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The .380 automatic or .38ACP had been around since about 1905 and was almost as powerful as the 9mm Luger, but the Colt Model 1900 that fired the .38ACP was incapable of firing a cartridge of any higher power, and high power guns, specially the easy to carry and conceal automatics were demanded more and more by the law enforcement community at the time, so Colt created the .38 Super +P.
And so, in 1929 Colt introduced this very powerful new caliber to meet demand and Colt's tough M1911 and M1911A1 automatic pistol was chambered to fire it. When the .38 Super +P was introduced it was the most powerful automatic pistol in the world, even more powerful than the bigger .45 caliber that the gun was originally designed to shoot. The .38 Super's magazine also held 9 rounds as opposed to the .45 that held only 7. and all shooters agree...the more the merrier!
HONORY DISTINCTION... The Colt M1911 .38 Super +P was selected to become a special edition piece to honor Vincente Guerrero the 2nd president of Mexico August 10th 1782 – February 14th 1831. Shown below is this pistol, designated as the Colt .38 Super La Patria Gold Cup National Match pistol.
The pistol was a Colt Gold Cup competition grade piece and it featured exclusive Colt factory furnishings like the gold plated barrel bushing, hammer spur and strut. Old style factory roll marks with high polished stainless steel slide with 24 carat gold embellishments and the words La Patria with the rampant Colt horse logo and Vincent Guerrero and the date of his presidency. It is maybe because of the Mexican restrictions that the .38 Super +P did not fade away, as more powerful guns were being developed in the USA and hence was ideal to be depicted by Colt on the anniversary La Patria model. The .38 Super +P was very popular in Mexico, Central, and South America where it was the most powerful pistol cartridge available to civilians, that was not a military cartridge. Mexico adopted the .45ACP for their police and military, and thereafter banned all private citizens from owning .45ACP caliber firearms, thus the .38 Super +P was the Mexican civilians gun of choice. The Colt M1911 was generally chambered for the .38 Super but Colt M1911 copies such as the Llama, Star, Taurus, and Astra were also chambered for this round. Shown below is a superb custom Taurus PT 1911 AR .38 Super
The .38 Super +P cartridge in the center of the photo below is shown next to a .45 ACP on the left and a 9mm on the right. There does not initially appear to be too much difference between them, all being pyhsically nearly the same size. However, each bullet performs differently, Each bullet has its own velocity, its own trajectory, its own pressure and its own accuracy and pentration properties...so in affect, they are all drastically different from one another.
In 1974 the firearms industry added the renown +P (extra high pressure) head-stamp to the .38 Super cartridge case to further distinguish it from the common lower pressure .38 ACP. In fact, all ammunition manufacturers now stamp " +P " or " P " on all cartridges that fire high pressure rounds, regardless of their caliber. Below is a magnified image of a .38 Super cartridge case where the " P " letter is quite visible.
The standard .38 special has a muzzle velocity of around 980 fps with a 110 grain bullet whilst the .38 Super +P can go over 1500 fps with the right loads. For example, a 90 grain JHP will have a muzzle velocity of 1,557 fps delivering a massive 485 ft-lb or 658 Joules of energy. The maximum pressure level for .38 Super +P is an amazing 36,500 psi. This is actually 500 psi more powerful than the awesome .44 Remington Magnum, which is not exactly underpowered itself, and it makes the .38 Super +P the highest pressure pistol cartridges in the world today for its caliber. Just to compare to a real heavy duty high power cartridge, the megga powerful .454 Casull Magnum produces a colossal 65,000 psi, so the .38 super is over half the power, which is monumental for this standard sized round.
This is why the F.B.I and C.I.A soon adopted the .38 Super +P into its arsenal, as it was a real " man stopper " even the criminals who took to wearing the early bullet-proof vests were no match for the stopping power of the .38 Super +P that could punch a whole straight through the vest, killing the occupant inside at 50 yards away. In the 1930's gangsters, bank robbers and armed fugitives such as John Dillinger were using automobiles during their hold ups and also for the getaway from the crime scene. It was found that the standard issue .38, .38 special or even .45 lacked the velocity needed to propel the bullet adequately through a car windshield whilst retaining enough energy to mortally injure the occupants at distances over 80 yards or so. The .38 super +P however, had the potential to penetrate automobile bodies and kill the occupants inside at these longer distances. With velocities reaching 1400 fps with a bullet pressure equalling that of the later day .44 Magnum, the .38 Super +P was in high demand. The down side to this was that the criminal fraternity were also getting their hands on them, and the .38 Super became the favorite pistol of infamous hood, Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger..more about these two later. Below is shown a high polish, nickel plated, Springfield Armory 1911A1 .38 Super with pearl grips. The Springfield Armory 1911A1 variation has better fit and finish to many of its contemporaries...I know...I used to own one in .45 caliber!
The .38 Super +P cartridge is as stated considerably more powerful than the 9mm Luger, the .380 Auto and even the longer cased .38 Special. There is no interchangeability with the .38 Super, and shooters are warned not to use this caliber in other guns, even if the dimensions look to be the same, as the 38 Super +P could blow it apart. All said and done, the .38 Super is a pleasant cartridge to shoot, with modest recoil and superb accuracy and is also a great choice for home defence. THE .38 SUPER TODAY... So where is the .38 Super +P today? Well it was overtaken in 1935 with the introduction of the .357 Magnum revolver, and as most federal agents and law enforcement officers started to prefer the more reliable and almost jam free high powered .357 Magnum revolvers, the .38 Super +P fell into the shadows somewhat.
