38 Super Auto
Introduced by Colt in its Government Model
pistol in 1929, the .38 Super is nothing more than a souped up version of
the vintage 1900 .38 Colt Automatic Cartridge. Although the Super .38 languished
in the shadows of other cartridges for many years, it has now become to top
ranking competitors in the rapidly growing sport of action shooting what
the 6mm PPC
is to benchrest shooters. The top guns in USPSA/IPSC competition prefer the
.38 Super simply because of its relatively light recoil and its two round
advantage over the
.45 ACP when
both are fired form Colt's Government Model pistol.
For many years the .38 Super was plagued with accuracy problems, mainly because
the chambers of the 1911 Colt pistols in this caliber were designed to allow
the cartridge to headspace on its almost nonexistent rim. Sometime in 1988,
Colt officials decided to follow the lead of custom barrel makers by allowing
the mouth of the .38 Super case to headspace against a shoulder in the chamber.
As a result of this design change, Government Model pistols in .38 Super
now being built by Colt are as accurate as those in the
9mm Parabellum,
10mm Auto,
and .45
ACP.
Due to its slightly greater powder capacity, the .38 Super has a slight
performance edge over the
9mm Parabellum.
As cartridges designed by autoloading handguns go, it is also loaded to
relatively high chamber pressures. Most USPSA/IPSC handgunners who compete
with the .38 Super prefer the relatively new and extremely strong Remington
+P case. For an extra margin of safety, they also use custom barrels with
fully supported chambers made by Bar-Sto, Wilson, and Clark.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
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