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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:44:21 PM EDT
[#1]
Familiarity. While known, it wasn't 38spl, or 45acp known.
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:45:31 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Familiarity. While known, it wasn't 38spl, or 45acp known. Yeah, It'd only been around since the '30's. 
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:46:28 PM EDT
[#3]
Wasn't widely known despite 1911s being chambered for it for decades.
In a parallel universe 38 Super supplanted 45 and 9mm. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:46:29 PM EDT
[#4]
Nobody carried semi autos in the 70s. As far as the 80s, I dont know much about the 38super,but Ill bet 9mm was cheaper. Everything in Law Enforcement has to be cheap. Why do you think everybody carries Glocks now?
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:48:10 PM EDT
[#5]
Unsupported chambers and how the round indexed in the chamber. Some fancy talk like that. IIRC.
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:48:15 PM EDT
[#6]
I read somewhere (can't verify accuracy) that it was a popular caliber in mexico.
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:51:00 PM EDT
[#7]
Revolvers ruled the day. Revolvers were cheaper for depts to buy and officers could be trained to use them easier than an auto.
Back then and today still, many people are swayed by what the military chooses. The military says 1911 .45 then it must be good. The military says hi-cap 9mm Beretta it must be good. Some LEOs did carry the Super because it supposedly could penetrate heavy metal car bodies of the day. Along comes the .357 and the Super pales. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:51:16 PM EDT
[#8]
Low accuracy due to head space method and the semi rebated rim causing feeding issues.
Kharn Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:52:09 PM EDT
[#9]
I thought it was back in the day because it was able to go through gangsters body armor.
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:52:12 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yeah, It'd only been around since the '30's.
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Familiarity. While known, it wasn't 38spl, or 45acp known. Yeah, It'd only been around since the '30's.
So had my grandfather, he wasn't widely known either. Compared to .38 Special, .357, and .45, .38 Super was a nobody. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:52:19 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I read somewhere (can't verify accuracy) that it was a popular caliber in mexico. Mexican law forbids, or it did, civilians owning military calibers. So the 9 and 45 were out and the Super was in. I believe now days the law forbids the Super as well. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:52:40 PM EDT
[#12]
It IS popular in Mexico and South America. Citizens not allowed firearms chambered in "military" cartridges, hence the 1911 in 38 super is kinda the "Grail gun" on the other side.
Edit: 21 seconds! |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:52:51 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I read somewhere (can't verify accuracy) that it was a popular caliber in mexico. That was that bullshit legal issue - no military calibers allowed so............ 38 super! Eta, damn, beaten twice in under 40 seconds. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:53:20 PM EDT
[#14]
Semi-rimmed case might have been iffy in a subgun. Worked ok in 1911s I guess.
No suitable bullets available that fed well and poked superior holes back then. The .357 could use larger meplat LSW to get decent wound channels, and didn't need to worry about feed issues. Also, those .38 Supers were mostly single stack...wasting the key advantage of a smaller caliber-nearly doubled capacity. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:53:43 PM EDT
[#15]
Because existing rounds were "good enough" to do the job
The only reason agencies moved towards semi's was because LE thought it was being out-gunned Admins are traditionalists who saw no reason to move away from a centuries worth of tried and true technology |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:53:45 PM EDT
[#16]
I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was reasonably popular with federal LE around the time it was introduced.
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:55:20 PM EDT
[#17]
The .41 magnum was another 'wonder po-po caliber' that soon fell from po-po grace.
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Posted: 11/5/2015 10:57:34 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The .41 magnum was another 'wonder po-po caliber' that soon fell from po-po grace. .357 Sig and the .45 GAP are the two latest wonder cartridges that were going to solve all the LEOs problems. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:00:24 PM EDT
[#19]
Hell while we are asking, why didn't cops start to use automatics en mass until the late 80s or early '90s?
