Why Not the .38 Super?
by Mark Eric Freburg

This an article about handgun cartridge choices (and pistol) for self-defense.  It's not one of those generic one size fits all articles, however, that are meant to appeal to masses, where we list pros and cons based on financial and other practicalities and then, inexorably, tell you to buy a striker-fired, polymer-framed 9mm pistol because it is "the only practical choice."  It does seem that in today, most  pundits have concluded that such a pistol is indeed the ultimate self-defense handgun and caliber, at least until we develop Star Trek-like phasers.  And yes, I've read just that sentiment in well-respected self-defense firearms magazines.  But it's my belief, and likely yours if you're interested in the .38 Super topic that not everyone simply wants a basic hammer to drive nails.  The .38 Super is not now nor is it ever going to be the go-to choice for the masses.  Self defense may be a serious business but there is no reason we must all walk in lockstep using the exact same tools to accomplish the job.  After all, aren't we individuals?  If this were just another "buy a Glock 48 or SIG P365XL" article there would be no reason for me to write it, it's been done to death.  And no reason for you to read it.   So hopefully you're not here to read an article like that.  Let's move on and discuss the .38 Super--for those who care to be different.  How different?  The .38 Super will require you to consider both a the cartridge and a different firearm to handle it.  So quite different.  Let's start.

I won't go too deeply into the history of the .38 Super +P cartridge (the proper SAAMI name for it, although it is only one cartridge--there is no "standard" and "+P" version) because we did that here in an article called simply The .38 Super(1), but that 2006 article is dated--in terms of my knowledge, my opinions, and even my experience.  But even more importantly it's dated by what's available from the industry in .38 Super handguns and ammunition.  It does cover the history of the cartridge, however, though so even if my conclusions have changed there is no reason to go into the origin of the cartridge all over again.  If youare new to this great old round, read that article first--it's short--and come back to this one.

It didn't used to be the case, but today the .38 Super may be the most popular niche handgun cartridge in America today.  And to get this out of the way immediately for you 10mm fans starting to bristle --the 10mm has made such an amazing comeback in the last ten years that it cannot truly be called a niche cartridge anymore, it's mainstream.  It has been relegated to niche status at times in the past, but today it's too popular to be called a niche cartridge.  Today everyone makes multiple guns, pistols and revolvers--even carbines, in 10mm, and multiple loads, and it's very mainstream indeed.  So let's not go off on the 10mm path.  Great round, but not the subject of this discussion.  The .38 Super, however, is still a niche round, but far more popular than perhaps 9mm fans and others might think.

Let's start with where the Super fits in the order of things.  To truly consider a .38 Super for yourself, you also have to consider a large frame pistol in general, as they are inexorably tied.  It's simply the nature of the cartridge's size, or more properly,  length.  The Super won't fit in a magazine, and thus grip frame, of a 9mm length pistol, it's too long, so you need a .45/10mm length magazine and grip frame.  And that's a problem for many people.  The 9mm is the most popular cartridge in America today, and it is the cartridge by which all other cartridges are judged, so we can't ignore it.  As we said, we're talking self-defense cartridges, but many shooting avenues run off that road--from popular sporting contests like IDPA and USPSA to simple range work and plinking.  To that end, the 9mm has created a handgun size envelope that people today consider the norm.  It's a standard that other rounds usually need to be able to fit within.  Guns chambered in 9mm are so ubiquitous that people can pick up one and expect it to fit in their hand--very generally speaking.  Think of it as the 9mm size envelope.  The entire reason for being for both the .40S&W and the .357SIG cartridges was to have more powerful rounds that would fit in this 9mm size envelope, or more precisely, a 9mm handgun.   But the .38 super won't do that--so be forewarned.  However, this is not a forewarning of doom, though many of today's gunwriters will tell you it is.  These are the folks so inexorably wed to the 9mm size envelope that they cannot see the forest for the trees.  We're going to back up and look at the beauty of the forest here, so wait for it.

