taxil343 Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 My goal is to buy an off the shelf open gun to shoot 38SC. I'm looking at one in particular that is only offered in 38S and 9mm. Would it be better to buy a 9mm gun and ream it or buy a 38S gun and fit a new extractor? What are the pros/cons of each one from a reliability and durability standpoint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garmil Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 38s makes more sense. A lot of guns sold as supers will run super comp out of the box anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Hello: Buy the 9mm and shoot 9mm. You will thank me later. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnr88 Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Buy the 9mm. Eric is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamboo Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Just an FYI - reaming a 9mm to 38 super/supercomp is not a great way to go. The dimensions at the base of 9mm is larger so your brass will bulge. If you want a 38 super/supercomp get a barrel that was reamed for it (with a 38 super Nonte reamer) and then adjust or change your extractor to run super or supercomp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 if one of those guns is a ck arms I can tell you their '38 super' models are setup to run super comp from the factory. I like super comp in an open gun but there's no question 9mm is cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3gunDQ Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I also like super... it's super. No BS head stamp sorting, plenty of room for powder. No cases getting logged/separated in the chamber. No dumb sideways Cmore or offset rts2. It cost more, yeah... but I shoot open. If I cared about the cost of shooting I'd shoot production, or BB guns, or rubberbands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teros135 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I'm all for rubber bands, myself ... but Max and Speedy and those guys have better rubber band launchers than I do (they're sponsored, after all...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Expflier Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, BeerBaron said: if one of those guns is a ck arms I can tell you their '38 super' models are setup to run super comp from the factory. I like super comp in an open gun but there's no question 9mm is cheaper. And if it's a Dvc their also setup to 38sc from the factory. Like beer baron said 9 is cheaper which is why I switched from 38sc to 9. You just need to decide which you want. There's probably a weeks worth of reading on this forum about the pros and cons of both. now a 9 off the shelf that's runs on range brass is a whole different story Edited February 21, 2017 by Expflier Added Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 3 hours ago, 3gunDQ said: I also like super... it's super. No BS head stamp sorting, plenty of room for powder. No cases getting logged/separated in the chamber. No dumb sideways Cmore or offset rts2. It cost more, yeah... but I shoot open. If I cared about the cost of shooting I'd shoot production, or BB guns, or rubberbands. yeah agreed. I think 38SC has some definite benefits. They are 'minor' but they are there. Like you I don't spend a shitload of time messing with brass. If I was shooting 9 I would have to do that OR live with less reliability (which is not acceptable). I have a massive range of OAL I can load to which means wide bullet choices and powder choices. plus 38 SC is expensive but I recover better than 90% at practice and probably 80% at matches. I have shot some SC cases over 20 times. at that point the initial cost becomes moot. I can then shoot it and loose it without feeling the wallet pain. it stacks in mags better, feeds better, is straight not tapered, rimless and as you mentioned it seems be much less picky about the ejection angle/timing than 9 does. for you and me the cost to us is worth it for the small benefits of super. for many people it's not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garmil Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Beerbaron You put straight not tapered in the plus column. Why do you think that's better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Mainly they stack better in mags (really important in single stack mags) and are easier to resize properly in reloading. Whenever I switch from super to 9 on the press I get a small surprise at how much more effort is needed to resize 9mm. it also means you can push-through resize if you so choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxil343 Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Thanks for all the info. I went with supercomp for many of the reasons you guys have listed. The gun is also for my girlfriend and she felt that 38 had a slightly softer and flatter recoil impulse than 9 so that has a lot to do with it. Hopefully the gun will run out of the box but if not I'll be tuning the extractor or replacing it with an aftec. I'm sure there is plenty of info on those subjects here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3gunDQ Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 1 hour ago, taxil343 said: I went with supercomp Hells yeah man! Congrats on the new gun. Grip it hard and turn up the gas for the comp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 cool. what did you buy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxil343 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 1 hour ago, BeerBaron said: cool. what did you buy? I got a Trubor from Brazos. Bob is tuning the gun and mags now, should have it by the end of next week. Hopefully it will make for a nice "budget" open gun. Now I've got to get some dies and start learning about powders for comped guns... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js1130146 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 It's in super/supercomp right? Hard to beat 3n38 in 38 super/supercomp IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Nice. Having Bob go over the gun first is a great idea. It should run from day dot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teros135 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 6 minutes ago, taxil343 said: I got a Trubor from Brazos. Bob is tuning the gun and mags now, should have it by the end of next week. Hopefully it will make for a nice "budget" open gun. Now I've got to get some dies and start learning about powders for comped guns... Should be nice. A basically solid gun refined by a pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Yeah I suggest grab a set of lee dies (get the 4 die set) and some 3n38. Its expensive powder but powder is still one of the smallest costs in a round. So it makes sense to use the good stuff. Use 115/121/124-5 JHP and some starline supercomp brass and you'll be well on your way. A 124gn jhp with 9.2gn of 3n38 @ 1.235 oal is a great load in my svi and ck open guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxil343 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, js1130146 said: It's in super/supercomp right? Hard to beat 3n38 in 38 super/supercomp IMO Yes the gun is a 38 super, will be shooting supercomp. I have read a lot of good things about 3n38 and am a big fan of VV powders. I'm just a lowly production shooter so n320 is my powder of choice. I've also heard a lot of good things about WAC and can buy that locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js1130146 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Just now, taxil343 said: Yes the gun is a 38 super, will be shooting supercomp. I have read a lot of good things about 3n38 and am a big fan of VV powders. I'm just a lowly production shooter so n320 is my powder of choice. I've also heard a lot of good things about WAC and can buy that locally. WAC kinda wastes the case capacity advantage you have in super/supercomp, but it is a solid powder choice for major. Available and cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxil343 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 17 minutes ago, BeerBaron said: Yeah I suggest grab a set of lee dies (get the 4 die set) and some 3n38. Its expensive powder but powder is still one of the smallest costs in a round. So it makes sense to use the good stuff. Use 115/121/124-5 JHP and some starline supercomp brass and you'll be well on your way. A 124gn jhp with 9.2gn of 3n38 @ 1.235 oal is a great load in my svi and ck open guns. Thanks for the info. I'm pretty much set on PD 124gr JHPs so that's spot on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullMetalJacket Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Does the trubore have popple holes? If not you may want to load 3n37... I run 8.3 in my dvc's with 124jhp pd's. 1.250oal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) Even without holes 3n38 would still be my choice for 38 super. The trubore has a pretty reasonable comp. if you start at say 8.8gn 3n38 with the 124pd jhp at 1.235 then chrono and test from there. So where around 9-9.2gn should give a power factor your after. Edited February 23, 2017 by BeerBaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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