In today's high tech world, the .38 Super has been equalled with cartridges like the .357 SIG and 9mm parabellum +P, all of which can produce roughly the same power and energy levels as the .38 Super +P. It has been stated though that with the use of modern day powders that the .38 Super +P can equal or at best even supersede all other semi-automatics in both power and accuracy apart from the devastating Desert Eagle .357 Magum AE, .44 Magnum AE, and the awesome .50 AE. AE of course designates the caliber as Auto-Express and differentiates the round from revolver ammunition.
In its heyday however, the .38 Super +P was the best automatic around and pioneered the advent of the high powered handgun. As stated earlier, criminals were now using cars and body armor, so law enforcement wanted more powerful handguns to punch holes through them and the .38 Super +P was up to the task. Below is shown another Taurus cutom PT 1911 AR .38 Super, with polished steel finish, gold plated parts and pins accompanied with smooth pear grips.
Although now superseded, the .38 Super +P is still a cartridge that shooters enjoy firing and it can often be found in the hands of novices and marksmen alike in many shooting competitions across the USA, where the .38 Super +P has made a serious come back. The below image is of a target that was shot at from 15 yards using Corbon 100 grain PowRball bullets and as you can see, the grouping is very tight, just one big hole with at least one shot going through the same hole !
Just to note here that although these type of guns are generally always referred to as automatics this is technically incorrect as they are in reality only semi-automatics as the trigger needs to be pulled once for every shot fired. .38 SUPER FANATIC JOHN DILLINGER... Only a machine gun is truly automatic in that it will keep firing as long as the trigger is depressed....unless your name is John Dillinger of course. In fact Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson both had a Colt M1911A1 .38 Super +P's converted to fire on full automatic. John Dillinger's gun featured a custom extended magazine, a forward grip adapted off a Thompson submachine gun and a Cutts compensator on the muzzle to arrest some of the recoil. The image below is of the actual gun, as recovered by the FBI.
The main idea behind this extensive modification was to enable Dillinger and Nelson to have a totally concealable submachine gun. They could place the pistol in their coat pocket, the magazine up their sleeve side and then just walk into a bank, pull out the magazine and gun, snap the magazine in and they were ready to go. I think that Dillinger would have found that a shoulder stock would have been needed too, as this adapted pistol would have been quite uncontrollable to fire accurately. Or maybe he wasn't too bothered and his adapted pistol would have been used for close up work against several closing in law enforcers, in which case it would have been quite deadly. Below is a professional factory adapted Colt M1911A1 .38 Super...with shoulder stock! It is not sure whether Dillinger actually had this particular gun in his arms cache though.
As stated earlier, the concealment factor would also have been greatly advantageous...a lot of firepower in your coat pocket! Dillinger always preferred the .38 Super +P in place of the .45 as it was more accurate, more powerful and Dillinger didn't like anyone getting back up once he had shot them! Had the .44 Magnum been around in the early 1930's then you can bet your bottom dollar that Dillinger would have used one of those too...quite extensively. Below is shown a photo of John Dillinger's actual Colt M1911A1 .38 Super...being handled with extreme care as its now a museum exhibit. It was manufactured in 1931 and has the serial number 12187 which is stamped on the lower frame. The right hand side of the pistols slide was later engraved with the message " Taken from fugitive John Dillinger when caught by Dayton Police Sep 22 1933 R.G. Wurstiner "
Dayton Police Chief, Rudolph Wurstiner, carried the gun around with him on duty until 1949, it would have been quite a show piece to impress any discerning viewers of it. Later a member of Chief Wurstiner's family donated the gun to the Dayton Police Department Collection of historic artefacts, where it is still in storage to this day. COLT SERIAL NUMBERS
Below is the famous and venerable old Colt Government M1911 chambered for the .38 Super. It is finished in stainless steel and equipped with checkered rubber composite grips to resist slippage in the hand whilst firing, also giving it a sleek look. The Colt Government is still one of my all time favorite pistols, a very successful and reliable design that also looks cool and business like.
If the truth be known, John Moses Browning actually drafted the design for this gun whilst he was working on his own semi-auto variant, the 9mm Hi-Power. All of the designs, specifications and patents were sold to Colt, which is why it is designated as a Colt and not a Browning. Below is another Colt Government M1911 .38 Super, this time fitted with original Colt diamond pattern walnut grips and the pistol has a nice traditional blued finish. It is amazing to think that this popular semi-auto, in various calibers, has now been around for over one hundred years! and is still going strong.
Modern semi-automatics are all now generally double action whereas these old Colt designs are still strictly single action. Single action implies that if the hammer is down, it will have to be manually cocked by the thumb before it can be fired. After loading in a magazine and racking the slide back, this will of course also cock the hammer. With most double action semi automatics, actually firing via double action is best left for home defence, FBI, CIA undercover work and police or military shoot outs. However, at the local gun range, then its single action all the way, that is...if you want to hit a target at 25 yards! Generally most people have guns for target and fun shooting anyway, so the Colt 1911 with its single action hammer is still a great gun.
Updated February 3rd 2012. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
