bruce drake
05-15-2013, 05:04 PM
Courtesy of a unfinished barrel sent by KyWoodwrkr to me a couple of months ago as a PIF (since carried forward to another member on the forum as well), I now have a spare barrel in 38 Super for my Rock Island Armory 9mm Parabellum Government Model 1911 pistol.
I had to file the barrel hood to match the original 9mm barrel and add a barrel link and pin and then get a set of dies and brass over the last couple of months but today was the first time I got to take it out and shoot it.
The 38ACP-level loads were loaded in Remington brand 38 Super brass with the rims filed off to match the face of the 9mm Para slide. The 38 Super-level loads were built using Starline's 38 Super Comp brass which are made with the 9mm Para rim design and eliminates the original 38Super semi-rim issues. Quality of both brands is excellent but future purchases will be entirely Starline to eliminate a couple of steps of brass prep from future loads.
I will say that I did start out with the milder 38ACP loads of 4.2gr of Unique and a 100gr Berrys Plated Bullet before I loaded up to 38 Super levels.
The first load (the 100gr Berrys Bullet) fired and ejected and locked the slide back on the empty magazine so I then load a 5 round magazine and shot them to see if the RIA pistol would load and feed the light 38ACP level load. The load is a pussycat in the steel 1911. The barrel barely flips up from the recoil and the brass drops just a few feet from my feet for easy pickup.
The second load tested was 4.6gr of Unique with a LEE 9mm round nose 124gr boolit lubed with alox and sized at .357. Its the same load I put through my 9mm Luger barrel. It fired point to aim at 25yds with no issues with feeding either. Brass went about 6ft away and to the rear.
At this point, I felt it was time to go actual 38 Super loads. 5.2gr of Unique over 124 gr LEE Truncated Cone sized at .357 as well. Recoil was on par with my 45ACP target loads and the groups were ok but will get better as I play with the load a bit more. The Brass went flying! About 10 ft back and to the rear. Primers were still rounded so no issues with excess pressure with this loading.
Final two loads tested was from the Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd Edition with 5.2gr of Unique and the Lyman 358311 160gr Round Nose bullet and LEE's 158gr SWC with a Gas check. Both were sized at .358 and lubed with BAC Lube.
Holy Hannah! Now these are true 38 Super loads! My brass flew back about 15ft and the groups were excellent (see picture) for 25yards using a Weaver Hold. Primers were flat with no cratering or other signs of excessive pressure. Recoil was almost equal to 45ACP 230gr FMJ Hardball Loads. The SWC and the RN bullet profiles fed with no issue, including when I mixed both loads within the same magazine.
For a mystery barrel of unknown manufacture, it matches up in group size with my original RIA 9mm Para barrel which for me means, I was truly gifted by a fellow member of this forum as now I have two good barrels for this pistol.
Next project for me will be to find a 400 Corbon barrel for my 45ACP 1911 so I'll have two switch barrel pistol sets...
Bruce
I had to file the barrel hood to match the original 9mm barrel and add a barrel link and pin and then get a set of dies and brass over the last couple of months but today was the first time I got to take it out and shoot it.
The 38ACP-level loads were loaded in Remington brand 38 Super brass with the rims filed off to match the face of the 9mm Para slide. The 38 Super-level loads were built using Starline's 38 Super Comp brass which are made with the 9mm Para rim design and eliminates the original 38Super semi-rim issues. Quality of both brands is excellent but future purchases will be entirely Starline to eliminate a couple of steps of brass prep from future loads.
I will say that I did start out with the milder 38ACP loads of 4.2gr of Unique and a 100gr Berrys Plated Bullet before I loaded up to 38 Super levels.
The first load (the 100gr Berrys Bullet) fired and ejected and locked the slide back on the empty magazine so I then load a 5 round magazine and shot them to see if the RIA pistol would load and feed the light 38ACP level load. The load is a pussycat in the steel 1911. The barrel barely flips up from the recoil and the brass drops just a few feet from my feet for easy pickup.
The second load tested was 4.6gr of Unique with a LEE 9mm round nose 124gr boolit lubed with alox and sized at .357. Its the same load I put through my 9mm Luger barrel. It fired point to aim at 25yds with no issues with feeding either. Brass went about 6ft away and to the rear.
At this point, I felt it was time to go actual 38 Super loads. 5.2gr of Unique over 124 gr LEE Truncated Cone sized at .357 as well. Recoil was on par with my 45ACP target loads and the groups were ok but will get better as I play with the load a bit more. The Brass went flying! About 10 ft back and to the rear. Primers were still rounded so no issues with excess pressure with this loading.
Final two loads tested was from the Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd Edition with 5.2gr of Unique and the Lyman 358311 160gr Round Nose bullet and LEE's 158gr SWC with a Gas check. Both were sized at .358 and lubed with BAC Lube.
Holy Hannah! Now these are true 38 Super loads! My brass flew back about 15ft and the groups were excellent (see picture) for 25yards using a Weaver Hold. Primers were flat with no cratering or other signs of excessive pressure. Recoil was almost equal to 45ACP 230gr FMJ Hardball Loads. The SWC and the RN bullet profiles fed with no issue, including when I mixed both loads within the same magazine.
For a mystery barrel of unknown manufacture, it matches up in group size with my original RIA 9mm Para barrel which for me means, I was truly gifted by a fellow member of this forum as now I have two good barrels for this pistol.
Next project for me will be to find a 400 Corbon barrel for my 45ACP 1911 so I'll have two switch barrel pistol sets...
Bruce