Posted: 3/3/2010 12:18:42 PM EDT
| Can anyone explain why this round never gained much popularity? |
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Quoted:
Can anyone explain why this round never gained much popularity? The inital guns from Colt used the semi-rim to headspace. That meant the barrel hood was the only headspace. There was enough tolerance stack that some ammunition would miss the hood and sit in the chamber cocked, leading to very poor accuracy. In the late '60s Nonte (and others) started clearancing the hood for the semi-rim and allowing the case mouth to headspace. Accuracy went way up, but the damage was done. The IPSC folks revived it when '9mm major' was ruled out (there had been many failures). By loading .38 super hot and using a compensator very good handling was present while meeting the 'major' momentum level. They have since lower the requirement for 'major' and 9mm can safely meet the new level. The additional gas from the .38 super should make the compensator work better at lower pressure, so it might stick around for game playing. |
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Can anyone explain why this round never gained much popularity? It's gained plenty of popularity, notice it's still around, and every major manufacturer has a product for it? I think its only used by competition shooters though. Whens the last time you saw a few people at the range shooting this caliber? |
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Can anyone explain why this round never gained much popularity? It's gained plenty of popularity, notice it's still around, and every major manufacturer has a product for it? I think its only used by competition shooters though. Whens the last time you saw a few people at the range shooting this caliber? Yeah, it is definitely a competition round now-a-days. It was pretty much replaced by the .357 Magnum for most puposes when it was out. Now, what I'm kind of interested in is the 9x23 that was out for a few years...does anybody still shoot it? |
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Can anyone explain why this round never gained much popularity? It's gained plenty of popularity, notice it's still around, and every major manufacturer has a product for it? I think its only used by competition shooters though. Whens the last time you saw a few people at the range shooting this caliber? Yeah, it is definitely a competition round now-a-days. It was pretty much replaced by the .357 Magnum for most puposes when it was out. Now, what I'm kind of interested in is the 9x23 that was out for a few years...does anybody still shoot it? 9x23 was an attempt to capture some IPSC shooters. Since they all reload to keep costs down it was short lived. Relying on harder brass instead of better chamber support form ramped barrels also affects reloading. |
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Quoted:
Can anyone explain why this round never gained much popularity? I will have to disagree with your statement. The .38 Super was popular, but lost its popularity to the 9x19mm. After its 1929 introduction, people on both sides of the law used the .38 Super. Colt made a lot of .38 Super Gov't models and Commanders in the post WWII years. Revolvers were more popular in those days, but Colt still sold a lot of .38 Supers. World wide, the 9x19 was the most popular, with plenty of surplus pistols and ammunition. Sub-machiine gun magazines worked with the 9x19, but the semi-rim of the .38 Super wouldn't do so well. The aforementioned semi-rim and headspace issues hurt accuracy in the older guns. Very little modern ammunition is produced for the .38 Super. It is still a great cartridge. It is almost as good as the 9x23mm Winchester, which is what the .38 Super should have been from the beginning, but wasn't. Kaiser Bill's 9mm is more popular, but I still carry the .38 Super some times. Its popular with me. |
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Also popular in countries that do not allow civilian ownership of a firearm that chambers a military cartridge!
Of course annual sales in those countries probably don't equal 1 day sales in larger US cities… But in the end if there were a glut of ammo for it, at the prices of 9mm today it would be something to have. |
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The inital guns from Colt used the semi-rim to headspace.
That meant the barrel hood was the only headspace. There was enough tolerance stack that some ammunition would miss the hood and sit in the chamber cocked, leading to very poor accuracy. In the late '60s Nonte (and others) started clearancing the hood for the semi-rim and allowing the case mouth to headspace. Accuracy went way up, but the damage was done. The IPSC folks revived it when '9mm major' was ruled out (there had been many failures). By loading .38 super hot and using a compensator very good handling was present while meeting the 'major' momentum level. They have since lower the requirement for 'major' and 9mm can safely meet the new level. The additional gas from the .38 super should make the compensator work better at lower pressure, so it might stick around for game playing. I think that's a pretty good answer. Now it's a niche round used by a few dedicated geezers like me for it's handloading ease, accuracy and it makes the perfect 1911 mid bore round. |