Rubbish. Stick to 45.

 

Well. The platform has been around since 1929. Closing in on 100 years. That says a lot.

 

The .38 Super recoil impulse is easier on old, arthritic hands than the .45acp. And, the mag capacity is increased by 2-3 rounds. Now if you're so inclined to handload your own ammo, you have the latitude to go from mild to wild with the .38 Super platform. Maybe you want to ramp it up to 9 X 23? There's many options/possibilities with the .38 Super cartridge in the 1911 platform. I say go for it. If you're on a limited budget, go with a Tisas for the time being.

 

I have a good friend, a retired LEO, who is a 1911 nut. He has several to include a TISAS. The TISAS is a quality handgun that shoots almost as well as my Gold Cup. To be honest I think the only advantage the Gold Cup has is the sights. The TISAS are well made and extremely accurate. The Civilian Marksmanship Program has adopted the TISAS as a comparable to the GI 1911, and even sells them, which in itself says much about the quality, especially since they have not adopted anything from all of the others who make 1911 clones. For more information go to: Home - Civilian Marksmanship Program (copy and paste into your browser) and see what they have to offer.

 

A fine round/pistol combination...but I still prefer it in .45 as God intended. The .38 Super is at its best in a full-size 1911.

 

I guess I should have mentioned that I do have a Colt GoldCup Lite in 38 Super and I do like it. I was just wondering about a 38Super in a more compact version. I do reload all my 38Super ammo…otherwise the cost is prohibitive for any serious practice. I have to say that one of my favorite pieces is a lightweight Combat Commander in 45ACP I’ve owned since the 70s.

 

I don't see how you could go wrong. Excellent cartridge in an excellent 1911 package. You have a one round advantage, and a caliber better suited for the 1911 than the 9mm, relatively more powerful too.

 

I noted in other threads mentioning a 38 Super in a Lightweight Commander but the Colt Website makes no mention of it. Just the 9mm in a lightweight. Maybe a project to covert a 9mm into to a 38 Super?

 

.38 Super is the hotter sister-in-law; everybody thinks about it, but few go there.

Better than 9mm out of a 1911.

 

38 super works best as a light carry round in a light gun, so ltw commander seems like the right match up. Light ammo, light gun. As a range toy 38 super is an inconvenient and expensive proposition. You really need to handload for it, brass is scarce as pick up brass, and the earth loves to absorb your fired brass as soon as it comes out of the gun I have a colt ltw commander I rebarreled for 38 super. Great carry gun but I'd only buy an all steel commander in 45.

 

Back in the 90's my agency sent me on a detail to our Houston, TX field office and an agent there took me shooting and let me shoot his Colt Govt 38 Super. I had a Colt Combat Commander 1911 .45 ACP pistol back in the 80's. I was amazed with the accuracy of that caliber. Much more impressive than the .45 ACP. Recoil felt about the same as 9mm to me and still more accurate than 9mm with better ballistics.

Today all of my 1911's are 10mm as properly loaded 10mm has better ballistics than .45 ACP. Yet, I remember the accuracy of that Colt Govt. Model 38 Super and plan to get a 38 Super (in a better brand than Colt like Dan Wesson or Night Hawk Custom) in the near future after I get a few other project guns first.

 

Back in the 90's my agency sent me on a detail to our Houston, TX field office and an agent there took me shooting and let me shoot his Colt Govt 38 Super. I had a Colt Combat Commander 1911 .45 ACP pistol back in the 80's. I was amazed with the accuracy of that caliber. Much more impressive than the .45 ACP. Recoil felt about the same as 9mm to me and still more accurate than 9mm with better ballistics.

Today all of my 1911's are 10mm as properly loaded 10mm has better ballistics than .45 ACP. Yet, I remember the accuracy of that Colt Govt. Model 38 Super and plan to get a 38 Super (in a better brand than Colt like Dan Wesson or Night Hawk Custom) in the near future after I get a few other project guns first.

There is something about the .38 Super that gives it a more intrinsic accuracy than the .45 or the 9. However the .38 Super only started to get consistent mechanical accuracy since the late 1980s when Colt changed headspace to the shoulder instead of the rim.

