38 Super New To Me

[ddeaton]

Someone kick me in the head. Today I brought home a Series 80 in 38 Super. I have no brass, molds, or dies for this caliber. Do we have any group buy molds currently running for this? Anyone else here shoot these?

[MtGun44]

I put about 70,000 rounds thru a Wilson .38 Super in the 80s and 90s. Works fine.

With proper loads I was able to get 1400 fps with a 124 gr Hornady JHP and a
tad over 1200 fps with 148 gr boolits.

Mine is accurate, but is a custom bbl and comp. I have not used a factory barrel, there
has been some steady reports of accuracy issues for decades due to headspacing on
the almost non-existent "rim" (case is technically semi-rimmed). Modern barrels have
switched back to case mouth headspacing like all rimless cartridges, with the accy
being normal. Not sure if your's has a 'rimless' or semi-rimmed chamber.

Bill

[j20owner]

D, I'll take it off your hands since you can't load for it. I'll send $12 for shipping charges. :kidding:

[ddeaton]

D, I'll take it off your hands since you can't load for it. I'll send $12 for shipping charges. :kidding:


Dont tempt me, I have enough projects laying aroung to keep me going into my next life. This is kinda cool though, it is from the Colt custom shop and 1 of 80 made for the Ohio Gun Collectors Association. I think it was a group buy, but it looks like nothing really special or different from a stock Series 80 other than the serial numjber, which starts with OGCA. I dont have any loaded rounds yet to try in the chamber. It has the normal slide to frame slop and a hard trigger pull. The barrel bushing is solid though. I am glad to see it is not the finger bush. Looks like from the Lyman manual I can use my 9mm molds and size to ??. I havent got that far yet.

[ReloaderFred]

I size mine to .356" for all my .38 Supers. If you get a good one, they are superbly accurate, but if you don't..............

Hope this helps.

Fred

[crabo]

I use the Lee 125 cowboy round flat sized to 359 in mine with a Nowlin barrel. I haven't tried smaller sizing in my cast boolits because I just loaded what I had already cast and sized for my 357s.

I used to shoot ISPC and steel plates with it, but haven't really worked with the cast boolits because I am still shooting a lot of jacketed that I have loaded up from years past.

It seems like if I remember right you can use 9mm dies. You need to make sure you have a supported barrel if you are going to hot rod it.

[BarryinIN]

9mm dies won't work because the 9mm has a pretty fair taper but the 38 Super is nearly straight.
However, 38 S&W dies will work.
In fact, Lee dies for the 38 Super and 38 S&W are the same. When I got back in the Super business, I couldn't find my dies and ordered a set of Lees, and got a set of 38 S&W dies in a 38 Super box. I was unhappy until I did some checking and founf out that's how it is. A year or so later, I saw a Mike Venturino article about the same "discovery" so I was relieved to know I wasn't the last to know.

I'd share some loads, but most of my 38 super loading has been done with IPSC guns having ramped barrels made to handle higher pressures. Standard feed ramps leave more unsupported case and can't handle those loads.
My IPSC 38 Super days are done, but I do have two stock Supers now. I just haven't done much work with them yet. I love the round, but just haven't got all my testing done. Or hardly started.

I think the round is a good one, and better for the 1911 than 9mm due to the case and cartridge length.
For decent factory ammo, you have to use CorBon or one of the places like Georgia Arms, otherwise it's loaded to 9mm levels.

Loading data tends to either be weak, or pretty hot, so watch carefully for what it's intended for. The weak stuff matches the mild factory loads that are out there to protect the old 38ACP guns (same case, so a Super can be chambered in them). The hot stuff is meant for IPSC guns designed around them. Somewhere in between is where it's at it's best.

[hicard]

I dropped a 9mm barrel into my 38 super as I have a lot more 9mm cases laying around. I worked fine from the get go and I am having lots of fun with it. Kind of miss the 38 Super but all it takes is a barrel change and magazine change to get it back.

[redneckdan]

I have a copy of the 6 cavity Slippery 9 group buy done a few years ago. If you want I can case a couple hundred up and send them to you for a start.

[ddeaton]

I have a copy of the 6 cavity Slippery 9 group buy done a few years ago. If you want I can case a couple hundred up and send them to you for a start.

dan, what is the weight of these? I have 2 of the new molds from MiHec last yr before Christmas. These have the flat nose and drop 2 different diameters. Here is the link. I am hoping this mold will work.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=52589

[sargenv]

I am currently loading 38 super for minor revolver in a 627-4. My bullet of choice right now is burning up the remains of my bear creek 158 RN's sized to .357". My current load is 3.4 gr of 700X that produces about a 135 power factor. Translated to fps and it should be about 855 feet per second. This may or may not cycle that semi-auto.. It would if the action spring were lighter, but not sure about if it is a stiffer factory spring. Since the 627 has a lighter trigger pull, I use Federal small pistol primers to make certain they fire. I would imagine that you could use any cast bullet sized to either .356" or .357" that falls into the 38 caliber spectrum. the Lee 6 cavity 125 RN-2R might throw them in the range of .356-.357 without any sizing or you could go heavier and try the 158 RN 2 or 6 cav mold and size as appropriate.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have a series 80 in 38 Super. I love it, but my life has been a bit hectic lately and I have been only shoting my cowboy guns. I just bought a Norinco 9mm real cheap with 2000 brass (actually got the lot for not much more than the cost of the brass. When the dust settles I will get them out and chuck some brass around. From memory, mine worked well with anything I fed it.

[HeavyMetal]

By the time the series 80 hit the market Colt was back to head spacing the 38 super on the case mouth, I think.

Read a great article in Handgunner back in the early 80's concerning the 38 Super in series 70 guns. Basically the author set his boolits out to engage the rifling and, artifically, corrected the head space issue.

As I recall he settled on a couple boolits that worked well for him: a long bearing area RNL mold from H&G and a SWC from SAECO.

Lots of "improvements" cropped up around that time for older 38 super guns and the fully supported barrel concept came out of all that experamentation.

I have alway had my eye open for a Super after reading Jeff Coopers article on "Improving" one for third world carry.

If I ever find one at a price I think it's actually worth I will most likely rechamber or rebarrel it for 9x25 Starline has the brass and Cooper got 357 power levels out of his something I might find interesting if I don't get a 40 S&W before that!

[ReloaderFred]

HeavyMetal,

I have an EAA Witness that I converted to 9x25 Dillon and have achieved 1,583 fps with a 115 grain JHP bullet from the 4.5" barrel. I've looked on the Starline website and they don't list 9x25 brass. They list 9x19, 9x21 and 9x23 (.38 Super Comp), but no 9x25 brass. I just form mine from new 10mm brass, which is a simple process.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[bobthenailer]

i have 2, 38 supers on the 1911 platform 1 has a nowlen barrel & comp the other has a kart barrel, both shoot better groups with the bullet sized to .357 dia , the most accurate cast bullet that i make! in both pistols is the saeco #929- 145gr swcbb next is the saeco #377- 122 gr tcbb and 3ed is the saeco #384 - 122 gr rn. but i have never been able to attain the same accuracy with cast as i do with jacketed , but for 99.9 % of my shooting the cast work perfect you should be able to get a 2 1/2 inch group or better at 25 yards with cast

[ddeaton]

I guess I will tear this beast apart this weekend and take a good look at the barrel. I dont have any brass yet, but will measure the chamber and see what it looks like.

[mastercast.com]

If you headspace on the bullet, you will need to drop the powder charge and work up all over again!

Headspace on the bullet will drive pressures up..................way up. Start pressure is based on a freebore for each cartridge...absent that, pressure goes up.

BE SAFE!!!!