Light and Fast
I have an inexplicable desire to buy either a Glock 32 (.357 SIG) or a Colt Lightweight Commander in .38 Super. Do I need one? What is this “need” to which you refer? It’s just one of those random “wants” that strikes me from time to time.
The rational side of me pulls up the ballistics tables and starts comparing: looks like a .38 Super only gains ~75 fps on a 9mm +p, and the .357 SIG gets another ~75 fps on top of that; hardly enough of a performance gain to justify the increased expense and decreased availability when it comes to ammunition.
Still, it’d be kinda cool…
I’ve heard that a .40S&W High Power can be converted to .357 Sig by means of an after-market barrel. Not sure how hard the barrels are to come up with, though.
Comment by Pederson — March 25, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
Shoot 9mm +p if you must. Ammo is through the friggin’ roof on odd calibers, and I mean .357 Sig and .38 Super. I like the .38 Super round, much better on recoil than .357 Sig, but I’m still trying to figure out what either of them are supposed to do that hot 9mm doesn’t that costs $10 a box more.
ColtCCO
Comment by ColtCCO — March 26, 2008 @ 2:18 am
The 38-Super is worth it just for the muzzle blast; better ballistics is just icing on the cake.
Comment by Turk Turon — March 26, 2008 @ 9:21 am
Ah, but the Colt Commander can be converted to 9×25, and that will out perform a .357 Sig by significant margins - Doubletap, fer instance, offers a 125 Gold Dot in this caliber @ 1700 ft/sec.
Comment by HTRN — March 26, 2008 @ 7:29 pm
Can you convert a .38 Super to 9×25? I know 9×23 is a simple barrel swap, but 9×25 has the 10mm case head, which IIRC requires a different breechface cut…
Comment by TD — March 26, 2008 @ 9:37 pm
Hello,
Really like your site, and enjoyed chatting with you today at Coal Creek about my newly acquired SW HK-94 clone.
Advice: Colt .38 super - you can drop in a 9mm barrel, tweak the extractor, and shoot VERY inexpensive 9mm. (9×19) And, it’s a 1911!
I wish I knew about this before Centerfire Systems cleared out all of their RIA .38 supers for $300. hindsight = 20/20
Comment by volfandan — March 26, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
TD, It sorta depends on how tight the extractor is, but generally it means a new slide. But a new 10mm slide can be had for reasonable money from Caspian(about $230ish). But then, you can have two slide setups, one for 38 super, one for 9×25. I would point out that 9×25 quickly lost favor in IPSC for it’s brutal(actually it gave some shooters tendenitis) recoil, and it’s unbelievable volume when shot with a compensator. It also has a nasty habit of eating parts like candy, like cracking slides and guiderods.
Personally, I’d buy the 1911, and leave it alone, aside from inspecting internals, and replacing suspect parts like springs. Winchester, Federal, and Remington all make ammo, but it’s somewhat pricey.
Besides, a glock is, well, a glock. About as elegant as a hammer.
Comment by HTRN — March 27, 2008 @ 1:10 am
Light and fast? Methinks you want a CZ 52 in 7.62×25 Tokarev. Cheap, too — and you can get spare 9mm barrels for a switcheroo setup.
Comment by David — March 27, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
Y’know what I like about .38 Super? 147gr@1200fps. Heavy and fast.
It’s definitely a caliber for handloaders only these days, however.
Georgia Arms sells .38 Super ammo semi-reasonably, if you don’t mind shopping online.
Comment by Tam — March 29, 2008 @ 11:11 am