1911s were popular (hell the US military sidearm since WWI) and all sorts of other single action autos were around. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:02:06 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I read somewhere (can't verify accuracy) that it was a popular caliber in mexico. i have heard this too, with the reason being that they are not allowed to have "military" calibers. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:03:40 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Hell while we are asking, why didn't cops start to use automatics en mass until the late 80s or early '90s? 1911s were popular (hell the US military sidearm since WWI) and all sorts of other single action autos were around. Already answered 1911s were largely viewed as labor and training intensive. Few were reliable right out of the box Admins were largely traditionalists who had carried revolvers themselves Semi's took off in LE when higher capacity semis were available to the general population and it was perceived that law enforcement was losing to the criminal element Plus you had companies like Glock that had aggressive marketing tactics that made their products desirable to cash strapped agencies. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:03:46 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Hell while we are asking, why didn't cops start to use automatics en mass until the late 80s or early '90s? 1911s were popular (hell the US military sidearm since WWI) and all sorts of other single action autos were around. Answered above by several posts. 1. what they had (revolvers) was good enough in the eyes of the dept 2. Cost of revolver vs auto and training needed |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:04:09 PM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
back in the 70s and 80s, the "magic formula" for a self defense handgun round was a .356 slug in the 125 grain range moving 1300-1400 fps...basically the .357 out of a 4" revolver. My question is why didn't the .38 Super get more attention? It was not that far behind the vaunted .357 magnum, it held 9 or more rounds, recoiled less, and could have probably been awesome in a full sized 2nd and 3rd gen S&W type pistols. also...an SMG in.38 Super would have been an interesting combo...and would have been flatter shooting than the .45 and harder hitting than the 9mm. Thoughts? The 38 Supers I've seen in USPSA Matches were jam-o-matics. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:05:05 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Already answered 1911s were largely viewed as labor and training intensive. Few were reliable right out of the box Admins were largely traditionalists who had carried revolvers themselves Semi's took off in LE when higher capacity semis were available to the general population and it was perceived that law enforcement was losing to the criminal element Plus you had companies like Glock that had aggressive marketing tactics that made their products desirable to cash strapped agencies. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Hell while we are asking, why didn't cops start to use automatics en mass until the late 80s or early '90s? 1911s were popular (hell the US military sidearm since WWI) and all sorts of other single action autos were around. Already answered 1911s were largely viewed as labor and training intensive. Few were reliable right out of the box Admins were largely traditionalists who had carried revolvers themselves Semi's took off in LE when higher capacity semis were available to the general population and it was perceived that law enforcement was losing to the criminal element Plus you had companies like Glock that had aggressive marketing tactics that made their products desirable to cash strapped agencies. The military's move to the Beretta also helped. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:06:28 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Hell while we are asking, why didn't cops start to use automatics en mass until the late 80s or early '90s? 1911s were popular (hell the US military sidearm since WWI) and all sorts of other single action autos were around. |
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Posted: 11/5/2015 11:10:23 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Hell while we are asking, why didn't cops start to use automatics en mass until the late 80s or early '90s? 1911s were popular (hell the US military sidearm since WWI) and all sorts of other single action autos were around. what you wanted since they sometimes didn't issue pistols. |
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Posted: 11/6/2015 1:27:27 AM EDT
[#27]
Because revolvers ruled back in the day
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Posted: 11/6/2015 1:39:12 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The 38 Supers I've seen in USPSA Matches were jam-o-matics. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
back in the 70s and 80s, the "magic formula" for a self defense handgun round was a .356 slug in the 125 grain range moving 1300-1400 fps...basically the .357 out of a 4" revolver. My question is why didn't the .38 Super get more attention? It was not that far behind the vaunted .357 magnum, it held 9 or more rounds, recoiled less, and could have probably been awesome in a full sized 2nd and 3rd gen S&W type pistols. also...an SMG in.38 Super would have been an interesting combo...and would have been flatter shooting than the .45 and harder hitting than the 9mm. Thoughts? The 38 Supers I've seen in USPSA Matches were jam-o-matics. My dead stock Pt-1911 in .38 Super works well enough for me to use as a carry piece. |
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Posted: 11/6/2015 1:52:17 AM EDT
[#29]
My first auto pistol was a Commander in .38 Super. It never really took off in LE circles for several reasons.
1. Reputation for poor accuracy 2. 1911's cost BIG bucks compared to a revolver and a 1911 was the only .38 Super game in town. 3. A lot of your larger agencies did not allow autos of any flavor. 4. By the time they DID allow autos, lots of nice 9mm's were showing up in the market that were STILL cheaper than a 1911. 5. Modern 9mm loads are pretty darn close to .38 Super. As for the .41 magnum, N frames and a poor duty load doomed it. Carried one of those too. 
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Posted: 11/6/2015 1:57:57 AM EDT
[#30]
it started as a cop gun to help combat against the well made american vehicles the gangsters were driving. Back then though training and reliability were lacking. A guy I used to shoot with used to bring his grandfathers colt 38 super once in a while (old texas ranger)
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Posted: 11/6/2015 1:58:39 AM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I read somewhere (can't verify accuracy) that it was a popular caliber in mexico. Civilians at the time could not own firearms in "military" calibers so the 45 acp was out and the 38 super 1911 was the thing to have . Not sure of present laws |
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