The .40S&W I mentioned above is also not under discussion here, but we have just done an in-depth article on that cartridge here, called 2020: The State of the .40S&W(2), so I encourage you to read that article should you have an interest.  The .357SIG is an interesting round, as it was, in many ways, an attempt to make a modern .38 Super, although it's designers never saw it that way, I assure you.  As you no doubt know the .357SIG was actually an attempt to make a .357 Magnum that would work in an autoloader, more specifically, an autoloader the size of a 9mm.  (The 9mm envelope, again--that pistol size is important to a lot of people).  The .357 Magnum was, and still is, the most successful law enforcement cartridge ever fielded in terms of ending gunfights quickly and effectively, but it has too many downsides, including difficulty in training officers because of significant recoil, and the fact that the vehicle for its use is a revolver rather than an autoloader, which creates means low handgun capacity and slower reloading times.  The .357SIG promised to recreate the performance of the .357 Magnum in a pistol the size of a 9mm.  Frankly, it has had only moderate success.  We did an article on the difference between the .357 Magnum and .357SIG way back in 2003 called The Two 357s(3) that went over all the differences between the cartridges.  The physics haven't changed, and the bullets, while better, will always suffer from the difference discussed in that article.  Please give that one a look and you'll understand that the SIG round doesn't have the versatility of the revolver round.  Ultimately, and ironically for the .357SIG, as ammunition technology has improved it has been applied to the beloved 9mm the most, and less attention has been paid to the .357SIG, leaving it somewhat behind.   The fact is almost no one is making .357SIG pistols, and the ammunition is not as common.  The .357SIG is not a bad round, it's a good round, but very few law enforcement agencies issue it anymore, and the better that 9mm ammo becomes, the less interest people have in the SIG round in general.  However, it is another niche cartridge, and if it interests you, you should pursue it.  It's biggest downside for me is that I am a reloader and reloading bottleneck cartridge cases is an annoyance at best.  But I always encourage thinking outside the mainstream box.  The biggest real problem I have with the SIG round aside from its bottleneck case is I cannot get it in a pistol I like.  I played with SIGs and Glocks in the early 2000s, but those days are over for me.  There are no other .357SIG pistols out there I wish to own.  An aside, friends who own or shoot the .357SIG tell me is is an extremely loud cartridge.  I've heard this enough to believe there is something to it.  That muzzle blast is not a thing with the .38 Super, a very pleasant, low-recoil round that isn't loud at all.  Something to remember--especially the low recoil. 

So back to the .38 Super.  A perusal of websites shows that multitudes of makers are building .38 Super pistols (so many more than .357SIGs!).  But, as I led with, they are large frame guns, mostly 1911 pistols.  And most of the rest are CZ75-style pistols.  In the past you could get SIG-SAUER pistols and some Taurus pistols in .38 Super but I don't believe they are available new any more, except of course on the pre-owned market.  Don't ignore that if you like the SIG system, or the hybrid SIG/1911 system that Taurus used on their PT38 pistols.  But regardless of make or model, all are large frame pistols.  The 9mm size envelope is simply not available, and never has been, because of the length of the round. 

Let's make sure everyone understands what we're talking about here when I talk about frame size.  Since we're into the nitty-gritty of which guns are available.  There are two advantages of the 9mm envelope, and these are always going to brought up by those who badmouth the .38 Super and who will try to convince you that a 9mm is the only way to go.  First is that the grip portion of the 9mm frame is shorter, front-to-back, because the rounds are shorter.  Longer rounds like the .38 Super (.45ACP, 10mm, etc) all need more length fore and aft, and won't fit in a 9mm (.40S&W, .357SIG, etc) magazine.  Smaller hands work better on 9mm size pistols--at least until you give them a double stack magazine and negate the benefit of the short round, then the 9mm size benefit tends to go away.  Those who don't know the 1911 are usually unaware of how well they fit small hands, and even smaller by changing to thin grips, different mainspring housings, and short triggers--drop-in parts mostly.  And CZ-75 clones, we're mostly talking the high quality Tanfoglio here, feels great in most hands despite being a double stack pistol, large-frame pistol.  So the "need" for a 9mm envelope may or may not exist.  Everyone is different.  Second, 9mms, because they can be double stacks as well as single stacks, can be high capacity, a big deal to some folks.  Sure, 1911s in .38 Super usually are 9+1, but the Tanfoglio is 17+1, and I think that answers that complaint.    (Double stack 1911s in .38 Super with 20+ round magazines are available but those are competition pistols and outside the purview of this discussion.)

