38 super

[Randy]

Hey guy's, What is the difference between a 38 special and a 38 super? Is the super almost equivalent to a 357mag?

[ignats]

See this: http://38super.net/Pages/comparisons.html

[Randy]

See this: http://38super.net/Pages/comparisons.html

Thank you. That sure as heck answered my question.

[Art]

The original .38 Colt Super Automatic (really a sort of .38 Colt Auto +P+) of the early 1930s fired 130 gr. fmj bullets a little over 1,300 fps. This made it briefly "the most powerful handgun in the world." Cops of the period loved it because of its ability to penetrate the doors and bodies of the automobiles used by the very mobile and very violent criminals of the period. It's status was short lived. Just a few years later Smith & Wesson introduced the .357 Magnum which fired heavier bullets even faster. Once a revolver was available chambering a round that could excell the performance of the .38 Super cops switched over instantly.

Most factory .38 Super ammo is loaded down to just a bit over 9x19mm+p. Only "boutique" cartridge companies like Cor Bon and Buffalo Bore load the round to its potential (125 br. bullets at around 1,325 fps) which would be about the same as a modern mid range .357 Magnum load.

It's an obsolescent cartridge but still a very useful one, flat shooting, hard hitting with moderate recoil.

[PhillipM]

The original .38 Colt Super Automatic (really a sort of .38 Colt Auto +P+) of the early 1930s fired 130 gr. fmj bullets a little over 1,300 fps. This made it briefly "the most powerful handgun in the world." Cops of the period loved it because of its ability to penetrate the doors and bodies of the automobiles used by the very mobile and very violent criminals of the period. It's status was short lived. Just a few years later Smith & Wesson introduced the .357 Magnum which fired heavier bullets even faster. Once a revolver was available chambering a round that could excell the performance of the .38 Super cops switched over instantly.

Most factory .38 Super ammo is loaded down to just a bit over 9x19mm+p. Only "boutique" cartridge companies like Cor Bon and Buffalo Bore load the round to its potential (125 br. bullets at around 1,325 fps) which would be about the same as a modern mid range .357 Magnum load.

It's an obsolescent cartridge but still a very useful one, flat shooting, hard hitting with moderate recoil.

It's interesting that at the time cops went with a smaller magazine capacity sidearm. Today that would be heresy.

[bruce]

The .38 Super was a good idea, improved on the standard 9mm Luger loads, but it was handicapped by being semi-rimmed which resulted in less than stellar accuracy. The .357 S&W Magnum was head and shoulders superior in every respect. Of course gamers find fault with capacity, but every indication is that police officers of that era were the by the S&W N-frame chambered in the .357 S&W Magnum cartridge. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

[Johnny P]

Smaller magazine capacity than what? The Super .38 magazine held 9 rounds.

[Tuna]

Yes but going to a revolver that only held 6.

[Johnny P]

The post I was referring to said "going to a smaller magazine capacity".

I don't believe the Super .38 was as inherently inaccurate as some would lead you to believe. Just as with the National Match, the Super Match was more accurate with a little tuning. Sheldon writes that the Super .38 was not "extremely" accurate, but neither was the 1911 .45ACP without tuning. Over the years I have shot a number of the older Super .38 pistols, and never shot one that I thought had accuracy problems.

[emmagee1917]

During this time period , the semi-automatic pistol ( with the notable exception of the Colt 1911s in .45 ) , were not looked on favorably by most cops due to the reliability problems . They went with the 38 Super because of what the round could do vs. a 38 special . When the .357 came out , many did not look at it as a " mag reduction " but more in the light of " 6-for sure vs 9-maybes ".
Chris