.38 Super question

July 15, 2009
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If I had a 1911 in .38 Super (which I don’t) could I just drop in a 9mm barrel and be off to the races, or would I have to do a little bit more conversion work on the gun?

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7 Responses to .38 Super question

  1. Jeff the Baptist on July 15, 2009 at 08:49

    The rim geometries are different. .38 super is semi-rimmed, 9mm isn’t. It might work, but I kind of doubt it.

  2. John Myers on July 15, 2009 at 09:21

    No reason it shouldn’t work. 9mm and .38 Super are quit similar, with the major difference being the later is semi-rimmed vs. rimless. Ballistics are similar with .38 Super about equivalent to 9mm +P. Another good thing about .38 Super is you should be able to chamber, feed and fire 9x23mm and get a boost in ballistics up to .357 Sig levels. And being rimless, 9×23 actually feeds more reliably than .38 Super, which is a bit prone to feeding difficulties. I had a G20 barrel in .38 Super that fed better in 9×23. And I have a .38 Super slide for my EAA Witness-P that will handle 9×23 fine.

    Go for it.

  3. Sharps4070ss on July 15, 2009 at 11:23

    Jeff is right about the rims,
    but….

    38 Super Comp is a rimless 38 Super.
    You might have to tweek the extractor, and brass is rare, but it would be an easy conversion.
    The ejector may be too long also. (maybe yes/ maybe no)

    John,
    38 super comp is virtually identical to 9x23win, 9×23 largo, 9x23super comp, etc, etc, etc, (except for minor dimensional difference here and there)
    The 38 bullet is a tiny bit larger (diameter) than 9mm, (which is why you shouldn’t shoot 38 super in a 9x23win, even though some people do)

    9x23win is a super high pressure round. I would NEVER, EVER shoot a 9x23win through a 38super.
    Only shoot 9x23win in a gun built for it.
    (9x23win is a 223rem case cut off)

    Lee

  4. Tam on July 15, 2009 at 14:06

    The answer is “probably”.

    99% of the time it’s as simple as swapping barrels and magazines.

  5. Sharps4070ss on July 15, 2009 at 17:23

    D’OH
    I feel like a dummy… I read your post backwards. I thought you wanted to go from 9MM to 38 Super, not the other way around.

    I wouldn’t bother to go THAT direction.
    The 1911 was originally designed for a “long” cartridge such as the 45ACP. When you try to get the “short” cartridges like the 9MM (9×19) or the 40S&W to run, you usually end up messing with the feed lips on the mags or just seating the bullets further out of the case.

    I recently built a 40S&W for IPSC, and I have trouble with factory ammo feeding because it is shorter than my competition loads.

    I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it might be more trouble than it’s worth (if you reload, that is. If you don’t reload, then yes, it would be worth having a gunsmith tune it to run right)

    Hope this makes sense.

  6. The Duck on July 16, 2009 at 06:55

    Recently attempted the same thing.
    In addition to fitting the barrel, & using 9mm mags, you do have to have the extractor tuned.

    I tried 2 gunsmiths, & one was I guess already too busy, the other suggested I start reloading, instead of rebarreling, so I went the simple route & traded the 38 Super on a new Kimber 9mm

    But it is a pretty straight forward swap.

  7. Caleb on July 16, 2009 at 12:25

    Sharps – no, the idea was to buy a commander sized .38 Super and convert it to a 9 Silliliter.