If you've come this far you should be wondering next about the ballistics the .38 Super.  It's important to know that almost all ammunition manufacturers have done to the Super the same thing they've done to the 10mm--they've dumbed it down.  So while much 10m ammo, most FMJ and much of the hollowpoint stuff is little more than .40S&W in a long case, the exact same thing can be said for .38 Super--all the FMJ and some of the hollowpoints are simply just little more powerful than 9mm loads in a longer case.  If it were all that way, we'd all understand how dumb it would be to buy a 10mm or a .38 Super if all we were doing were limiting our pistol selection and paying more money for barely more performance than .40S&W or 9mm.  But of course the ammo story doesn't end there.  All that dumbed down ammo is simply something to consider as plinking ammo, gun break-in ammo, or case-generating ammo for you reloaders.  But believe me, it gets better.  And it is almost the same cast of characters bringing us better Super ammo that brings us better 10mm ammo, to whit:

Even the Winchester load, mild compared to the smaller company offerings, is no slouch in the performance category, and exceeds real world velocities of the vast majority of 9mm self-defense loads, as tested by Lucky Gunner Labs in their published testing in real firearms(5), where the vast majority of 9mm loads never exceed much over 1150fps, and many much less.  I think I need to emphasize that the .38 Super velocities are also tested by the companies listed above in real firearms as well, with the possible exception of Winchester--the big ammo companies are wedded to test barrels and I doubt that will change.  But I know having chrono-tested the Winchester load through my own real firearms that the figure they report is pretty accurate.

So what do we conclude?  The 38 Super is more powerful cartridge than the 9mm, obviously.  You can get some pretty good velocities out of the 9mm if you are willing to shoot 9mm+P, or even 9mm+P+ out of your pistol, but consider that while most modern 9mm pistols are rated for +P, it will accelerate wear, and NO pistols are rated for +P+ ammo.  Using that is at your own risk, and really cannot be advised. There's an article on +P ammo, link in the footnotes.(4)  My personal bottom line on +P ammo is that if you have to use +P ammo you need a more powerful firearm.  But even 9mm+P+ is only treading where .38 Super goes naturally.  Again, do not be confused by the "+P" in the name.  The only reason the .38 Super is called +P is because uses the same case as the ancient .38ACP, aka ".38 auto," and will fit in the same antique firearms.  For safety reasons, SAAMI decided--in 1974--to add "+P" to the name .38 Super in order to keep unknowing people from placing .38 Super ammunition in ancient .38ACP-chambered firearms.  (.38ACP was also known just as .38 Auto).  It is similar to not wanting to put 357 Magnum ammo in a .38 Special, which could blow it up if it could be done, which it can't.  Fortunately Smith & Wesson smartly lengthened the case before they released the .357 Magnum to keep the powerful new round out of the older weaker revolvers.  (They did, for a short time, release a round called the 38-44, a more powerfully loaded cartridge using the same, shorter .38 Special case which was a precursor to the .357 Magnum, and which, if it remained on the market and was used like the magnum, could have damaged certain .38 Special revolvers, but it was short-lived, and replaced entirely by the longer .357 case rather quickly.)  Colt, on the other hand, didn't see the writing on the wall and simply stuffed a bunch more powder in the old .38ACP case and offered it for their big 1911 pistols, which could handle the power, ignoring the fact that many of their old turn-of-the-century pistols chambered for .38ACP were still in use.  SAAMI, knowing this, in 1974, rather belatedly decided to right the situation by adding +P" to the name of the more powerful .38 Automatic round.  But every single pistol chambered for .38 Super, regardless of the markings, was made to handle the pressures of that round.  It is not the same as shooting +P or, especially, +P+ in a 9mm pistol.  Frankly, this is why users, especially long-time users, routinely discuss the .38 Super without using the "+P" suffix.  It's a bit phony for a round that existed for 45 years without "+P" attached to the end of it.  Hopefully I've made this clear.

For those interested, the .38 Super +p operates at 36.5k PSI, while the 9mm operates at 35k PSI, the 9mm+P at 38.5 PSI, and the .357SIG at 40k PSI.  The .357 Magnum is also at 35K PSI.  The .38ACP is at 26.5 PSI.  SAAMI max pressures are interesting but don't translate to power, as we've seen. 