The recoil is more of a push than a snap as from a 9mm Luger firing in the same gun.

 

I sure enjoy mine. It fires superior cartridge than the fat and slow .45 cartridge.

 

I sure enjoy mine. It fires superior cartridge than the fat and slow .45 cartridge.

How did yours run out of the box FN? As I recall mine is less than a hundred numbers away from yours. Mine would not run at all for quite a while. I am still having an occasional failure to feed with it. Thought that it was a magazine issue. Now I am not so sure.

 

I had a Ruger LW commander rebarreled to 38 super. 38 Super is a lot like the 357 Sig. Its expensive, hits hard, and is accurate. Reloading for it is easy and there are a lot of different loads for it. 38 Super might be a niche round but I wouldn't mind carrying it for CCW.

 

Being old and an indoor bullseye shooter, I like the 38 super downloaded to 800-850fps. Shooting 147gr Target hollow points,
it is easy on the wrist but still fun to shoot. I have a bunch of em, my favorite at the moment is a Tisas that has had a touch of
work done to it to make it feed the HP well. Colt would be second as soon as I get the trigger to a decent level. I sent a Gold cup
back for poor quality, but the competition model is pretty good.
Testing a Tanfoglio next week.

 

I found some old photos dated back to 2017 summer or fall. I was working in San Antonio and Colt just released the new Competition Series 80. A year later Colt did away with the Competition Series 80 and replaced it with the Competition Series 70, but I digress.

I picked up a Blued and a Stainless Steel Competition Series 80, and took them out blasting with my Blued and SS Series 80 Goverment Model pistols. All four in .38 Super and the ammo was Aguila because it was widely available and reasonably priced. I also fired the Remington JHP and the SIG Sauer V-Crown. Damn, I missed that V-Crown ammo. It was cheap for JHP and super spicy. Anyway, I got a shooting note that said the Remington had two oversized cartridges. No notes on bad performances of the Aguila ball or SIG Sauer JHP.

 

September 2022, this time it’s Aguilar ammo and Colt Competition Series 70. Once again, no notes about trouble with this ammo. The last shot group was done by a young range safety officer because by 2022 my eyes started to get bad.

 

That is some pretty nice shooting!

 

I have two that are conversions from Colt 9mms. One is a ‘70 the other ‘80. I use them in FMJ only.. Fun shooting!

 

How did you convert them?

 

FWIW, My first new Colt, back around 1970 or so, was a satin nickel Combat Commander in .38 Super. Heavy, reliable, but due to the Colt barrels of the time, nothing that could be called accuracy at all; think all over the paper at 25 yards. You wouldn't have the barrel issue with a new Colt. But I found that a heavy gun, 3/4" shorter that a Government model, to be of no advantage to me at all. The Super .38 cartridge in a lightweight Commander would be a fine gun IMHO, in a steel frame CC, not so much....

 

.38 Super was a preferred round of the roaring 20's, even over .45 ACP with some, because it could perforate the body armor types worn and go through the heavier sheet metal of automobiles in those days, fired from a pistol. I don't know why it never became a real option.

 

It was quite popular on both sides of the law, and was one of the first handguns issued by the FBI, along with the Colt Police Positive.

 

I had a 40 year old shot 7 times Colt light weight commander. I couldn’t bring myself to shoot it.
I actually wore some bluing off racking it to show friends.
I didn’t want a safe queen, I traded it for a M1a, I like rifles better.
I don’t have any regrets. (Well maybe a couple)

 

Kart Barrels.

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Jarvis barrels.

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I second Jarvis barrels. You get a choice of barrels that need fitting or a drop-in style.

 

I have a 1960's Colt Combat Commander I purchased Mint in the Box decades ago.
Carries very nicely. I use Corbon 'Flying Ashtrays' but needed MecGar mags for 100% function.
I don't carry 9mm so either 45ACP, 38 Super or 357 SIG in 1911.
Of the three, the 38 super is the easiest to shoot.
-Richard