any reloading for some time.

Nah, not custom shops models, just ones with a couple of more bells & whistles. Guns, like cars, come in different trim levels, especially 1911s. Night sights, LW triggers, rounded hammer spurs, all are examples of how the same gun can vary in cost.

Meh, I only know one guy that owns one. He inherited it from his Dad.  10mm is the better option for me personally.

Always wanted one with fancy Mexican style hand engraving.

I have a .38 Super Tokarev project, if I can ever get the time to work on it.

It seems people don’t pay you to work on your own guns, haha!

Drool

My first thought, is “Old Man” or a “Mexican”

The only 38 Supers I have ever seen were on tables at gun shows.  I have never seen one in the wild.

A fair number of guys are shooting over pressured 9mm for power factor at USPSA matches around here.

I have a 38 super Witness and a 38 super RIA 2011 ish thing.

Haven't shot them much, been too busy last couple years.

Going to do some load development with light bullets when I get some spare time. See how fast I can launch some Lehigh solid projos.

yup.

came here to say this.

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I have a .38 Super barrel for a 9mm 1911 project I've been piecing together for a few years.  I set it to the side and didn't think it was worth the extra effort to fit to the pistol as well.  I might go ahead and have that done anyway.

The early 38Supers headspaced on the semi-rimmed case, the rim was too small, and headspacing was very variable, making accuracy variable. The newer 38Super guns headspaced on the case mouth, and were just a like a 9mm NATO/Lugar round in accuracy.

I’ll take a set of those grips too.  Here, use Selma as our model.

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38 super is a good round.

I don't think unpaid-member noob, that's for sure.

Hot ranger 127 +p+ is 1250-1275.  My 38 super loads run 125 gold dots at 1400.

Also by lawmen, so popular on both sides. For a while it offered the best penetration of American handguns.  This ended with the introduction in 1935 of the .357 Magnum.