What other benefits does the Super offer?  The greatest, after plenty of power, is obvious to everyone the first time they pull the trigger--lack of appreciable recoil, despite the added power.  The .38 Super in a 1911 or CZ75 derivative is extremely pleasant to shoot!  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that today the 1911 chambered in 9mm is a hot item.  One of the reasons is the utter lack of recoil.  With essentially no recoil, the world opens up to you in terms of improving your shooting in every way.  And this holds true whether you are a self-defense shooter, into shooting sports, or just want to be able to practice comfortably.  However, the 9mm in a 1911 can be a bit finicky and requires good, sometimes special magazines.  Why?  because you are putting a short round made for that short 9mm envelope in a long frame made for longer cartridges, long magazines to fit that long frame.  The rounds have a tendency to dip and jam their noses against the front of the magazine or the frame.  If instead you shoot a full length .36 caliber round like the .38 Super, this problem goes away, and you don't need to locate and use gimmicky magazines with spacers, or front feed lips (which work, but will they be made forever?).  Why buy yourself a potential problem if you don't have to? And, frankly, a less powerful pistol?

Some commenters say that the .38 Super has feeding issues not based on cartridge overall length but on the tiny vestigial rim Colt saddled it with back when the .38ACP was born.  In my experience owning four .38 Super pistols (more since I wrote this) I've not found this to be a problem in the least, but the fact remains that for those who wish to shoot a rimless version of the .38 Super, one does exist, and it's called the .38 Super Comp.  PCI, a smaller but well-established ammunition company makes a 115gr jacketed practice round in this caliber, but Starline and probably others have made .38 Super Comp brass for decades.  The .38 Super Comp is simply a rimless .38 Super case and works in .38 Super guns, usually unaltered, though I have heard that some guns might need their extractor adjusted.  I suspect those who complain about the .38 Super having feeding problems due to the rim are in reality reacting to PISTOL PROBLEMS, not cartridge problems.  A well set-up 1911 runs like a well-oiled machine, but those that are poorly set-up, usually by a well-meaning but ignorant end-user can have problems.  I've never seen problems with Witness pistols (CZ75 clones) that haven't been unnecessarily fooled with.  For some reason people seem to love to fool with 1911 pistols, seemingly just because they can.  Resist the temptation!

So why choose a .38 Super for defense?  All the great reasons for choosing a 1911 exist, of course.  You get the best trigger in existence, you get a safe and reliable pistol, and you get a proprietary gun.  In this day and age of criminals raised on point and shoot plastic pistols, one that manages to get a 1911 away from you may well not be able to make it work for long enough for you to get it back, bring a second weapon into play, or run away (all legitimate options).  But you also get a light shooting gun with amazing power.  It has all the power we were promised with the .357SIG without all the drama, and there is plenty of good ammo out there.  You get reliability because the round fits the magazine, no need to seek out special magazines as you may have to do it you opt for a 1911 chambered in the too-short 9mm.  The Super chambering also makes it a good choice for the recoil sensitive who don't like the .45ACP.  On the other hand, if you have always liked the feel of the CZ75, consider the Tanfoglio pistol imported by the Italian Firearms Group (and formerly by EAA as the Witness).  With their durable Wonder Finish, comfortable grip, and 17 round magazine, this is a great feeling and handling pistol for many people with various hand sizes.  I knew a diminutive young woman who chose one for her first carry gun, though interestingly she opted for a .45 instead of a .38 Super.  Well, good for her.  The Tanfoglio pistol is a high quality pistol and has been made and imported for many years. 

A final reason for choosing the .38 Super is a bit more difficult for many people to wrap their heads around.  It has a long and storied history in both real life and fiction, and the guns tend to connect the owners with that history, even if in a tenuous way.  That, while still being a completely practical self-defense gun in every way but one--you'll pay more for ammunition than you would if you were on the 9mm train to Dullsville.  I do understand that most people will always want to be practical, to use the guns that most of the cool kids, or at least practical kids on the block are using, that uses the cheapest possible ammo on the planet, and don't mind being one of millions all using the same, black (or FDE ), boring plastic shooter.  I'm not really criticizing them.  Not everyone can step away from the crowd.  But the .38 Super is not hard to own, especially in this day and age where Internet ammo is a click away, including affordable practice ammo--and if you are a reloader, the Super uses the same bullets as the 9mm, so truly cheap practice ammo is there.  It's really a great cartridge.

Footnotes:
1 The .38 Super
2 2020: The State of the .40S&W Cartridge
3 The Two .357s
4 +P Ammunition
5 Lucky Gunner Labs 9mm Ammunition Testing

Cartridge Company links for .38 Super ammunition:

Buffalo Bore
Double Tap
Underwood
Cor-Bon
Winchester
Precision Cartridge
Precision Carrtidge Super Comp retail availability
Starline brass in .38 Super and  .38 Super Comp for handloaders