Rock Island 38 Super

1385 Views 22 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Kosh75287, 2 mo ago

Rwp315

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Any negatives on a slightly used Rock Island 38 Super.
Thanks

Save

Reactions: 2

21 - 23 of 23 Posts

Rwp315

Discussion Starter · #21 · 2 mo ago

Michael W Cuber said:
How long is the slide, and does anyone make a barrel in .38 Super for the Kimber Pro 2 for that slide length?
Some have suggested just reaming the 9mm barrel to Super, but 9mm is actually tapered and a little fatter around the web, while the Super is straight walled, more like the .38 Special.
You could probably make your Pro 2 into a Super. You would probably need to shorten your ejector a little bit, but I found a compromise length for mine; it will cycle and eject loaded .38 Supers by hand, and it still ejects 9mm very consistently. You’ll need some Super mags which don’t use the liners like the 9mm, and a barrel set up like your present 9mm barrel, whether it be fully ramped, or traditional unsupported barrel. The muzzle will need to fit your bushing, or be of the same bull barrel diameter if your pistol is bushingless, but it can all be done. I’d take a look at a Brownells catalogue, and see if they have a .38 Super barrel in the same configuration as your 9mm. That would make for a pretty mean little package!
P.S. .38 Super Comp brass doesn’t habe the semi-rim of the old Super and is similar to 9mm, and it will allow you to not have to mess with your extractor.

Thank you for the detailed reply it will help a lot.
Thought it’d be a nice alternate to another 45.

Thanks

Save

Michael W Cuber

· #22 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Rwp315 said:
Thank you for the detailed reply it will help a lot.
Thought it’d be a nice alternate to another 45.

Thanks

I’m really liking mine. Brass is thicker and requires more force going through my press, but its got all kinds of case capacity over a 9mm, and its got more leeway regarding your bullet seating depth, and I’ve got data for bullets weighing as light as 100 grns to 160 gr cast round nose. When I first shot it, I tested in my garage range, and fired it into a spruce stump sitting in front of my bullet trap. I also shot the 9mm just to verify everything was still good ejection wise. Later that day I was splitting some firewood, and I decided to drag out my spruce stump and see if I could recover some bullets. I’d early shot some .45 Ball into it which had penetrated 5 inches of green spruce. The 9mm factory 115 gr Ball had gone 7inches. The .38 Super 147 gr Flat Points had all gone 11 inches and right out the backside of my spruce log!